Tag: albacore

Report indicates key tuna stocks in Western and Central Pacific are healthy

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Republished from SeafoodSource, 12 December 2019

Bigeye, yellowfin, South Pacific albacore, and skipjack tuna are all reported to be in healthy condition, according to a 2018 stock assessment announced this week during the 16th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The stock-assessment report of the Pacific Community (SPC) stated that the estimate of the total tuna catch in the WCPFC Convention Area for 2018 is 2,790,859 metric tons (MT), which represents 81% of the total Pacific Ocean catch of 3,443,174 MT, and 54% of the global tuna catch, which was 5,172,543 MT.

According to SPC’s overview of the tuna fisheries paper, the total estimated value of the tuna catch in the convention area increased by 1% to US$6.01 billion (€5.47 billion) in 2018.

The value of the purse-seine catch is US$3.26 billion (€2.9 billion), accounting for 54% of the total value of the tuna catch. The value of the longline fishery increased 16% to US$1.72 billion (€1.5 billion), accounting for 29% of the total value of the tuna catch.

WCPFC Executive Director Feleti Teo said, in his opening statement at the meeting on 5 December, that the region has high levels of tuna production. He said the region’s key commercial tuna stocks of bigeye, skipjack, albacore, and yellowfin were “assessed to have been managed and maintained above agreed sustainable levels”.

Teo added that, compared to other ocean regions, the tuna stocks in the region are not overfished.

Graham Pilling, director of the Oceanic Fisheries Program at the Pacific Community, added in a media release that conservation measures have contributed to the sustainability of the Pacific tuna stock.

“The healthy status of WCPO tuna stocks is attributed to the management of the fishery through the WCPFC process and its members, including the key roles played by the Pacific island member-countries and subregional fisheries agencies including the Fisheries Forum Agency [FFA] and the Parties to the Nauru Agreement [PNA],” Pilling said.

Despite the positive assessment, Teo said that the tuna commission should continue with its collective conservation efforts and not “to be complacent and to be less vigilant”.

But the Pacific Community also pointed out that there are still challenges such as the state of certain Western Central Pacific Ocean billfish and shark stocks that need to be addressed by the Commission. It said they are in need of urgent attention. 

Economic impacts resulting from the recent decline in the price of skipjack tuna also poses a challenge in the region. Skipjack prices have fallen below US$1,000 (€900) per MT for the first time in a number of years. 

But the WCPFC is developing and implementing harvest strategies for key tuna stocks to address the challenges, WCPFC Chair Jung-re Riley Kim said.

“I am very grateful to SPC for their significant contribution to providing science and data inputs into the important harvest strategy work of the commission, and their innovative efforts and initiatives to engage with cooperating members, cooperating non-members and participating territories, and contribute to building their capacity in terms of harvest strategy,” Kim said in a release.  

Tuna Commission endorses work plan to manage South Pacific albacore sustainably

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South Pacific albacore tuna being processed at the Solander plant in Fiji. Photo: WWF Pacific.

PORT MORESBY, 11 December 2019 – One of the positive outcomes from the just-ended 16th annual Tuna Commission meeting is the adoption of the South Pacific albacore work plan.

The formal agreement allows work to start that will address the range of issues associated with albacore fishing and management. 

The Director-General of FFA, Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen, said the outcome is positive.

“Agreeing to a pathway to achieve the target reference point (TRP) that was endorsed at last year’s Tuna Commission signals the start and an important first step of this process for our FFA membership,” Dr Tupou-Roosen said.

Early in 2020, Pacific members will seek to engage the Commission on this issue.

The aim is to return the stock biomass (total number or weight of population) of albacore to its TRP as soon as is economically possible. Doing so is intended to ensure future individual vessel profitability in the fisheries of Pacific small island developing states (SIDS).

Zone-based management will be a key tool in managing the stock. It ensures that FFA members’ sovereign rights are preserved within regionally compatible limits.

Regarding the work of the Regional Roadmap for Sustainable Fisheries, FFA recommended revising the draft work plan so as to focus on: 

  • Limits—agreement and recommendation on an overall hard limit and a subsequent pathway (annual total catch reductions).
  • Allocation—agreement on the split of the total hard limit, as discussed at WCPFC14.
  • Conservation and management measure (CMM)—implementation of the agreed overall hard limit which recognises zone-based management, allocated limits, data collection, and reporting requirements, via a revised CMM for South Pacific albacore tuna, until a harvest strategy is finalised and agreed on. 

Lealaiauloto Aigaletaule’ale’a F Tauafiafi’s participation and coverage at the WCPFC16 was made possible by the Forum Fisheries Agency, Pew Charitable Trusts, and GEF OFMP2 project. 

ABOUT PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM FISHERIES AGENCY (FFA)

FFA assists its 17 member countries to sustainably manage fishery resources that fall within their 200-mile exclusive economic zones (EEZs). FFA provides expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management

www.ffa.int

Members: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu.

ABOUT WESTERN CENTRAL PACIFIC FISHERIES COMMISSION (WCPFC)

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) was established by the Convention for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPF Convention) which entered into force on 19 June 2004. 

The WCPF Convention draws on many of the provisions of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement [UNFSA] while, at the same time, reflecting the special political, socio-economic, geographical and environmental characteristics of the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) region. The WCPFC Convention seeks to address problems in the management of high seas fisheries resulting from unregulated fishing, over-capitalization, excessive fleet capacity, vessel re-flagging to escape controls, insufficiently selective gear, unreliable databases and insufficient multilateral cooperation in respect to conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks. 

The Commission supports three subsidiary bodies; the Scientific Committee, Technical and Compliance Committee, and the Northern Committee, that each meet once during each year. The meetings of the subsidiary bodies are followed by a full session of the Commission. The work of the Commission is assisted by a Finance and Administration Committee.

Members: Australia, China, Canada, Cook Islands, European Union, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Chinese Taipei, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States of America, Vanuatu.

Participating territories: American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna.

Cooperating non-members: Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, Liberia, Thailand, Vietnam.

Fish migration due to climate change creates tuna shortage in Fiji

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On the line at a Pacific Islands tuna cannery. Photo: Francisco Blaha.

Republished from SeafoodSource, 6 December 2019

Fish migration due to climate change has impacted the supply of albacore tuna in Fiji, bringing the supply down and leading the Levuka factory of the Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO) to reduce its operations to a four-day work week to maintain economically viability.

Fiji’s government-owned PAFCO is looking for alternatives to maintain financial stability in light of the albacore tuna shortage. PAFCO chair Ikbal Jannif told local news organisation FBC that the shortage of albacore has been an ongoing issue, and for the tuna cannery to operate fully again there needs to be around 23,000 metric tons of albacore tuna to process.

The crisis has brought the supply down to 16,500 metric tons, impacting the economy of Levuka. PAFCO is the biggest employer of the cannery in Levuka, with 600 full-time workers and around 400 part-time workers.

To supplement the shortage, PAFCO last week bought in around 220 metric tons of skipjack tuna in lieu of albacore.

Fiji Fisheries Minister Mr Semi Koroilavesau, who has been in Port Moresby attending the 16th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), highlighted climate change as impacting the supply and affecting the migratory pattern of the albacore tuna, which is more plentiful in other Pacific island countries.

Fijian Fisheries Minister Mr Semi Koroilavesau
Fijian Fisheries Minister Mr Semi Koroilavesau

Mr Koroilavesau said that discussions are being held with the neighbouring countries in the north to allow their fishers to access tuna resources in the high seas and in neighbouring exclusive economic zones (EEZs) at a lower fishing-day fee. This way, Fiji and PAFCO will have enough resources to keep the cannery in operation and avoid further cuts in working days, the minister added.

Fiji fisheries officials have taken opportunity to urge a concession and reduced price for fishing days to enable PAFCO to fish in the waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), specifically in Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Kiribati. The PNA group controls waters in which more than 50% of the world’s biggest tuna canning species – skipjack – is caught.

“Possibly give us some preferential fee, because we have come back on Fiji. That is the angle we are taking, we are looking into friendly relations that we have with our northern neighbours, we ask them to give us leeway,” Mr Koroilavesau told SeafoodSource.

Under the PNA’s vessel day scheme (VDS), a benchmark of US$8,000 (AU$11,726, €7,233) up to US$25,000 (AU$36,182, €22,295) is charged per fishing day. 

Mr Koroilavesau said Fiji wouldn’t want to be charged the high fee that PNA imposes on international fleets, given a shortage of fish in the EEZ.

He added that, due to warming ocean waters, the fish have migrated to the east, benefiting Tuvalu and Kiribati, while Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji “have very little”.

Mr Koroilavesau said the primary aim was to increase the tuna supply for processing, and an alternative was to negotiate arrangements with other nations in the Pacific.

2019 tuna report card gives thumbs up for four tuna species in WCPO

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School of tuna. Photo FabienForget, ISSF.

The 2019 ‘report card’ on the state of health of tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean is out.

It said all four species that are economically important in the region – skipjack, South Pacific albacore, yellowfin and bigeye – are being fished sustainably.

In the parlance of the report, “none is being overfished, and overfishing is not occurring”, although there was “no room for complacency” in how fish stocks are managed because all four species continue to decline overall.

The abundance of a species is estimated against a benchmark, called a target reference point (TRP), which is a desirable level of stock needed to maintain the healthy functioning of the species, the environment it lives in, and the sustainability of fishing.

The report card said that numbers of skipjack tuna are above the target reference point (TRP) for that species. TRPs are being developed for the other three species.

The report noted that the value of tuna fishing to the region is increasing, and had passed the target for 2020. 

Local employment in the tuna industry was also increasing, and was on target to meet the 2023 target.

Tuna stocks are not assessed every year, although a report card is issued every year, and uses data from the most recent assessment of each species of tuna. The report cards are published to help fisheries managers meet the goals of the Regional Roadmap for Sustainable Pacific Fisheries.

The report card was published by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Pacific Community (SPC).

Study: Climate change will redistribute tuna populations

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Photo: Inigo Onandia/AZTI

Republished from Undercurrent News, 18 April 2019

More skipjack and yellowfin tuna will move to the tropical waters, while albacore, Atlantic bluefin, bigeye and southern bluefin will shift into colder seas in the future, according to research led by AZTI, a Spanish research body. 

If a coastal country’s local fleet anticipates the changes in abundance and distribution of the target species, it may adapt its fishing gear or change its target species, said Haritz Arrizabalaga, who carried out the study with Maite Erauskin-Extramiana.

“Knowing in advance what will happen in the future enables adaptation strategies to the transformations to be drawn up. [A coastal country’s local fleet] may be able to continue fishing the same species, but investing in larger vessels, capable of going out further in search of these species,” said Arrizabalaga.

The researchers took into account the effect of the environmental conditions on the worldwide distribution of tuna species, such as albacore, Atlantic bluefin, southern bluefin, tropical bigeye, skipjack and yellowfin between 1958 and 2004. This enables the influence of climate change in the future to be assessed and specific predictions to be made, they claim. The study has been published Global Change Biology. 

“During the historical period analyzed, the habitat distribution limits of the tuna have moved towards the poles at a rate of 6.5 kilometers per decade in the northern hemisphere and 5.5km per decade in the southern one. Based on the influence of climate change, even strong changes in tuna distribution and abundance are expected in the future, particularly at the end of the century (2088 – 2099),” said Arrizabalaga.

More specifically, the study forecasts that temperate tuna species, such as albacore, Atlantic bluefin and southern bluefin, will move towards the poles. Bigeye tuna will reduce its presence in the tropics and will move to warmer areas. On the other hand, the analysis predicts that the main two canned tuna species — skipjack and yellowfin — will become more abundant in the tropical areas, as well as in most of the fishing areas of coastal countries, or in other words, in the maritime economic exclusive zones which stretches from their coastline to a distance of 200 nautical miles.

“Tuna predictions offers relatively good news for tuna fishing to continue as an important food source, due to the origin of the main tuna protein consumption in humans comes from skipjack and yellowfin tuna from the tropical area,” said Arrizabalaga.

The study has enabled analysis on how the worldwide distribution and abundance of the main tuna species will vary due to climate change and, in this way, quantify the future trends of the tuna populations. 

“Tuna species are resources of enormous economic importance and a key source of protein for much of the population. As a result of climate change, their habitat distribution is changing and, related to this, the opportunities of different countries to access this source of wealth. This study aims to explain what has happened in the past and predict what will happen in the future so that countries and fishing fleets can come up with adaptation strategies to the new circumstances,” said Erauskin-Extramiana.

FFA launches fact sheets on tuna fishing basics

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The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) has published two fact sheets that define basic aspects of tuna fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

One is on the four tuna species that are most important to Pacific Island economies. The fact sheet shows how to tell apart adult albacore, bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna. That’s easier than distinguishing the young, which look similar to each other.

The fact sheet also gives basic details about the life cycle of the four tuna, and outlines the main markets for each type of tuna.

The second fact sheet distinguishes the main features of purse-seine and longline fishing. These are the two most important industrial fishing methods in this part of the Pacific Ocean. 

It also describes simply how fish are caught using these methods.

Covers of two FFA fact sheets on four kinds of tuna, and on purse seine and longline fishing. Published May 2019.

Livelihoods on the line as Pacific nations unite to fight for albacore tuna industry

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WCPFC15, Honolulu, Hawaii, 12 December 2018— Albacore tuna is a vital resource for many Pacific nations but many domestic longline interests are being scuttled out of business by a growing foreign fleet and the failure of the rule-setting body –the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to act.

This week, a few words in a one-year old document will aim to claw back faith and test the credibility of the WCPFC, the world’s most successful tuna fisheries management organisation.

Last year at their closing plenary, the WCPFC, made progress on several years of discussion with an interim harvest strategy for South Pacific albacore putting the onus on an outcomes text saying the Hawaii meeting taking place this week “shall adopt a Target Reference Point for South Pacific albacore.”

The target reference point (TRP) – a notional ideal stock level – is the essential first step on which all other harvest rules rely.

The promise to set a TRP at WCPFC15 for one of the most negotiated tuna stocks in the Western Central Pacific Ocean, is set to roll out in earnest today, as the clock ticks towards the final plenary on Friday evening.

To ensure the momentum from last year’s meeting in Manila wouldn’t be lost, the WCPFC14 setup a working group with New Zealand at the helm to steer interested countries towards effective engagement on that agenda item.   

Outgoing Chair of the WCPFC Rhea Moss-Christian is keen to ensure the promise of Manila is met, but her challenge is to extract consensus from a diverse group of nations with widely differing interests – a group that includes powerful distant water fishing nations as well as coastal states.

The determination and commitment of Forum Fisheries Committee members around the table, including Ministers from Samoa, Tonga, and Niue, was clear in their opening round of country statements.

Samoa’s Minister for Fisheries Afioga Lopao’o Natanielu Mua reiterated a call he made 12 months before in Manila, to the same stakeholders.

“It’s the target species for our domestic Longline fishery, that has been one of the main foreign revenue earners for our economy as well as supporting food security and livelihoods for our people,” the Minister said. He also made pointed mention of  “the uneven playing field due to the subsidy support received by some fleets and therefore [the need for] an appropriate management strategy …to ensure that domestic, unsubsidised fleets remain economically viable.”

Alongside Mua are other high-level Pacific leaders in the countries most affected by the current approaches which are threatening incomes, food sources, and the long-term future of domestic longline fleets.  The voices from Pacific nations most connected to Albacore are pitching the message at every opportunity that the Target Reference Point for South Pacific Albacore is a major part of the reasons bringing them to the Tuna Commission meeting.

Niue’s Fisheries Minister Dalton Tagalagi echoed the sentiments of his neighbourhood—South Pacific Albacore needs that target reference point to get moving on its harvest strategy.

He reminded the plenary of the shared responsibility from members to ensure fisheries are managed sustainably. 

“We believe that we can all share and successfully manage this vital fishery if we honestly negotiate in good faith and transparently” he said.

Acknowledging the ongoing talks since 2015 to get traction on a strengthened conservation and management measure for South Pacific albacore, Tonga’s Minister for Fisheries Semisi Fakahau told the Commission that Tonga is committed to working with all members and fishing partners to support adoption of the target reference point for South Pacific Albacore. 

 “In order to maintain the long-term sustainability and economic viability of the tuna fisheries in the WCPO, and to secure livelihoods for local fishermen, it is important that stronger and more effective fisheries management arrangements for migratory tuna stocks and other species are agreed at this meeting.”

Kiribati Fisheries Minister Tetabo Nakara hinted that the conversations towards locking down the reference point won’t be easy.  He noted during his country statement that: “there are agenda items that may polarise our collective approach, and when those agenda items are considered I would mutually call on us all to put aside our differences and to humbly approach those issues as one group in one voice with one amicable solution agreeable to us all.”

Presenting the position of the 17-member FFA bloc to the commission, FFC Chair Tepaeru Herrmann of the Cook Islands opened with the reminder that the Target Reference Point talks holds no surprises; it’s the fourth year in a row the FFA have proposed this move.

“As we’ve stated previously, it is critical to adopt a Target Reference Point so that we can start to manage this fishery…. we have come prepared to work in the spirit of good faith upon which that decision was taken to ensure that we adopt a meaningful Target Reference Point here.” 

When it comes to the time needed to reach a meaningful number, the devil will be working through the detail. The WCPFC Secretariat and SPC’s Oceanic Fisheries Program have provided an Information paper on trends in the Southern Albacore Fishery, revealing a 2017 peak in annual catch estimates for albacore in the south Pacific (south of the equator) of 92,989 metric tonnes, 98% of that by long liners and the remainder by trolling. With both fishing gears, the 2017 catch is upon the previous year – 29% higher for long liners, and 12% higher for trollers.

By comparison, the 2017 total albacore catch in the South Pacific was 72,272 mt and the longline catch within the southern part of the Western and Central Pacific Commission area — excluding archipelago waters — 69,688 mt, one of the highest in the last 10 years. High seas longline catch estimates represent 51% of the total and have ranged from 27-51% of the total over the last 10 years. By flag (or attributed nationality based on charter agreements), China and Chinese Taipei had the highest catch estimates of South Pacific albacore in 2017 (29,125 mt and 12,086 mt respectively), and together represent 59% of the total catch. 70% of their catch was taken on the high seas.

Science updates on effort warn there is ‘considerable uncertainty in 2017 effort estimates, mostly due to gaps in information and data.’ The number of deployed hooks in 2017 within the commission area south of 10 degrees south was 30% higher than in 2016, and 13% lower than the high seen in 2012. The estimated longline effort in this region was estimated at 277 million hooks in 2017.

Representatives of the Pacific tuna industry are pushing hard for action on albacore at this year’s WCPFC15 in the margins of the meeting and from the floor.

“Nobody can deny the perilous state of this fishery,”John Maefiti, Executive Officer of the Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association said in an intervention in the WCPFC plenary yesterday.

“Catch rates simply cannot support current costs (for Pacific operators), leaving many companies on the brink of financial failure.

“We are fortunate that the Southern Pacific Albacore is biologically healthy, but the key to economic viability of a fishery is the catch per unit effort, or CPUE.  We have observed a continually declining CPUE over several years, diminishing what was once a robust and attractive fishery to a shadow of itself. The inability of the WCPFC to control a massive increase in High Seas fishing effort is a sad indictment about this commission’s ability to manage the fisheries under its charge,” Maefiti said.

The Pacific fishing industry has joined the Forum Fisheries Agency and its member governments in calling on WCPFC to take heed of advice from its Science Committee and to ensure the long-term commercial viability and sustainability of the Pacific’s southern longline fishery.

Given the scale of detail and information on the Target Reference Point for South Pacific Albacore and other inter-related issues such as the domination of the southern albacore fishery by China and Taiwan, there are real concerns that discussions will get bogged down once again. This would mean seeing the time window for a decision close for another year.

FFA’s new Director General and her team will be as keen as the high-level heads of Pacific delegations and the outgoing WCPFC Chair to ensure that doesn’t happen and South Pacific Albacore gets the Target Reference Point the commission has promised. But with only a few days to go and other high priority issues including the Tropical Tuna Measure for Skipjack, Yellowfin and Bigeye; Compliance Surveillance, and Monitoring; and Transhipment, another late night/early morning finish may well be on the cards for WCPFC15.    —Lisa W-Lahari / TUNApacific

Pacific push for Albacore measures at WCPFC meeting in Hawaii: Preview

Categories @WCPFC15, News, NewsPosted on

HONOLULU, 07 DECEMBER 2018 (PACNEWS)—- Proposals on important measures for albacore tuna – the most important tuna for temperate Pacific countries – are expected to be prioritised by Pacific nations at this year’s Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii in December next week.

Last year the meeting in Manila, Philippines, failed to reach agreement on Albacore tuna.

Albacore is vital to countries such as Fiji, Vanuatu, Samoa, Tonga and other members of the Tokelau Arrangement.

Because large quantities of albacore are also caught in international waters, the Pacific fishing industry will only be profitable if the WCPFC sets strong fishing rules.

A target reference point (TRP)- an ideal stock level from which future decision-making takes its cue – is the starting point for all rule-making.

The WCPFC has committed to set a TRP for Albacore at this meeting.

Tropical tuna species – skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye – will also be high on the agenda.

The 26 nations that govern the world’s biggest fishery left it to the last minute to agree to new rules for the three economically crucial tropical tuna species at last year’s WCPFC meeting.

The adoption of a new Tropical Tuna Bridging Measure was designed to ensure skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tuna stocks are maintained at recent average levels and capable of producing maximum sustainable yield.

The Tropical Tuna Measure, which regulates a catch worth billions of dollars, is a three-year agreement but some of its provisions are due to expire this year.

With the latest science easing concern about fish numbers there is expected to be a push by distant water fishing nations to increase their catch.

Pacific nations are also expected to step up the fight against Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

WCPFC has committed to approve a new conservation measure to protect sharks.

After last year’s tense late night meeting the WCPFC praised the 27 nations for staying the course to agree on the Tropical Tuna Measure and the highlighted the role of Japan, in particular to broker deals and work in the margins to reach consensus at last year’s meeting in Manila.

Commission Chair Rhea Moss-Christian started looking to the future.

“My goals for 2018 are to secure the south pacific albacore management framework including the target reference point, which is important to a number of the South Pacific, members, and to give a comprehensive management plan in place for sharks and manta rays,” she said in late 2017  ….PACNEWS

NGOs slam fishing nation delay tactics: stalemate on albacore tuna

Categories @WCPFC14, News, NewsPosted on

MANILA, Philippines, December 7 – Environment NGOs have delivered a damning indictment of a group of Pacific Tuna Commission members, saying they have deliberately blocked conservation measures for the South Pacific Albacore tuna fishery.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is in the final hours of its week-long deliberation focused on new tropical tuna measures – the rules governing the fishery.

In the past 3 years moves to improve WCPFC rules for albacore have gone at a glacial pace.

“For years we have listened to impassioned pleas from every Pacific Island state with respect to their declining catch rates of South Pacific Albacore,” said Alfred (Bubba) Cook, Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager on behalf of WWF, Greenpeace and the EDF (Environmental Defense Fund).

But few Distant Water Fishing Nation members have been willing to join Pacific nations to take action.

“It seems, despite these impassioned pleas, despite the voluminous scientific and economic evidence put before you, you…don’t…care.

“You don’t care about the domestic industry in the Pacific. You don’t care about the communities in the Pacific Islands that are almost wholly dependent on this resource.

Moreover, you don’t appear to care about the health of the resource.”

The NGOs said most parties around the table had “bent over backwards” to try and accommodate a few demands and these members still refused to budge.

“There does not seem to be even a spirit of compromise. What would you agree to, honestly? Because despite the enormous efforts of most of the parties around the table, you continue to postpone adoption of target reference points and now claim that we should just wait for the next stock assessment or the next meeting or the next something.

“This, to us, seems like a crass delay tactic designed to buy one more year until you can develop another strategy to delay further. And meanwhile the Pacific industry and the countries that depend on the resource wither and die,” said Bubba Cook for the NGOs.

“What additional proof is required to convince you to be a good global citizen and inspire you to recognize your responsibility to the other countries and cultures in this room?

“Lastly, this is a disaster of your own making for a few of you.”

The NGOs said despite repeated calls and measures to limit capacity, these members had put more vessels into the fishery.

“And now, stunningly, you are upset at even the suggestion that you might have to withdraw that capacity and effort in the future. If you are worried about the potential impact on your industry, well, it is by your own hand and the rest of the members in this room shouldn’t have to suffer for your poor judgment.”

The NGOs said agreeing to a non-binding workplan left little satisfaction as it only served as another delay. They called on them to start living up to their collective responsibility to conserve and manage the critically important resource.

‘Tokelau tuna agreement NOT ideal for us’: Solomon Islands

Categories @WCPFC14, News, NewsPosted on

By RONALD TOITO’ONA, Manila

THE Tokelau Arrangement – an agreement which aims to get Pacific nations working together to manage albacore tuna stocks – is not the right approach for the country, says Under-Secretary for the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource (MFMR) Ferral Lasi.

Solomon Islands has the biggest albacore fishery of any Pacific nation but confirmed recently it has has withdrawn from the Arrangement.

Speaking to journalists covering the 14th Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC14) in Manila, Mr Lasi said the reason for the withdrawal is based on what is best for the country.

He explained that although Solomon Islands had been assured that its catch allocation under the Arrangement would be based on its historical catch, this did not appear to be the case once the models are run.

“We can see consistently that our allocation has gone down. And so, we decided the best is for us to withdraw, we don’t want to be constrained, because we also have our localization policy, to have our own fleet.

“We are also using the Longline VDS system, which is in conflict with the catch-base system that the Tokelau Arrangement is proposing.

“So that is the reason why we pulled out,” Mr Lasi explained, during a press conference yesterday.

He added, the strengthening of the local Solomon Islands fisheries is part of the country’s policy for the future.

“Based on the longline VDS, we want to ring fence and get more control, …and we see the Arrangement as standing in the way, constraining our policy.

“The Tokelau Arrangement only caters for certain members of FFA. Not all the members are part of the agreement,” the HOD for the Solomon Islands delegation said.

When asked if the move will affect the Pacific Solidarity in the Tuna industry, Mr Lasi said the country did not see this as something that will affect the pacific solidarity, but as an opportunity to breakout and regroup and to form a better Arrangement.

However, the Pacific Islands Tuna Industries Association (PITIA) was dismayed by the news on the country’s withdrawal.

“… actually it was disappointing for the industry, it was disappointing probably for the Pacific island region as well,” John Maefiti, Executive Officer of the Honiara based Tuna Industries Association, told the media

“We should sit down at the table and discuss our differences and look at ways to go forward.

“We just have to show the world that we are together in this and we should fight together in this and not try to show them our weak points by showing our differences in this type of initiative.” Mr Maefiti said.

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