July 20, 2020 — The fishing effort in the tuna-rich waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) does not appear to have been significantly impeded by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report prepared by Brisbane, Australia-based resources consultancy MRAG Asia Pacific.
The report, which was completed in April, stated that travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic “has not resulted in a widespread decline in fishing effort.”
March 31, 2020 — The requirement to have 100 percent observer coverage on all purse-seiners fishing in Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) member waters has been temporarily suspended to avoid disrupting fishing operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a circular letter on 27 March, PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoru notified all purse-seine vessel owners and fishing companies operating in PNA waters that the decision to allow fishing without observers is in response to the struggles tuna fishermen are facing as a result of COVID-19. In granting the request, Kumoru said the temporary suspension of the observer coverage requirements will be in place until 31 May, 2020.
January 14, 2020 — Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), in late November 2019, completed the purchase of a fisheries information management system (FIMS) it says will aid in the effective management of fisheries in the region’s waters.
In 2018, the PNA said the FIMS “revolutionized management” of the tuna fishery. The PNA used the system for two years, before finally deciding to buy the system outright.
December 18, 2018 — Pacific Islands fisheries leaders expressed satisfaction with the actions taken by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to support sustainability of the fishery and minimum labor standards for fishing crews, according to an update from the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA).
A compromise worked out late on Dec. 14 allowed for an extension of provisions in the “Tropical Tuna Measure” that is essential to sustainable management of the tuna fishery, said Forum Fisheries Agency director general, Manu Tupou-Roosen, and PNA CEO Ludwig Kumoru.
This includes the continuation of provisions for a three-month prohibition on use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) by purse seiners in exclusive economic zones and high seas areas between from July 1-Sept. 30, and an additional two-month prohibition on FAD use on the high seas.
December 11, 2018 — Two groups that represent the interests of Pacific island nations would like a United Nations council that regulates fishing in the region to adopt international minimum standards for vessels.
The groups, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), want the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to adopt the standards resolution at the commission’s meeting next week in Honolulu, the capital city of the US state of Hawaii.
The FAA said in a press release that minimum labor standards would “enhance economic benefits” to vessel crewmembers from small island states.
“We want to promote enhanced employment opportunities for our members, but we must ensure that the vessels operating in our region are safe working platforms for our people, with fair terms and conditions of employment,” said Manu Tupou-Roosen, the FFA’s director general. “This why we have all agreed on this proposed crewing labor standard.”
Members of the PNA and the FAA are targeting a goal of 33,000 jobs in the fishing industry for Pacific Islanders by 2023, up from 23,000 currently. Around half of all current jobs are held by women in the tuna sector but the groups hope to boost islanders’ employment aboard vessels, particularly longliners.
In a separate release, the FFA said its members were cracking down on Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean “like never before”.
“We have implemented a management system for the purse seiners through the vessel day scheme that has greatly reduced opportunities for IUU activity in this fishery,” Ludwig Kumoru, the PNA’s CEO said. “Our requirement of 100 percent fisheries observer coverage on purse seiners and other measures is a big deterrent to illegal fishing.”
July 14, 2016 — At the Pacific Island Development Forum Leaders Summit Tuesday, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement CEO told the delegates sustainable management of fish was key to self-determination for Pacific peoples.
PNA Chief Executive Officer Transform Aqorau challenged leaders to obtain what he called “true independence” by self determination, indigenous management of ocean resources, South-South cooperation and ending donor dependency. “We must manage our ocean resources to promote self determination and not perpetuate dependency on others. Let us manage our oceans and harness our natural resources to create a sense of self reliance. The PNA has transformed fisheries rights from a market controlled by the others to a market where rights are firmly held in favor of our members,” Aqorau said. The PNA established the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) where a set number of fishing days are traded and sold. This enables control of tuna supply and increased revenue from tuna fishing. Aqorau gave an example of the benefits from the tiniest player in the PNA member countries – Tokelau, which was only getting $900,000 a year from foreign fishing vessels accessing its waters. Now, as part of the PNA, Tokelau has around $10 million a year in revenue from fisheries. Kiribati for a long time received around $26 million a year and now earns around $200 million per year in revenue.
May 5, 2016 — Washington, D.C. — The International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) and the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) announced today that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing a framework for mutual cooperation. The three-year MOU will establish a mechanism for working more closely together on shared activities to promote the sustainability of tuna fisheries, as well ecologically healthy and productive marine ecosystems, in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO).
ISSF and PNA share the view that there is a need to improve the conservation and sustainable use of tuna resources in the WCPO. ISSF and PNA also acknowledge the role that the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) plays in assessing and managing tuna populations in the WCPO. ISSF further recognizes that PNA members are responsible for implementing the decisions adopted by the PNA Ministers and WCPFC within waters under their national jurisdiction.
“The PNA has been committed to the adoption of harvest control rules in the WCPFC, has achieved the first ever Marine Stewardship Council certification of a purse seine tuna fishery, and has put into place strong monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) measures like 100% observer coverage, VMS and FAD tracking,” said ISSF President Susan Jackson. “We applaud and support these activities by the PNA, and advocate for similar programs across all tuna RFMOs and tuna fisheries. It is a natural next step that ISSF and PNA, who have worked alongside for some time now, have formalized a cooperative relationship,” Jackson continued.
Read the full press release at the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation
April 12, 2016 — SEAFOOD NEWS — A Pacific fisheries bloc has unanimously decided to maintain a management system that it says has increased revenue to the islands by more than 500 percent in the past six years.
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement’s Vessel Day Scheme allocates its member countries a number of days per vessel that they can allocate to distant water nations which want to purse seine fish for tuna in their waters.
It is seen as a means of increasing returns and ensuring greater sustainabiliity.
Non-island nations are advocating different approaches, including New Zealand, which this week is promoting its catch based management system to Pacific fisheries ministers.
But the PNA members agreed last week to stay with their VDS system after a review by a New Zealand based company called Toroa Strategy Ltd.
It concluded the VDS is a fully functioning fisheries management regime without peer for its class of fishery.
It said there was no clear benefit from changing to a catch scheme now or in the near future.
The New Zealand meetings are part of the Pacific Island’s Roadmap for Sustainable Pacific Fisheries but the strategy company says Pacific leaders have acted precipitately.
It said they were putting the cart before the horse by opting immediately for a catch-based system.
PNA controls waters where 50 percent of the global supply of skipjack tuna is caught.
Its members are Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
Tokelau is not a full member, but has joined PNA in enforcing the VDS in its fishery.
After detailing the pros and cons of both effort and quota limit systems, the independent review said there was no evidence the present sustainability performance of the VDS was inferior to the quota management system, given the nature and current state of the tuna fishery.
It said the current total catch level in PNA waters was sustainable and the management system in place works.
The company said the purse seine VDS was a very successful fisheries management regime by any real world standard.
This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.
August 10, 2015 — A one-year transitional arrangement for United States vessels for 2016, agreed to on 5 August this year is expected to bring greater benefits to all Pacific Islands.
Dr Transform Aqorau, CEO of Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), said the one-year deal was sealed after a negotiating session in Australia confirming the value of the PNA’s vessel day scheme (VDS) for managing the skipjack tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific ocean.
The islands will receive higher fees for fewer fishing days than in the current agreement for 2015.
He said a positive development reflecting the value of rights based fisheries management for the Pacific Islands, the deal for one-year however underscores the increasing difficulties in getting agreement on longer term access for U.S vessels as they enjoyed, until PNA introduced the VDS.
PNA had set US$8,000 as the minimum fee for VDS days for 2015 and 2016 while capping the number of fishing days for 2015 and 2016 at fewer than 45,000. Many fishing nations in 2015 are paying significantly more than this benchmark price to secure fishing days for their fleets.
The eight PNA members including the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua new Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu will receive US$12,600 per finishing day, a 34 percent increase over the US$9,380 currently paid by the U.S purse seine fleet.