Tag: ecosystems

New protection for threatened manta and mobula rays in Pacific waters

Categories @WCPFC16, FFA Media Fellows past events, News, NewsPosted on

PORT MORESBY – The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) took a major step in helping to protect “threatened” manta and other mobula rays on the final day of its annual meeting on Wednesday.

It adopted a resolution that requires fishers to immediately release any manta rays caught accidentally as “bycatch”.

An international fisheries officer of Pew Charitable Trusts, Glen Holmes, said the increased protection was one of the positive outcomes of the WCPFC meeting, which was held in Port Moresby.

Mr Holmes said the action is considered a “big win” from the commission meeting. 

“WCPFC agreed to increase protections for threatened manta and mobula rays by banning purse-seine and longline vessels from keeping any caught in their nets and hooks. This is a positive step and helps remove the incentive for fishers to capture and keep these imperilled species,” Mr Holmes said.

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members were the proponents of the proposal for a new measure to prevent targeted fishing and retention of mobulid rays, and to promote their safe release, when they are caught in WCPFC convention area fisheries.

FFA Director-General Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen said that the protection of rays is one of the “excellent” outcomes of the WCPFC meeting. 

Pew said six species of manta and mobula rays are vulnerable to overfishing. The species in peril are listed to appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and appendixes 1 and 2 of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.

To many island nations such as Palau and FSM, manta-ray watching is a big tourism draw. There is also global plea to protect rays, which not only get tangled in nets and fishing lines but are also targeted for their meat and gill plates.

Under the measure, purse seiners are required to release rays while they are still swimming freely, with rays that are too large to be lifted safely by hand to be brailed out of the net and released using a purpose-built large-mesh cargo net, or canvas sling or similar device.

Purse seiners and longliners are also banned from dragging, carrying, lifting or pulling a ray by its “cephalic lobes” or tail or by inserting hooks or hands.

Bubba Cook, the head of WWF’s delegation to the WCPFC16, said WWF was happy to see that the manta rays measure move forward.

Pacific nations call on WCPFC members to combat impacts of climate change on tuna fisheries

Categories @WCPFC16, News, NewsPosted on

Republished from SeafoodSource, 9 December 2019

Pacific fisheries officials are calling on the members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to band together and commit to a climate action plan during the commission’s 16th annual meeting.

Any plan needs to take into account the impact of climate change on fish stocks.

In a statement ahead of the week-long Tuna Commission meeting here in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, the 17-member Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) is “therefore calling on the WCPFC to collectively take stronger action on climate change”.

FFA introduced a resolution at the WCPFC urging the commission to:

  • Fully recognise the impacts of climate change, in particular on the fisheries, food security and livelihoods of small island developing states (SIDS) and territories.
  • Take into account in its deliberations, including in the development of conservation and management measures, the impacts of climate change on target stocks, non-target species, and species belonging to the same ecosystem or dependent on or associated with the target stocks.
  • Estimate the carbon footprint of fishing and related activities in the Convention Area for fish stocks managed by the Commission, and develop appropriate measures to reduce such footprint.
  • Develop options such as carbon offsets to decrease the collective carbon footprint of CCMs and the WCPFC Secretariat associated with meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies.

Tuvalu Minister of Fisheries and Trade Mr Minute Alapati Taupo told Pacific journalists that although climate change was not a problem that his nation had caused, the impacts of climate change would fall on the Pacific, and would threaten the benefits of the region’s tuna fisheries.

“Climate change is not a problem that Tuvalu has caused – but we are going to suffer the effects,” Mr Taupo said.

Pacific Community (SPC) fisheries scientist Dr Graham Pilling said climate modelling shows that, as the climate warms, tuna will move to the east and while some Pacific island nations may benefit from the movement, the others will see a reduction in the fish.

He said it further indicates that fish “will move to the high seas and the overall amount of fish will reduce”.

Dr Pilling said that the major impacts of climate change “are predicted to occur after 2050, with some signs before that time”.

Four maps showing movement of two species of tuna, skipjack and yellowfin, from western Pacific Ocean eastwards as a result of changes in the ocean with climate change. Source Pacific Community policy brief 2019
Projected distributions of skipjack and yellowfin tuna in the Pacific Ocean in 2005, and in 2050, under a high greenhouse gas emissions scenario. The maps show a general movement east. Source: SPC

FFA Director-General Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen said climate change is an important issue that the Pacific islands face at the moment and into the future.

“Climate change is the defining challenge of our generation and the impact on Pacific Island countries is particularly threatening, given that tuna fisheries provide significant economic, social and cultural benefits,” Dr Tupou-Roosen said in a statement flagging FFA’s concerns before WCPFC16.

“FFA is asking for increased attention by Commission scientists on the implications of climate change for the region’s tuna stocks and consideration of what conservation and management measures can be put in place to reduce the carbon footprint of both Commission activities and fishing in Pacific waters managed by the Commission. Our members are proposing a resolution on climate change,” she said.

Tuna fishing brings in multiple billions of dollars in revenue for the Pacific island nations. According to the SPC policy brief, tuna caught in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) averaged 2.7 million tonnes a year between 2014 and 2018, with harvests from the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the Pacific nations representing 58% of this catch.

According to FFA, in 2018 the value of the provisional total tuna catch was US$6.01 billion (AU$8.92 billion, €5.41 billion), which was marginally higher than for 2017 and the highest since 2013.

Forum fisheries ministers sign off on important GEF report

Categories Media releases, NewsPosted on

The Honourable Marion Henry, Federated States of Micronesia, signs the SAP. Hon. Henry was the FFC Ministerial Chair at this meeting, and the representative of the host government.

HONIARA, 26 June 2019 – Fisheries ministers attending the 16th Forum Fisheries Committee Ministerial Meeting in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, last week signed off on a key report, the Strategic Action Programme for the Sustainable Management of Living Oceanic Resources by the Small Island Developing States of the Western and Central Pacific (the Strategic Action Programme or SAP), for submission to the Global Environment Facility (GEF). 

The Strategic Action Programme is the culmination of two years of work undertaken with the support of the GEF under the FFA-implemented Pacific Island Oceanic Fisheries Management Project II. The SAP outlines a clear set of priority actions to address issues identified in a situational analysis study of regional oceanic fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific, the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis (TDA), which was completed and endorsed by FFC Officials in 2018.

“The signing in support of the SAP by our respective members’ ministers is yet another fine example of regional cooperation at its best,” said FFA Director-General Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen. 

“The SAP demonstrates our common agreement on the key oceanic fisheries issues faced by the region and how we can take action to address them.

“GEF support has played a significant role in providing strategic assistance to FFA members in addressing oceanic fisheries challenges in the framework of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the region is very thankful for this support to date. We hope to see this support sustained as we continue to address these challenges and protect our fisheries resources for future generations to come,” she said. 

Key issues to be addressed under the SAP include the impacts of climate change for the ecology and fisheries of the region, and the subsequent implications for the socio-economic status, livelihoods and food security of Pacific peoples; the need for stronger and more resilient adaptive ecosystem-based management approach that can adjust rapidly to changing conditions through mechanisms such as harvest strategies and bycatch management including the use of fish aggregating devices; and supporting innovations in tackling illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Ministerial sign-off of the SAP is a key step in the GEF process for the possible development of a follow-up Pacific Regional Oceanic Fisheries Project to support Pacific Island countries tackle the challenges that lie ahead.

##ENDS##

For more information and photos contact:
Donna Hoerder, FFA Media, +679 9265 518, donna.hoerder@ffa.int

About the 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

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How Protecting Sharks Helped Countries Reap Benefits

Categories News, NewsPosted on

The Philippines government recognized whale sharks’ importance to tourism and has since worked to better manage and conserve all shark species.
Photo: The Pew Charitable Trusts/Steve De Neef

Republished from The Pew Charitable Trusts, 16 July 2019

by Jen Sawada

This is the fifth in a series of articles commemorating a decade of shark conservation work.

Even as momentum builds for protecting sharks through regional and international bodies, many countries have opted to act with their own conservation laws. The Philippines, for example, developed a framework and passed a bill to protect these vital animals, and Fiji is finalizing regulations to prohibit commercial fishing of most shark species within its waters. Both countries have championed listings of sharks and rays by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

The Pew Charitable Trusts caught up with A.A. Yaptinchay, director of Marine Wildlife Watch of the Philippines, and Aisake Batibasaga, former fisheries officer of Fiji’s Ministry of Fisheries, to hear how decisions for domestic protections for sharks and rays have propelled the two countries into the role of shark champions.

Q: How did your country decide it needed to protect and manage sharks?

Aisake Batibasaga: I became aware of the less-than-honest practices of fisherfolk and exporters fishing Fiji’s waters. Illegal fishing practices were rapidly depleting shark populations across Fiji. Shark bycatch was increasing, as local fishing crews were complementing their meager incomes [by selling] fins. Working with local, regional, and international partners, we set out to develop strong policies to better conserve and manage vulnerable and endangered shark species. We continue that work today in the hope that sharks remain an integral part of our marine ecosystem, our tourism industry and economy, and our culture.

A.A. Yaptinchay: The Philippines lies within the Coral Triangle, the center of marine biodiversity in the world, and sharks are very much an important part of the Philippine seas. We have seen sharks utilized as food, from directed fishing and bycatch, as well as tourism. We were concerned that there is not enough information available or management measures in place to ensure that our shark populations are not negatively affected.

Q: What hurdles did you overcome to help get these measures passed?

Batibasaga: Lack of resources, expertise, and funds to provide wider coverage and coordination between fisheries, border patrol, and customs officers. Organizations such as the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), and the Pacific Community (SPC), and especially Pew have been instrumental in providing technical expertise, support, and resources for advocacy and strategic policy development in Fiji and the region—and for this we are deeply thankful.

Yaptinchay: We try to employ a participatory and interdisciplinary approach in the development of the 2020 Roadmap and the Shark Conservation Bill, but it is difficult to get input from all the stakeholders, including sectors like the cosmetics industry. Transparency and shared information are critical. The bill is with our politicians now, and momentum has waned because of the national elections in May 2019, but we expect progress after the campaign period.

Q: What changes have you seen as a result of these policies in the perception of sharks within your communities?

Batibasaga: Due to strong advocacy and strategic outreach on the ecological, economic, and social significance of sharks, Fijians are beginning to understand that protecting their sharks and reefs is tantamount to protecting the fish the locals eat—the Pacific islanders’ supermarket. Sharks are no longer just a culturally iconic predator but a vital part in the marine ecosystem and economy.

Yaptinchay: Creating a conservation framework allowed all sectors to participate in shark conservation. In 2014, a coalition of NGOs and government agencies created the Save Sharks Network Philippines, which increased awareness and support by educating and engaging the public and government agencies.

Q: What management measures are in place or in progress in your country?

Batibasaga: Protections for CITES-listed species are under the Offshore Fisheries Management Act and corresponding regulations. Fiji is finalizing regulations under the act to protect many shark and ray species from commercial fishing. Fiji also has both a regional and national plan of action for sharks and implements the conservation and management measures from the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, including a ban on catching silky and oceanic whitetip sharks.

Yaptinchay: Aside from the National Plan of Action—Sharks, the Philippines’ 2020 Roadmap targets increased information, regulation, awareness, and governance on issues related to shark conservation. One output is the Shark Conservation Bill, which was approved in the House of Representatives in February 2019. The Philippines also recognizes all sharks and rays listed in CITES as fully protected in the country, and the entire island of Cebu also passed local legislation to protect all sharks, rays, and chimeras.

Q: How have domestic measures helped make your country a global leader in shark conservation?

Batibasaga: Fiji government representatives are not only the voice of Fiji but the voice of the region. Protecting sharks is protecting our marine biodiversity, which is integral to our way of life. The Pacific must lead the way, since we are among those most prone to adverse environmental challenges. Our shark and ray regulations will act as a model for our Pacific neighbors and countries around the world. We may be a small island country, but we will continue to champion conservation efforts because our way of life depends on the actions we take today.

Yaptinchay: The Philippines has been championing species for listing in both CMS and CITES. We realized that the Philippines is in a unique position to influence our neighboring countries, particularly the ASEAN region, to support more international treaties and commitments and use the outputs and learnings from our projects as a means of promoting shark conservation globally.