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PNG Says Global Warming Is Biggest Threat To Its Tuna Fisheriesff

18 January 2008 Papua New Guinea
Sea temperatures were expected to rise by 4% because of global warming forcing the migratory tuna stocks to leave for cooler waters.

Fisheries Minister Ben Semri made this remarks last Wednesday during a visit to Lae to officiate at the hand-over of the fish processing and cold storage facility by the Chinese Ambassador Wei Ruixing.

The Chinese government provided K7million while the PNG Government gave counterpart funding of K3 million for the facility construction.

“Climate change is a big threat that may see us likely to lose our fishing and spawning grounds,” he said.

The sector last year brought in a total of some K54 million into the national coffers.
Mr Semri said because of global warming climatic change was likely to lead to coral bleaching and affect our mangroves which are rich in marine resources and major spawning grounds for fish species.

Other major challenges he highlighted included:
* Declining stocks of big-eye and yellow fin tuna;
* Challenges of regulating, monitoring and preserving of fish stocks; and
* Increasing fuel prices due to higher crude oil prices.

“The increasing fuel prices had put a lot of pressure on the domestic fishing industry,” Mr Semri said.

He said PNG had the largest tuna stock in the Central Western Pacific and has the largest tuna stocks in the world.

“Lack of down-stream processing facilities was denying PNG greater benefit,” Mr Semri said.
He said PNG is located in the coral triangle that includes six countries in Asia and the Pacific which have the largest collection of coral reefs in the world.

Mr Semri revealed that the area was referred to as the “Amazon of the sea” and the six countries were collaborating on monitoring and conserving this rich resource.

He revealed that PNG has the second best monitoring system in the world but more collaboration was needed between stakeholders to ensure stocks last.

These include Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Timor Leste.

Only 5 pct of Ahi Tuna Exceeds mercury limit as part of a recent test on mercury levels that exceeded the FDA action level of 1 part per million (ppm), Micro Analytical Systems, Inc. (MASI), the seafood testing company that conducts mercury tests also tested Ahi tuna. The company also reported that five percent of both the ahi tuna and halibut tested exceeded the 1 ppm level.

For the test, a total of 142 samples of tuna, swordfish and halibut were randomly and anonymously purchased during November and December 2007 in 19 leading supermarkets in Northern California and South Florida. MASI found that both the swordfish and the halibut tested had higher mean mercury levels, and higher maximum levels of mercury, than published government data indicate consumers should expect to find in these species. (See Chart below.)

”We purchased the fish just as any consumer would, selecting these species because they are popular and known to have a higher mercury content than most fish. Swordfish is known to have one of the highest average mercury levels,” said Mal Wittenberg, MASI CEO. He noted that the findings in this test were consistent with the results of MASI’s extensive testing of these species in fish processing plants over the past several years.

”Everyone agrees that it is beneficial to eat more seafood, and consumers should be able to enjoy popular fish like tuna, halibut and swordfish, but many consumers also are concerned about mercury,” Wittenberg said. “Consumers need to have the information to make informed choices about how frequently and in what quantities they can reasonably consume certain species of fish. We believe if consumers have more confidence in seafood, they will enjoy it more frequently, and that is our goal.”

MASI has conducted more than 50,000 mercury tests in the past three years in seafood processing plants in the U.S. and around the world using highly advanced new technology, giving the company a current database of tested fish that is unmatched in the world. MASI conducts seafood mercury testing for a number of leading retailers and also certifies seafood tested to be lower in mercury through its Safe Harbor Certified Seafood® seal.

The seafood in this test was randomly purchased from supermarkets at intervals of three days or more to allow for product turnover. It was tested within 24 hours after purchase by MASI using technology with mercury detection sensitivity close to 10 parts per billion. MASI tested 63 ahi tuna, 41 swordfish and 38 halibut samples.

Mercury Content of Fish Sold in Supermarkets

 

 

MASI Data1

 

FDA Data2

Species

 

Mean

 

Median

 

Max

 

Samples

 

Over 1 ppm

 

% Over ppm

 

Mean

 

Median

 

Max

 

Samples

Ahi Tuna

 

0.477

 

0.476

 

1.215

 

63

 

3

 

5%

 

NP

 

NP

 

NP

 

NP

Swordfish

 

1.630

 

1.358

 

3.654

 

41

 

33

 

80%

 

0.976

 

0.860

 

3.220

 

618

Halibut

 

0.314

 

0.205

 

1.695

 

38

 

2

 

5%

 

0.252

 

0.200

 

1.520

 

46

NP - data not provided by the FDA. 1 MASI data taken from testing conducted by MASI during November and December 2007 from supermarkets in Northern California and South Florida. 2 FDA data taken from ?Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish?

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