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Spreading the word on Pacific actions for sustainable ocean fisheries management

Author: Andrew Hunt, SPC

First Tails logsheet collector uploads the 20,000th

Categories NewsPosted on 28 February 2019
First Tails logsheet collector uploads the 20,000th
Slade Benjamin from Nauru Fisheries entering the first Tails logsheet in February 2016. Image Andrew Hunt, SPC.
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By Andrew Hunt, republished from SPC Fisheries Newsletter, #157

On 1 November 2018, the 20,000th fishing trip logsheet was uploaded using the Tails data entry app, marking a significant milestone for tablet-based, small-scale fisheries data collection in the Pacific Islands region. In a serendipitous twist of fate, the same data collector who uploaded the 20,000th logsheet also uploaded the very first Tails logsheet back in 2016 during the first field trials. Looking back over the last few years, there has been significant progress in the region towards improved small-scale fisheries data collection, and a push from Pacific Island countries and territories to use these data for decision- making within fisheries management.

Fisheries data management staff at the Pacific Community (SPC) had been running some routine reports and noticed that the number of logsheet uploads via Tails was approaching 20,000. Who would submit the 20,000th logsheet? Would it be sent from a community-based fisheries manager in remote Vanuatu, entering caught yellowfin tuna from a locally designed and built ‘vatuika’ fish aggregation device? Would it be submitted from the wharf in Rarotonga, with a fisheries officer sampling a few mahi mahi caught by tourists from Auckland as part of the island’s thriving tourist industry? Or could the logsheet be submitted from a data collector in Tonga, entering a catch of wahoo from the local small-scale troll fishery?

As it turned out, the 20,000th logsheet was submitted by Slade Benjamin, a fisheries data collector with Nauru fisheries who assisted with the very first version of Tails, and collected the very first Tails logsheet from a local fisher who had caught a wahoo and snapper while fishing from of a small boat before work. Slade was instrumental in the early testing of Tails and in providing feedback on the first designs and ideas in order to get Tails to where it is today. Looking back at several years of data collection, and those 20,000 logsheets, gives perspective to the rapid uptake and effort that Pacific fisheries offices have invested into this kind of data collection.

These logsheets contain a huge amount of small-scale fisheries data, made possible by the many thousands of hours that data collectors spend waiting at landing sites to collect data, interview fishers and measure catches. An impressive amount of data collection for a tool that was only first tested in 2016.

As the data collection programme matures, and the time series of data increases, these data become more and more useful for fisheries and social purposes. These data inform the coastal fisheries report card, are used to report total removals of tuna to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, and in some cases the collection of reef species has helped inform local fisheries management decisions.

Less than three years after the first Tails logsheet was developed, there are now close to 100 data collectors operating in 10 Pacific Island countries and territories, with 451 unique species logged, and 564,092 kg of fish recorded. These data have been used for important management decisions, as well as tracking nearshore the effectiveness of fish aggregation devices, and reporting small-scale tuna catches to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

For more information: contact Andrew Hunt, Data analyst – Trainer, FAME, SPC.

See a short video where Andrew explains the Tails App on sustainpacfish.net

SPC is the sole copyright holder of this article.

Author Andrew Hunt, SPC

Scientists recommend catch limits for Pacific fishery

Categories NewsPosted on 18 October 2018
Scientists recommend catch limits for Pacific fishery
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Republished from Pacific Island Times, 18 October 2018

Scientists from throughout the Pacific meeting this week in Hilo on the island of Hawai’i have made their recommendations on federally managed fisheries of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and the US Pacific Remote Islands.

The Scientific and Statistical Committee (SSC) of the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council will conclude its meeting later today. The SSC recommendations will then be considered by the Council at its 174th meeting to be held Oct. 23 and 24 in Saipan, CNMI, and Oct. 26 and 27 in Guam. Under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976, the Council has authority over fisheries seaward of state waters in Hawaii and other US Pacific Islands.

During the first two days of the meeting the SSC specified annual biological catches for a suite of managed species. The Council will consider the annual biological catch specifications in recommending annual catch limits for these species.

The annual catch limits can be equal to or lower than the annual biological catches set by the SSC, depending on management uncertainties. The council’s catch limit recommendations will be transmitted to the Secretary of Commerce for final approval.

Process for specifying annual quotas

The SSC noted the general under utilization of the stocks for which it specified biological catch and discussed how best to incorporate this into catch limit specification with little to no fishing effort. The SSC also noted that under-reporting continues to be an issue for most of these stocks. The last deep-water shrimp assessment was in 1988, and there is a clear need to update the maximum sustainable yield for this stock.

The SSC also recommended refining the essential fish habitat for precious coral in the Hawaii Archipelago and updating the essential fish habitat information for the Fishery Ecosystem Plan for the Hawaii to incorporate new data from submersible research dives. For deep-water precious coral (e.g. pink and bamboo), the SSC recommended defining the geographic extent of precious coral essential fish habitat based both the existing essential fishing habitat beds as well as the newly identified beds.

For the shallow water precious corals, the SSC recommended updating the essential fish habitat definitions with the habitat characteristics and geographic extent. This description would increase the percentage of precious coral observations contained within the essential fish habitat areas of the MHI from 56 percent to 92 percent. The SSC noted that bottom current is important to understanding precious coral habitat, but data on the bottom current data is not available now or in the foreseeable future.

Author Pacific Island Times News Staff

Monitoring, control and surveillance operation to help stop illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing a success

Categories Media releasesPosted on 10 August 2018
Monitoring, control and surveillance operation to help stop illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing a success
Photo: Francisco Blaha
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Press release—republished from Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), 10 August 2018

Covering 16.5 million square kilometres over 10 days with 10 FFA member states, Operation Island Chief found no infringements or breaches

A ten-day annual operation to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend potential illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing activity ended on August 3. Operation Island Chief involved ten FFA member nations- Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Palau, PNG, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, and the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group (QUADs) – Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States.

Regional surveillance operations such as Operation Island Chief involve hundreds of personnel from across the region, with joint coordination led by the FFA’s Regional Fisheries and Surveillance Centre (RFSC) team. Fisheries, Police Maritime Units and Navy officers of FFA members participated as watch-keepers joining the RFSC team for around the clock shifts during the Operation, with their primary task being to monitor and analyse the Regional Surveillance picture and all incoming data from the QUAD surveillance providers.

Operation Island Chief 2018 (OPIC18) covered more than 16.5 million square kilometres of ocean and found no infringements or breaches.

Chief of Staff – Petty Officer Waisake Tikoduadua from Fiji said “As Chief of Staff for OPIC18 first, I have to know watch keepers very well and make sure that they are well organized in their watch and shift. Also to ensure daily briefs are prepared during the operation. I thank everyone for the great team work for OPIC18 and I am looking forward to work with FFA in future operations.”

OPIC18 is the third of four Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) led monitoring, control and surveillance operations each year. It involved patrol boats from Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, as well as aircrafts from Australia and the United States, who offered their defence and military assets to support regional surveillance. A total of approximately 50 days at sea and 110 hours of air time was undertaken during OPIC18.

“As always we are thankful for the level of cooperation, commitment and engagement by our members and QUAD partners in safeguarding the Pacific fishery from Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported activity” said FFA Director General, James Movick.

FFA Director General, James Movick

For more information, please contact Donna Hoerder, donna.hoerder@ffa.int, ph: +677 21124

About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)

FFA was established to help their 17 member countries sustainably manage their fishery resources that fall within their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA is an advisory body providing expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management through agencies such as the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). www.ffa.int

Author From FFA

Fisheries Ministers Appoint First Female Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency

Categories Media releasesPosted on 9 July 2018
Fisheries Ministers Appoint First Female Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
Fisheries Ministers Appoint Dr Tupou-Roosen as the First Female Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
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Press release—republished from Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), 9 July 2018

Forum Fisheries Ministers announced the appointment of the incoming Director General of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Dr Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen, at the conclusion of the 15th Forum Fisheries Committee Ministerial meeting which was held in the Cook Islands on 3-5 July and chaired by Cook Islands Prime Minister and Minister of Marine Resources, Honourable Henry Puna.

“We are delighted to announce Dr Tupou-Roosen as the new Director General of FFA. She is very committed to the FFA’s role as a facilitator of regional cooperation on fisheries management within the Pacific region and has excellent strategies for leading the FFA into the next decade as it helps members develop their offshore fisheries,” Honourable Puna said.

He added that “The best thing about it all is that the decision was by unanimous agreement of all of the Fisheries Ministers.”

Responding to her appointment, Dr Tupou-Roosen, who is currently head of the FFA Legal Services, said: “I am very humbled to be chosen as the incoming Director General and sincerely thank our Members for this great honour.”

“I very much look forward to working with Deputy Director-General Matt Hooper and all of our staff to serve our Members. We have a clear mission to ensure the sustainable use of our offshore fishery resources increases the economic and social benefits for all our Pacific people and I am committed to following through on that mission.”

“I see Empowerment, Communication and Collaboration as critical tools to ensuring successful Cooperation and to ensuring our Pacific people prosper.  Strengthening our mechanisms to combat IUU fishing and enhancing social benefits will also be top of mind for me.  I will be making these a priority when I take up the role.”

The selection process for the Director General was extensive and ran over a twelve-month period. Dr Tupou-Roosen will take up her new position in mid-November 2018, replacing Mr James Movick, who has held the role since 2008.

Dr Tupou-Roosen in discussion with FFA DG James Movick during the FFCMin15. Photo: FFA

CAREER SUMMARY

Dr Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen

Dr Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen has worked for nearly 20 years in the area of fisheries, including 13 years as the FFA Legal Counsel. In this role she has been responsible for providing legal and strategic advice to the Director General on significant Agency-wide issues.

Dr Tupou-Roosen gained a Masters of Law in 1997 under a NZ scholarship with a focus on International Fisheries and achieved First Class Honours. She also gained a PhD in Law in 2004 under a Commonwealth Scholarship, with a focus on International and Regional Fisheries Compliance.

In pursuing her education, Dr Tupou-Roosen was always intent on returning and serving in the area of fisheries in our region.

In her role as Legal Counsel of the FFA, Dr Tupou-Roosen had a long list of achievements, including:

  • Leading the drafting group on the revised texts of the US Tuna Treaty and its related instruments during the negotiations from 2009-2016;
  • Driving the successful implementation of the multilateral Niue Treaty Subsidiary Agreement at regional and national levels, including securing funds to support implementation at the regional level through an in-house legal advisor position for this specific work, and for in-country work at the national level;
  • Initiating innovative ways of dealing with issues, such as developing a strategy to broaden the Agency’s approach to addressing IUU fishing from a vessel-focus to include profiling the actual IUU fishers (Persons of Interest), which has been supported by Members;
  • Directing the revision of the Harmonised Minimum Terms and Conditions (MTCs) for the safety of observers, and led Secretariat support to Members in the lead-up to adoption of the Observer Safety measure by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission;
  • Initiating the comprehensive review of the MTCs in 2013 and 2014 and re-established its role as a strategic tool to set leading in-zone standards to drive compatible measures for the high seas;
  • Forging an effective partnership with SPC to deliver legislative reviews and maritime boundaries solutions;
  • Initiating the Legal Graduate Programme to ensure that nationals of FFA member countries are exposed to, and interested in, fisheries at an early stage in their careers.

Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen Photo: Lisa Williams/PMN

Author From FFA

New Zealand commits NZD 4.9 million to help stop illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Pacific

Categories NewsPosted on 29 June 2018
New Zealand commits NZD 4.9 million to help stop illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Pacific
Photo: SPC
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Press release—republished from Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), 29 June 2018

In a move to enhance tuna fisheries management in the Pacific, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) committed NZD 4.9million to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) yesterday.

This funding will be used by FFA to support a project that will establish and enhance catch documentation schemes (CDS) for FFA members over the next five years. The new Grant Funding Agreement was signed by Fletcher Tabuteau, Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, New Zealand and FFA Deputy Director General, Matthew Hooper.

“FFA Members work collectively to effectively manage their Pacific tuna fisheries, and this project will support members to access high value export markets while tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing” said Mr Hooper on accepting the funding support.

The project aims to ensure FFA’s Pacific Island members maintain market access for their fishery products, by improving traceability along supply chains through the integration of fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance systems, the implementation of electronic reporting and the development of technological solutions to strengthen national capacity.

The project provides support for the development of national and regional CDS frameworks, national regulatory and policy frameworks and the development of CDS tools and associated training and capacity building.

The agreement follows almost two years of preparation and builds on work being undertaken to strengthen port state measures in the Pacific and complementing the existing comprehensive regional monitoring, control and surveillance framework implemented by FFA members.

### ENDS

Catching tuna in the Pacific (Photo: SPC)

For more information, please contact Donna Hoerder, donna.hoerder@ffa.int, ph: +677 21124

About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)

FFA was established to help their 17 member countries sustainably manage their fishery resources that fall within their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA is an advisory body providing expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management through agencies such as the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). www.ffa.int

Author From FFA

Making Progress in Sustainable Oceanic Fisheries—UNDP Pacific Oceanic Fisheries Management II

Categories FeaturesPosted on 22 June 2018
Making Progress in Sustainable Oceanic Fisheries—UNDP Pacific Oceanic Fisheries Management II
The Oceanic Fisheries Management Project II (OFMP II) is funded by GEF and focuses on Pacific SIDS participation in sustainable oceanic fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Photo: Francisco Blaha
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Republished from IW:LEARN, 22 June 2018
IW:LEARN is the Global Environment Facility’s (GEF) International Waters Learning Exchange and Resource Network.

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) hosts the GEF funded “Implementation of Global and Regional Oceanic Fisheries Conventions and Related Instruments in the Pacific Small Island Developing States Project”, known by its abbreviation as the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project II (OFMP II). The Project is the third GEF funded marine resources initiative in the Pacific region and builds on the successes of the first two projects with a focus on Pacific SIDS participation in sustainable oceanic fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).

In the context of the programming directions for International Waters in the GEF, the project makes significant contributions to FFA activities in support of both the blue economy and improving the management of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ).

Cooperation in the management of tuna fisheries by Pacific Island countries is a direct application of the principles of the blue economy. This concept aims to promote economic growth, social inclusion, and the preservation and improvement of livelihoods while at the same time ensuring environmental sustainability of the oceans. It is closely linked with Sustainable Development Goal 14, specifically 14.4 and 14.7.

The Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) tuna fishery is the largest tuna fishery in the world and the 2.7 million ton annual WCPO tuna catch accounts for sixty percent of global production with sixty percent of this catch coming from the waters of FFA Members. Tuna fisheries are a key resource for all Pacific Island countries – for many the only renewable economic resource. The WCPO is the only tuna fishery on the planet in which all four target stocks are currently rated as sustainably fished with no overfishing occurring.

Evening canoe fishing. Photo: Francisco Blaha

The Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) is a fisheries management system that establishes rights in the shared fishery for coastal state and has been driven by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), a sub-regional grouping of FFA member countries. The consolidation of VDS which allows members to sell the rights to purse seine fishing days in their waters has seen SIDS revenues from the purse seine fishery increase from from 220 million in 2012 to 480 million in 2016, accounting for more than 40% of government revenue in five member SIDS and supporting 25,000 jobs in FFA Member countries in 2017. Of those employed in the processing sector 80% are women.

The Regional Fisheries Surveillance Programme is a unique collaboration between the members of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) to address illegal, unreported and unregistered (IUU) fishing in support of SDG 14.4. A range of regionally agreed systems and tools and best practice technology applications provide a high level of monitoring, control and surveillance and the agency is active in a range of activities supporting IUU mitigation such as the implementation of electronic monitoring and reporting systems on WCPO vessels.

FFA Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre: the heartbeat of vessel monitoring for the WCPO. Photo: FFA Media

In terms of activities supporting improved management of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (ABNJ), the OFMP2 project supports the annual FFA Management Options Consultation (MOC) meeting in which FFA Members Countries actively participate in WCPFC decision making and includes the improved management of ABNJ. MOC processes have provided the opportunity for supporting the adoption of high seas Special Management Areas and promoting strengthened catch and effort limits on the WCPFC high seas for tropical tuna fisheries, as well as an allocation process that will take account of the WCPFC Convention’s recognition of the special requirements of SIDS.

OFMP2 has also assisted PNA countries to develop the capacity to implement their prohibition on PNA-licenced purse-seiners from fishing in the two western high seas pockets.

Wider FFA promoted and supported measures such as FAD closures, 100% observer coverage in the purse seine fishery and coordinated approaches to high seas boarding and inspection activities also support more effective management of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction.

The GEF OFMP II is a key contributor to the success of the blue economy in the WCPO.

This story provides an illustration of how GEF IW projects are already addressing themes in the new GEF IW strategy for the 7th GEF Replenishment. In this case the story highlights how projects can address Objective 1. Strengthening Blue Economy opportunities. In GEF-7, investments will be strengthening nations Blue Economy opportunities, through three areas of strategic action: 1) sustaining healthy coastal and marine ecosystems; 2) catalyzing sustainable fisheries management; and, 3) addressing pollution reduction in marine environments.

 

Author IW:LEARN

Purse seine tuna fishery supplying FCF Taiwan achieves MSC status

Categories NewsPosted on 22 June 2018
Purse seine tuna fishery supplying FCF Taiwan achieves MSC status
Photo: Greenpeace
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Republished from Undercurrent News, 22 June 2018

Photo: Greenpeace

A Taiwanese purse seiner hauls its catch in the western Pacific. Photo: GreenpeaceA purse seine tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific shared by the US, China and Taiwan — and supplying tuna company FCF Fishery of Taiwan — has achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification.

The South Pacific Tuna Corporation (SPTC), in conjunction with FCF and the Western Pacific Sustainable Tuna Alliance, announced the central Pacific skipjack and yellowfin free-school purse seine fishery had achieved and received the MSC standard on June 22.

The fishery is operated by US, China, and Taiwan-flagged vessels. Authorized vessels principally fish for skipjack and yellowfin tuna within the exclusive economic zones of countries that are Parties to the Nauru Agreement, as well as the high seas.

“This certification is an important step we have worked diligently towards to meet the standards of MSC. We are proud to be the leader in driving sustainable practices, as well as establishing a standard that exceeds that of the NGO community,” said Ray Clarke, vice president of environmental development and government affairs at SPTC.

According to Clarke, the companies will now provide in excess of 100,000 metric tons of MSC-certified tuna to the global market.

The certification comes amid Greenpeace allegations of labor abuses on tuna vessels supplying FCF Taiwan. However, Taiwanese fishing authorities have said the allegations refer to old cases, while industry sources have also queried the connection with FCF.

Author Undercurrent News

Blockchain initiative to be tried in PNA tuna fishery

Categories NewsPosted on 19 June 2018
Blockchain initiative to be tried in PNA tuna fishery
Yellowfin tuna. Photo: WWF
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Republished from Undercurrent News, 19 June 2018

The eight Pacific Island nations and territory in the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) tuna fishery, the world’s largest, have organized the tuna industry’s first large blockchain initiative, promising to give retailers, consumers and environmental groups information about vessels, captains, locations of harvest and when fish was processed.

The development was announced at the SeaWeb Sustainable Seafood Summit, in Barcelona, Spain, this week by Pacifical, the market development company that represents the eight nations, including the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu, and also the territory of Tokelau.

The initiative, which is set to be launched by the end of July, is being developed with the help of Atato, a Thailand-based provider of blockchain services.

The fishery represents 25% of the world’s tuna landings, according to a press release. The initiative will cover more than 100 large fishing vessels and “the entire supply chain and chain of custody of about 35 million tuna fish caught annually in an area with a surface 40% bigger than Europe”, the release said.

Author Undercurrent News

World Tuna Conference: FAO providing powerful instruments to fight IUU fishing

Categories NewsPosted on 1 June 2018
World Tuna Conference: FAO providing powerful instruments to fight IUU fishing
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Republished from SeafoodSource, 1 June 2018

The 15th Infofish World Tuna Trade Conference and Exhibition opened on 28 May in Bangkok, Thailand. The three-day conference covered resources, fisheries management, markets, new technologies, food safety, sustainability, and environmental issues.

Among the sponsors was the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Jong-Jin Kim, FAO’s deputy regional representative for Asia and the Pacific, said during his opening address that the international community now has at its disposal a number of new and powerful instruments with the potential to drastically reduce and eliminate illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, including the FAO Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA), the FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes and the FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels.

FAO Fishery Planning Analyst for Asia and the Pacific Cassandra De Young explained the various programs to SeafoodSource.

The 2009 FAO Agreement on Port State Measures (PSMA) is the first binding international agreement to specifically target IUU fishing. Its objective is to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing by preventing vessels engaged in IUU fishing from using ports and landing their catches. Entering into force in June 2016, 54 States and the European Union have joined forces by becoming Parties to the PSMA, as of May 2018.

The 15th Infofish World Tuna Trade Conference and Exhibition 2018 opened on 28 May in Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: World Tuna Trade Conference/Infofish

FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes were officially adopted by the FAO Conference in July 2017 and, with seafood trade at record highs and consumer demand still rising, CDS are increasingly seen as an effective tool. For example, since 2010, the European Union has used a CDS that covers all fish shipments imported into the bloc from overseas; and in 2016, the United States announced its own scheme, the Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). In 2017, ASEAN adopted the voluntary ASEAN Catch Documentation Scheme for Marine Capture Fisheries to enhance intra-regional and international trade of fish and fish products.

“The FAO Voluntary Guidelines on Catch Documentation Schemes is the first international policy document that provides a ‘gold standard’ for governments and businesses looking to establish systems that can trace fish from their point of capture through the entire supply chain – from ‘sea to plate’ – in order to stop illegally caught fish from entering the marketplace,” De Young said.

FAO Fishery Planning Cassandra De Young , Analyst for Asia and the Pacific. Photo: IISD Reporting Services

The Global Record of Fishing Vessels, Refrigerated Transport Vessels and Supply Vessels (the Global Record) is a collaborative, global initiative to make available, in a rapid way, certified data from State authorities about vessels and vessel-related activities. The Global Record provides a single access point for information on vessels used for fishing and fishing-related activities with the primary objective being to combat IUU fishing by enhancing transparency and traceability.

Key to the Global Record, De Young said, is the Unique Vessel Identifier (UVI) – a global unique number that is assigned to a vessel to ensure traceability through reliable, verified, and permanent identification of the vessel. Once assigned, the UVI is with the vessel for its entire life, regardless of changes in flag, ownership, or name. To date, IMO numbers have been allocated to more than 23,000 fishing vessels worldwide. Countries are closing the net on IUU fishing as countries around the globe, De Young said, calling out Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Panama, Peru, Thailand, the United States of America, Vanuatu and the European Union member states for praise, as all have started disseminating their data through the Global Record Information System. Launched in April, 2017, the Global Record initially includes larger vessels (100 gross tonnage, or 24 meters and above) but aims, over time, to include official information on vessels all the way to 10-50 GT or between 12 and 18 meters.

Japan is the second-largest contributor to the FAO’s budget. Keiko Okabe, a communication specialist at the FAO’s Japan Liaison Office, said FAO’s leading initiatives in Japan including implementation of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems and zero hunger initiatives funded by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF).

“The FAO, as a whole, has been implementing a project in supporting developing countries to achieve sustainable fisheries, and to eliminate IUU, which is funded by MAFF,” Okabe told SeafoodSource.

Author Chris Loew

EU, Thai canners should invest in Pacific to cover 50,000t yellowfin shortfall

Categories NewsPosted on 30 May 2018
EU, Thai canners should invest in Pacific to cover 50,000t yellowfin shortfall
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Republished from Undercurrent News, 30 May 2018

Canned private label and Petit Navire tuna at a Casino supermarket in France. Photo: Undercurrentnews

The weaker yellowfin tuna supply picture from the Indian Ocean means European Union and Thailand-based canned tuna producers should make investments in plants in the Pacific, said Henk Brus, managing director of Pacifical.

According to Brus, the effort to reduce yellowfin catches in the Indian Ocean by 15% will be the main driver of a 50,000-metric-ton shortfall for European processors in 2018/2019.

Also, the eastern Pacific faces “disrupted supply”, due to the two-month ban per vessel and also a drive to reduce catching on fishing aggregation devices.

This shortfall will need to be covered from the western and central Pacific, he said. The EU will need big sizes of yellowfin, 10 kilograms and up, to cover the market need for 12,500t of net weight, raw packed canned tuna for France and regular cans for Italy and Spain.

Then, Italy, Spain and France have a demand for about 10,000t of pre-cooked loins, said Brus, at the Infofish Tuna 2018 conference. 

There is a need for yellowfin in the EU and the Pacific countries need expertise in processing, he said.

So, this presents an opening to build a sector aimed at the economic needs of the Pacific countries and the EU assembly [processing] industry, he said.

So, governments in the Pacific need to create attractive investment openings for processors from the EU and also Thailand, the world’s largest canned tuna producer, to invest, said Brus.

A lot of the investments in plants in the Pacific seen so far have come from fishing companies, looking to get access to the tuna-rich Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) waters, but Brus said he’d like to see more specialized processors come in.

“There’s a distinct difference between companies focused on processing compared to canneries run by fishing companies, conversion [processing] is as much a specialized business as fishing,” said Brus.

This industry that will develop in the Pacific needs to focus on four lines, frozen pre-cooked loins, raw canned, regular canned and pouched tuna, he said.

There also needs to be a “strong focus” on Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified products, said Brus, whose Pacifical is the marketing arm for the eight Pacific Island countries that comprise the PNA.

The PNA controls the largest MSC tuna fishery in the world, with both skipjack and yellowfin certified.

Switch sales

If the EU is not able, or unwilling, to try and keep this yellowfin market going, there is an opening to switch more to skipjack.

In fact, this is happening already, to some extent, in Spain and Italy, he said.

With skipjack stocks in a good position, retailers in southern Europe are labeling cans simply as “tuna”, not specifying the species, said Brus. Also, companies are reducing can sizes for yellowfin.

Although the EU has some supply issues, the market is in growth, supported by various trends highlighted by Brus, which you can see slides on below. 

Author Tom Seaman

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