Source: Islands Business
It’s no secret that the region’s fisheries resources – an important source of food and export revenues for Pacific Island countries – are under considerable strain.
Rapid growth in commercial fishing activity in recent times has greatly reduced the stocks of our large tuna resources.
Meanwhile, our coastal fisheries aren’t faring any better. They, too, are coming under increasing pressure to provide food for growing populations and cash income in rural areas.
Then there are the export commodities like beche-de-mer, which have been all but depleted across most of the region.
Scientific support
Since 2010, an EU-funded project has been providing the15 PACPs with practical solutions to these problems, with an emphasis on building the management and decision-making skills of regional fisheries staff by providing improved scientific data.
The €8.6 million EDF10 Scientific support for the management of coastal and oceanic fisheries in the Pacific Islands region (SciCOFish) project is implemented by SPC’s Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division.
It recently completed important regional assessments for the main species of tuna (an important source of export revenue for many PACPs).
Results of the assessments showed that the region needs to limit catches at around current levels and reduce fishing effort on the bigeye tuna species, with subsequent management implications for countries at national level.
As part of its ongoing tuna tagging activities, SciCOFish recently tagged over 4,000 bigeye tuna in the central Pacific Ocean. Information from tag recaptures contributes further to what is already the most extensive dataset available for tuna stock assessment in the Pacific.
At a national level, the project has carried out recent tuna data audits in FSM, Fiji, RMI and Vanuatu, resulting in the identification of missing data and more complete estimates of national catches for those countries.
A second EU-funded project, jointly implemented by Forum Fisheries Agency and SPC, addresses two key concerns regional leaders have about tuna fisheries: the need to secure greater economic benefits from a resource which is mainly harvested by foreign vessels for processing in Asia; and the fear that a lot of fish are being caught illegally.
The €7.7 million EDF10 Development of sustainable tuna fisheries in Pacific ACP countries – phase II (DevFish2) project helps countries develop local tuna industries, creating employment and export earnings, while improving the deterrence of illegal fishing.
Operating since 2010, DevFish2 responds to requests from countries to meet a wide range of needs.
Recent activities at regional and national level include training the authorities that certify fish exports to Europe from Fiji, PNG and Solomon Islands; strengthening of national fishing industry associations; and the development of new IT systems to monitor licensing and fishing activities in the region.
The project provides ongoing support to the Pacific Islands Tuna Industry Association, helping it link with national private sector associations and convey its members’ interests and views at regional and international forums and consultations.
DevFish2 has also enabled industry-wide discussions on issues of fisheries management and development in Cook Islands, PNG, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu by bringing together national associations and other important stakeholders.
Most recently, the project installed IT systems in a number of PACPs, including Cook Islands, FSM, Fiji, RMI, Nauru, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Tuvalu, to enhance countries’ capacity to analyze illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
The project fields national requests for hands-on training, recently sponsoring industrial attachments for six University of Natural Resources and Environment students from PNG at fisheries and processing enterprises in Solomon Islands.
Through the combined efforts of the two EU-funded projects, PACPs should be better equipped to manage their fisheries – without a doubt the region’s most significant renewable resource for food security, livelihoods and economic growth.
The loss of this resource would deal a severe and lasting blow – depriving countries of future benefits – and better management systems are needed now more than ever.