Just in time for holiday feasting, bottomfish species that haven't been harvested in the main Hawaiian Islands since April will return to local plates.

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council decided that fishermen in the main Hawaiian Islands will be allowed to catch up to 241,000 pounds of seven deepwater bottomfish when the fishery reopens Nov. 15.

The "deep seven" species are 'opakapaka (pink snapper), onaga (longtail snapper), 'ehu (squirrelfish snapper), lehi (silver-jaw jobfish), kalekale (snapper), gindai (snapper) and hapu (sea bass).

The new catch limit is a 35 percent increase over the limit of 178,000 pounds for the 2007-08 season, which was reached in April, shutting the fishery down at that time.

If commercial fishermen reach the catch limit before Aug. 31, the fishery council decided Thursday at its Honolulu meeting, that both commercial and noncommercial fishing for bottomfish in the main Hawaiian Islands will close until the 2009-10 season begins on Sept. 1.

But Kaua'i-based fisherman Greg Holzman said he's optimistic that the new catch limit is high enough that fishermen won't hit it and trigger a closure, as happened the past two years.

"We're hopeful that the season will not end up having to close," Holzman said yesterday. "There are people with wives and children and families that rely on these fish catches."

OVERFISHING CONCERNS

Closures were established the past two years by state and federal fisheries managers out of concern that the stocks were being overfished.

A new fishery stock assessment released last week by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center shows that the decline in catches of the species "is not as steep as it appeared" from past information, said Gerard DiNardo, a center fishery biologist.

The study was based on data from 1948 to 2007 and interviews with fishermen, DiNardo said.

Based on the new information, managers are reassured that the larger quantity of fish can be taken, while still allowing the stocks to grow, said Bill Robinson, regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries, the agency that carries out the fishery council's policies.

Robinson advised the council to choose a moderate catch limit, "within the range that our scientists tell us will prevent overfishing of the stock."

Council member Sean Martin noted that some fishermen testified they want a lower catch limit, while some want none. He said he's satisfied the one set will be reasonable.