Saving Seafood

News for the Western Pacific Region

Report indicates key tuna stocks in Western and Central Pacific Ocean are healthy

December 12, 2019 — Pacific bigeye, yellowfin, albacore, and skipjack tuna are all reported to be in healthy condition, according to a 2018 stock assessment announced this week during the 16th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The Pacific Community’s (SPC) stock assessment report stated that the estimate of the total tuna catch in the WCPFC Convention Area for 2018 is 2,790,859 metric tons (MT), which represents 81 percent of the total Pacific Ocean catch of 3,443,174 MT, and 54 percent of the global tuna catch, which was 5,172,543 MT.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Greenpeace report says forced labor persists in Southeast Asia fishing sector

December 11, 2019 — Slavery continues to plague the fishing sector in Southeast Asia, according to a new report from Greenpeace Southeast Asia.

Relying on interviews, documents, and other information, the report painted a picture of Indonesian, Filipino, and other Southeast Asian migrant fishermen working aboard distant-water vessels owned by foreign countries and suffering from mistreatment, human rights abuses, and forced labor.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

US Pacific Territory Fishery Scholarship Applications Due March 2, 2020

December 10, 2019 — The following was released by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council:

The Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and its Education Committee members are pleased to announce the availability of up to three undergraduate or graduate scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year. These scholarships support the aspiration of American Samoa, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands to build their capacity to effectively manage their fisheries and related resources through employment of their own people. Students with strong ties to these territories are eligible for scholarships that cover the cost of tuition and fees and some living expenses. However, for undergraduates, there is an expectation that the Free Application for Federal Student Aid will be completed early and Pell grants obtained so the relevant university’s Financial Aid Office can determine the amount of aid needed. Click here for more information and a complete scholarship application. Funding for the scholarships comes in part from the NOAA Fisheries Pacific Islands Regional Office and Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center. For further details, please contact Amy Vandehey at info@wpcouncil.org or phone (808) 522-8220.

NOAA ship to conduct research, hydrographic survey of NMI reefs, slopes

December 9, 2019 — Between April and August 2020, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said its 231-foot survey and research ship, Rainier, will conduct research and a hydrographic survey of the reefs and slopes surrounding the Mariana Islands Archipelago.

A team of researchers and scientists will be aboard the ship.

Noriko Shoji, Science Operations Division director of NOAA-National Marine Fisheries Service-Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center, said the Rainier will operate 24 hours a day and will use research equipment and deploy divers.

According to NOAA, the operations of the ship also include “two 28-foot hydrographic survey launches as well as two dive platform vessels that will be working concurrently with the ship to study coral reef health and obtain high-resolution depth measurements of the seafloor.”

Shoji said they’re hoping to obtain “detailed depth information and seafloor characterization which will be useful in determining fisheries habitat, understanding coral reef health as well as marine geologic processes.”

Shoji added that updating the nautical charts will also help ensure safe ocean navigation.

Read the full story at Marianas Variety

Pacific nations call on WCPFC for climate change action plan

December 9, 2019 — Pacific fisheries officials are calling on members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to band together and commit to an action plan that takes climate change’s impacts on its fisheries into account.

In a statement ahead of the week-long tuna commission meeting – taking place in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, between 5 and 11 December – the 17-member Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) are “therefore calling on the WCPFC to collectively take stronger action on climate change.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Retailers, brands refusing to pay more for slavery-free seafood

December 5, 2019 — Few buyers of seafood from Thailand are building the cost of social and environmental compliance into the prices they’re paying, undermining efforts to keep slavery and other labor abuse issues out of the supply chain, according to a new report from Praxis Labs, funded by the non-governmental organizations Humanity United and the Freedom Fund.

The report, “Tracking Progress: Assessing Business Responses to Forced Labour and Human Trafficking in the Thai Seafood Industry,” investigated how industry responded to the exposure of labor and human rights abuses in the Thai seafood sector, which were exposed in the past five years by The Associated Press and The Guardian.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Pacific Meeting to Target Control of Tuna Fisheries

December 5, 2019 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Researchers are calling for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to better address its fisheries management challenges.

The commission – responsible for managing the vast ocean waters – meets in Papua New Guinea this week.

The Pew Charitable Trust has said due to the high volume of fishing vessels, trans-shipment (transfer of catch between fishing and carrier vessels) and port activities in the region, the Commission had been unable to increase its observer coverage.

The Trust said the commission needed to strengthen oversight of fishing vessels at sea, and in port, and modernise management for long-term sustainability.

Jamie Gibbon, of the Trusts’ international fishing team, wrote in an article for Pew that illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing was a major threat to the sustainability and profitability of the world’s fisheries.

He said sound fisheries control also required clear rules regarding how much fish could be caught and with what gear.

Mr Gibbon said that would help fishing levels become sustainable.

To achieve that, the commission should strengthen port controls, increase observer coverage and improve monitoring of trans-shipment.

The commission also needed to advance harvest strategies and protect the sharks, mantas and mobula rays.

Meanwhile, Fisheries Minister Semi Koroilavesau will lead the Fiji delegation at the meeting and said he would discuss crew policies to ensure Fijian nationals were protected on local and foreign fishing vessels.

He said the supply of tuna from several of its neighbours would also be high on the agenda for Fiji at the meeting.

“I think PNG, Solomons and Vanuatu would be ready to discuss the details of it. We have been working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the last year in trying to achieve this.”

Mr Koroilavesau said Fiji would also push for a quota system given the number of foreign fleets on the high seas.

That, he said, would protect smaller and developing Pacific states.

Mr Koroilavesau urged Pacific governments to improve control over their fisheries to protect their value.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting starts on Thursday in Port Moresby.

This story was originally published on SeafoodNews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

Curbs on fisheries subsidies debated at WTO meeting

December 3, 2019 — India and several other developing countries have challenged a potential agreement on fisheries subsidies currently being negotiated at the World Trade Organization, according to a 1 December report from The Hindu BusinessLine.

WTO members are working on an agreement to curb fisheries subsidies that lead to overfishing and destruction of marine life. The pact was supposed to be signed at the next ministerial meeting in June 2020. However, several areas of disagreement between developed and developing countries still exist, especially regarding an extension of the effective special and differential treatment (S&DT) provisions and exclusions. These provisions would give developing countries flexibility to subscribe to less onerous reduction commitments compared to richer countries.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

China’s tilapia exporters holding onto US sales with price cuts

December 2, 2019 — Exporters in China’s key tilapia producing region of Hainan have been able to hold onto their sales to the United States despite ramped-up tariffs now reaching upwards of 25 percent, according to Alno Wu, head of overseas sales at Hainan Sky-Blue Ocean Foods Co (SBO).

Wu said firms like his, a vertically integrated firm processing tilapia in Hainan Province, are doing so thanks to lower prices, which they have been able to offer due to a surge in production across the province. Projections of stricter enforcement of environmental regulations leading to lower production have not come to pass, as thus far, Hainan has gotten greater leeway in implementation than other regions, according to Wu.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Bumble Bee tuna has filed for bankruptcy

November 27, 2019 — Something fishy is going on.

Bumble Bee Foods, LLC — renowned as for its Bumble Bee canned tuna products — filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Thursday, years following a Department of Justice investigation which found evidence of a massive price-fixing scheme by the San Diego-based company.

Taiwanese fish supply chain company FCF Co. plans to put in a $925 million bid for the assets in a deal to be completed within 90 days, CNN reported.

“It’s been a challenging time for our company but today’s actions allow us to move forward with minimal disruption to our day-to-day operations,” Bubble Bee president and CEO Jan Tharp said in a statement.

A staple of American kitchen for over a century, the Bumble Bee brand has been in troubled waters over the past few years.

Read the full story at The Daily News