Scientific Assessment and Monitoring

Science Information

Ecosystems Analysis

The Convention requires that the impacts of fishing on non-target and associated or dependent species, and ecosystem impacts in general, be considered when management measures are being developed for highly migratory fish stocks.Specifically, the Convention requires Parties to:

“assess the impacts of fishing, other human activities and environmental factors on target stocks, non-target species, and species belonging to the same ecosystem or dependent upon or associated with the target stocks”;

“adopt measures to minimise waste, discards, catch by lost or abandoned gear, pollution originating from fishing vessels, catch of non-target species, both fish and non-fish species, (hereinafter referred to as non-target species) and impacts on associated or dependent species, in particular endangered species and promote the development and use of selective, environmentally safe and cost-effective fishing gear and techniques”; and

“protect biodiversity in the marine environment”.

It is envisaged that the WCPF Commission will require several types of information and advice in order to consider the ecosystem implications of the fisheries under its jurisdiction, including

the effects on the overall pelagic ecosystem of removal of target species, which are generally higher trophic level predators;
the effects of environmental variation on target stocks, their ecosystem and the fisheries;
the effects of fisheries on non-target and dependent or associated species, in particular the levels of by-catch of non-target species of special interest, such as billfish, sharks and various protected species of marine mammals and turtles; and
the effects of fisheries on biodiversity and habitats of special interest.

In time, the Commission requirements for ecosystem analysis will need to be fully incorporated into the research programme of the Commission and be funded by its Members. However, in the start-up period of the Commission, the resources are not expected to be available for the basic investigations needed to begin to operationalise an ecosystem approach to the Commission’s management and conservation and management functions, and this work will be undertaken with GEF funds under Sub-Component 1, complemented by funding from the EU.

Pilot research and data collection on ecosystem aspects has been undertaken by SPC/OFP, both through the Pacific SAP project and the EU-funded PROCFish project.

The focus of the work to date has been on developing an initial description of the trophic relationships in the WTP LME in order to ultimately assess the impacts of large predator removal (point 1 above), developing preliminary models of the effects of environmental variability (particularly ENSO-driven variability) on tuna fisheries and stocks (point 2 above) and initiating and improving scientific observer coverage of industrial tuna fisheries in order to obtain better estimates of by-catch (point 3 above).These pilot activities have provided important initial information and the Sub-Component will build on this work so that ecosystem considerations can be operationalised for oceanic fisheries management advice at the national and regional levels.IUCN and SPC/OFP will collaborate to undertake specific activities to obtain information on the ecology of, and fishery impacts on, seamounts as a habitat of special concern (point 4 above).The seamount work will involve a review of historical fisheries data to determine historical patterns of fishing in relation to seamounts; an extensive data collection programme by observers and dedicated research cruises to determine the ecological characteristics of seamounts; and tagging of tunas and other pelagic species in the vicinity of seamounts to determine their residence characteristics.IUCN will arrange a research cruise to undertake underwater survey work at selected seamounts to determine benthic biodiversity and the Sub-Component will support the participation of Pacific SIDS technical and scientific personnel in the research cruise.The results of the research cruise/benthic biodiversity surveys will be included in awareness raising activities to complement information about fisheries and seamounts.

This information will allow assessments of the need for, and utility of, seamount-specific management measures.Moreover, it is anticipated that the results of the Project will enable the scientific assessment of specific proposals regarding the management of ecosystem impacts and the efficacy of specific classes of management measures such as marine protected areas (MPAs).

Whereas the work of Sub-Components 1.1 and 1.2 are directed largely at the Pacific SIDS in the first instance, complementing regional-level stock assessment and monitoring work that will be financed by the Commission and other agencies, the outputs of Sub-Component 1.3 will be more broadly directed towards raising the awareness of ecosystem considerations by the Commission and its Members, including Pacific SIDS.Results of ecosystem analysis and proposals for long-term ecosystem monitoring will be provided to the Commission’s Scientific Committee through its Ecosystems and Bycatch Working Group.Staff of Pacific SIDS fisheries/environment administrations and NGOs will be involved in the work of the Sub-Component through attachment training, involvement in fieldwork and workshops.

Documents Available on External Websites

Attachment	Size
Deep-sea biodiversity: A Quick Guide	54.73 KB
Seamount-Planning-Workshop-Program.pdf	124.01 KB
Seamount-Planning-Workshop-Agenda.pdf	68.98 KB
Seamount-Planning-Workshop-Context-Objective.pdf	17.12 KB
Seamounts-Under-Study.pdf	267.3 KB
Seamount-Planning-Workshop-Cover-Page.pdf	43.01 KB
IUCN-Contribution-to-Ecosystem-Analysis.pdf	57.03 KB
Regional Tagging Project - Phase One Papua New Guinea Monthly Tagging Summary July07.pdf	984.14 KB
Regional Tagging Project - Phase One Papua New Guinea Monthly Tagging Summary Aug07.pdf	310.52 KB
Bismarck Proposal_Pelagic.pdf	893.88 KB

PNG Tuna Tagging Project Cruise Report

A report of the first Papua New Guinea Tuna Tagging Project cruise, carried out in Papua New Guinea during August to November 2006 is available.

The PNG Tagging Project is a joint research project being implemented by the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the PNG National Fisheries Authority (NFA).

Attachment	Size
PNG_Tuna_Tagging_Cruise1-summary-report.pdf	579.49 KB

Seamounts & Pelagic Fisheries Interactions Under Study

In October 2005, SPC's Oceanic Fisheries Programme, in collaboration with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), started a five-year endeavor called the Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFM project). The OFM project is funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and the Scientific Assessment and Monitoring Enhancement Component of the project (including ecosystem analysis) is implemented by SPC. One of the objectives of the OFM project is to obtain an enhanced understanding of the ecology of seamounts, in particular their influence on the aggregation and movement of pelagic fish species, and also the impact of fisheries on seamount ecosystems. To organise this specific activity, a seamount research planning workshop, gathering 14 seamount and benthic and pelagic fisheries experts, took place at SPC headquarters in Noumea on 20 and 21 March 2006.

The report is available for download

Studying SEAMOUNTS

Attachment	Size
Seamount Workshop report.pdf	124.01 KB
Science Journal_ Seamounts in the Pacific.pdf	1.18 MB
Science Journal_Seamounts Are Hotspots.pdf	827.1 KB

Fishery Monitoring, Coordination & Enhancement

The assessment of needs conducted by the national missions showed that the most important short-term priority for Pacific SIDS in meeting their obligations as Members of the WCPF Commission is the enhancement of their capacities to monitor oceanic fisheries activities for which they are responsible. Under the Convention, national and regional monitoring responsibilities are multi-faceted - as coastal states, Pacific SIDS are responsible for monitoring fishing in their waters, generally through the collection of catch and effort data from logsheets and by onboard observers; as flag states they are responsible for monitoring the fishing and catches by their vessels, including port sampling – it is generally more difficult and expensive to monitor the activities of the larger number of smaller vessels which make up the local fleets; and as port states they have responsibilities to monitor landing and transhipment in their ports. Data then needs to be provided to the Commission for science and compliance purposes in accordance with standards to be adopted by the Commission. At this point, all Pacific SIDS have monitoring programmes in place which are designed to meet national needs, but no Pacific SIDS has the capacity to provide data in the form, and of the quality, that will be required by the Commission. At the regional level, low quality of some data contributes to levels of uncertainty about stock assessment results that undermine the use of those results for decision-making – the quality of data from Pacific SIDS fleets is a particular area of weakness despite improvements during the Pacific SAP project.

Sub-Component 1.1 will develop a template for a national monitoring programme that will integrate logsheet, observer, port sampling, landing data, provide data in the form to meet Commission requirements and support the application of that template nationally. The template will be based on a standardised database and associated software, which can be customised to meet different national needs and relate to different national capacities and will include a reporting module for the generation of data and data products to be provided to the Commission. The template will be made available to other Commission Members, particularly developing state members.

National monitoring coordinators will oversee the application of the template at a national level, supported by technical advice and regional and in-country training. This will improve understanding of changes in the fisheries at a national level and will strengthen national fisheries compliance programs, improve the quality, compatibility and availability of data for the scientific and compliance work of the Commission and enable Pacific SIDS to be better informed in adopting national positions in the work of the Commission.

There will be a link with elements of Component 2 to ensure that laws are reformed and compliance capacities are strengthened to enforce mandatory fishery monitoring activities.

Available Documents

2nd Tuna Data Workshop

The Pacific Islands Oceanic Project (GEF) was the main sponsor of the 2nd Tuna Data Workshop (TDW-2) which took place at the SPC headquarters from the 7^th to 11^th of April.Participants from 15 FFA member states, two French territories and the Philippines took part in the workshop.The main aim of the workshop was to acquaint the group with the best methods for preparing annual catch estimates and to share experiences of managing tuna data.

Work for the participants started early, as completed national status reports outlining the current state of tuna data collection and management in their countries were carried to the workshop. These status reports, now available on-line, formed the basis of the first plenary session when participants revealed how the work was advancing in their own countries.

A presentation on annual catch estimates was followed by protracted small group exercises on calculating the catch estimates for three fictitious fisheries. The experience gained in this exercise gave many participants the confidence to determine their own national fleet tuna catch estimates. Many participants had compiled their annual catch estimates before the close of the workshop and well in advance of the April 30^th deadline for submission established by the WCPFC. Additional workshop presentations and discussions included: facilitating data exchange, assessing various resource requirements, database training and strengthening the legal basis of tuna data collection.

The main recommendations of the workshop were to (i) explore mechanisms to better facilitate data exchange amongst member countries, (ii) develop and provide resource material to help countries prepare for data audits, (iii) disseminate the results of the FFA project on legal obligation for data provision and request that SPC and FFA work together to prepare guidelines for the legal provision of data, and (iv) improve support and raise awareness for role of the National Tuna Data Coordinator, both at the national and regional levels.

More information on the workshop, including the main outputs and final recommendations in full are available from.

For further information please contact:

Deirdre brogan
Email: DeirdreB@SPC.int

First Tuna Data Workshop

The collection, management and reporting of data is an important foundation for managing the world’s largest tuna fisheries. In recognition of the importance of this work GEF funding was used to run a Tuna Data Workshop (TDW-1) at SPC, New Caledonia. The workshop was aimed at National Tuna Data Coordinators who are employed in each of the Pacific Islands Countries and Territories (PICTs). Additional co-funding was supplied by the EU under its PROC FISH project This, the first data workshop, concentrated on the collection and management of tuna fishery data. Presentations by Oceanic Fisheries Programme staff were structured under the broad concept titles of ‘Why’, What’ and ‘How’ in regards to tuna data collection. Participants were encouraged to contribute and did so strongly throughout the workshop. The group sessions outputs were used to compile and enhance important final outputs on; the reasons to collect data at the national level, the problems encountered and possible solutions to these collection problems. It is hoped that for future workshops the focus will more to the dissemination of tuna data. The next workshop is provisionally planned for the first quarter in 2008.

Attachment	Size
First Tuna Data Workshop Report	772 KB

Stock Assessment

The quality of stock assessment on major regional stocks has advanced rapidly in the last five years and there is an improving understanding of the overall impact of fishing on regional stocks. However, the national needs assessments showed a gap between the strength of this work at a regional level and, the level of understanding and use of stock assessment methods and results nationally. That gap in understanding reduces the effectiveness of dialogue at a national level about regional conservation measures and of participation by Pacific SIDS in the WCPF process and reduces the capacity of policy makers to frame appropriate national conservation and management policies and measures. A particular aspect of the gap in understanding relates to the impact of oceanographic change. Sub-component 1.2 will develop and apply an approach to stock assessment, including oceanographic factors, that can be used to assist technical staff, policy makers and other stakeholders to provide a better basis for national management policies, to enrich national dialogue about regional conservation and management measures and to enable Pacific SIDS to participate more effectively in the scientific work of the Commission. The core activity under this sub-component will be the preparation of National Oceanic Fisheries Status Reports for 6 countries annually. These reports will be prepared collaboratively by national scientific counterparts and SPC/OFP scientific staff (one of whom will be funded by the Project). The collaborative nature of report preparation and presentation will generate capacity-building spin-offs at the national level. The reports will be aimed at providing the best scientific information available as a basis for national oceanic fisheries management policies and measures. Under the Sub-Component, assistance will also be given to the Pacific SIDS to ensure a detailed understanding of the scientific issues so that they can be better prepared to develop positions and proposals within the Commission on such issues as data needs, research priorities, resources needed for science, scientific methods, etc.

Available Reports

SPC Stock Assessment Workshop, 3rd - 14 July 2006

SPC recently hosted a stock assessment workshop for fisheries officers from countries and territories within the Western and Central Pacific region. The workshop was one component within the larger Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded Oceanic Fisheries Management Project. The workshop was expanded to also include non-project member countries as well, using other funding sources. This communication is intended to provide you with a brief overview of the workshop. The workshop was held at SPC headquarters in Noumea from the 3rd – 14th July, and was attended by 17 participants, one each from Palau, FSM, Guam, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Niue, Tokelau, Cook Islands and French Polynesia. Workshop facilitators from the SPC included Brett Molony, Adam Langley, David Kirby, Bruno Leroy, Valerie Allain, John Hampton and Don Bromhead. Considerable support was also generously provided by many other staff from the Oceanic Fisheries Programme. The workshop spent three days providing essential background theory (e.g. species biology, modeling theory etc) before moving into more intensive sessions on individual parameter estimation methods, which were discussed over the next 4 days. The final three days included a session on ecosystem considerations (e.g. current research directions, requirements within WCPFC etc) as well as exercises to provide participants the opportunity to discuss recent assessments in small groups. These included exercises to:

Discuss and contrast the four target tuna assessments
Form their own conclusions and recommendations from an assessment report where the actual conclusions had been removed.
Develop and deliver a powerpoint presentation that required groups of participants (grouped by region) to demonstrate an understanding of stock assessment theory and the implications of recent assessments for fishery management in their specific regions.

Overall the workshop was considered to be very successful. The participants demonstrated themselves to be a highly motivated and very hard working group and it was a pleasure to work with them over the two weeks. As an indicator of their dedication, it should be noted that they took it upon themselves to work after hours, on weekends and on public holidays! Participant feedback from survey forms filled out by all participants at the end of the workshop was also very positive, and useful in highlighting some areas where the workshop might be improved for the next time it is held. Importantly, it appears that many of the participants from the workshop will be attending the upcoming Scientific Committee in Manila in August. We would hope that their increased understanding of stock assessment theory and of the assessments produced by the OFP will significantly facilitate your country or territories participation in the SC, as well as assist in decision making at a domestic level. Further workshops should continue to strengthen this capacity to participate in these processes. A full report detailing the workshop will be available in late September. In the meantime, participants will also be sent CDs containing the workshop presentations, copies of their computer based practical exercises, as well as the reference papers used during the workshop.

Queries please contact:

Don Bromhead
Fisheries Scientist,
Oceanic Fisheries Programme,
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Ph: +687 620120, Email: DonaldB@spc.int

SPC Tuna Stock Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) Workshops

This information is to alert GEF focal point officers to the upcoming OFP-SPC Tuna Stock Assessment and Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) Workshops to be run at SPC Headquarters (Noumea) in mid-2008. Invitations to these workshops have already been sent to specific fisheries officers, via Heads of Department in each country. Therefore this notice is purely “for information” and does not require any actions to be taken by its recipients.

As of the 19th of February, invitations to specific fisheries officers were sent to the Heads of Department (Fisheries) in each FFA member country. These invitations were to attend:

One of two Stock Assessment Workshops (focused on Western and Central Pacific tuna fisheries) being run by SPC between 19th-25th June and 30thJune - 4th July 2008
An adjoining two day Ecological Risk Assessment Workshop to enhance in country understanding and use of Ecological Risk Assessment research (26th-27th June 2008).

The ERA workshop sits between the two Stock Assessment Workshops to allow cost effective participation by all countries and territories. The following provides some background to these workshops.

Stock Assessment Workshops

You may recall that in July 2006 and July 2007, the Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the SPC held 1-2 week long stock assessment workshops for oceanic fisheries officers from Pacific Island Countries and Territories. The workshops were part of the GEF funded “Oceanic Fisheries Management Project” and also utilized other funding sources. The purpose of the workshop was to increase understanding of stock assessments and oceanographic impacts within Pacific Island Countries and Territories; enable informed communication of these issues within country; enable increased contribution to Scientific Committee and Commission decision making; and, increase national capacity for data analyses/interpretation.

Post workshop appraisals in 2006 and 2007 identified that the long term success of this capacity building endeavour will depend upon three critical factors:

Nomination of appropriate staff and their continued participation on an ongoing basis
Annual workshops on an ongoing basis
Remote (online) revision and training in between the annual workshops

Annual stock assessment workshops and remote training have already been planned and implemented, and SPC-OFP will continue to work closely with national fisheries departments to ensure suitably qualified staff are provided this important training opportunity.

Ecological Risk Assessment Workshop

The OFP-SPC has been funded by the WCPFC to undertake an Ecological Risk Assessment (ERA) for the Western and Central Pacific tuna fisheries. The purpose of the ERA research is to provide scientific advice to the Commission and its members regarding which bycatch species are at the highest potential risk of being adversely impacted by the fisheries operating in the Convention area. ERA’s are also being requested at a national level as part of the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) currently being adopted by many Pacific Island Countries. The ERA workshop aims to increase in country understanding and use of ERA research to assist in management decision making and resource allocation at both national and regional (WCPFC) levels.

Participant Eligibility

In order to assist in the selection of appropriate staff, SPC-OFP is inviting specific officers based on a number of criteria:

Essential

1. The officer is expected to attend the Scientific Committee meeting in 2008 and/or in future years

Plus one of the following

2. Participation in at least 4 of 6 online revision exercises between November 2007 and May 2008

3. Level 2 workshop attendance in 2007

4. A university level science degree (with fisheries or marine biology component). Post graduate degrees (Masters, PhD) are an advantage but not at all essential.

This selection process has been introduced to maximize the effectiveness of the training resources available and thereby ensure that the benefits of the stock assessment workshops are realized at a national and regional level. However, OFP-SPC recognizes and is sympathetic to the fact that not all countries and territories are in a position to send an officer who meets the criteria above, due to resource constraints and other commitments. If this situation arises, OFP-SPC will be happy to discuss and help identify other officers in country fisheries departments who might be appropriate participants in this training.

Funding

In previous years, funding for FFA countries to attend these workshops has been provided via the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded “Oceanic Fisheries Management Project”. However, in 2008, funding for participants from FFA member countries is being provided through the WCPFC administered and Japanese Government funded “WCPFC Project on Capacity Building in Fisheries Statistics, Regulation and Enforcement for Small Island Developing States”.

The closing date for nominations is April 1st 2008

Once again, invitations to these workshops have already been sent to specific fisheries officers, via Heads of Department in each country. Therefore this notice is purely “for information” and does not require any actions to be taken by its recipients.

However, please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any queries regarding the workshops

Kind regards

Don Bromhead, Brett Molony
Fisheries Scientists
Oceanic Fisheries Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Ph: +687 260120

Stock Assessment Workshop 2006

The Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) hosted a Stock Assessment Workshop (SAW) for fisheries officers from Pacific Island Countries and Territories, at SPC headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia, 3rd–14th of July 2006. The report of the workshop is attached.

Attachment	Size
SAW_2006_Report.pdf	617.33 KB

Stock Assessment Workshop 2007

Nominations for fisheries officers from Pacific Island Countries and Territories to attend one of two stock assessment workshops (focused on Western and Central Pacific tuna fisheries) being run by SPC in 2007 are being sought.

You may recall that in July 2006, the Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the SPC held a 2 week stock assessment workshop for oceanic fisheries officers from Pacific Island Countries and Territories. The workshop was part of the GEF funded “Oceanic Fisheries Management Project” and also utilized other funding including the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council, PROCFISH OCT and PROCFISH ACP. The purpose of the workshop was to increase understanding of stock assessments and oceanographic impacts within Pacific Island Countries and Territories; enable informed communication of these issues within country; enable increased contribution to Scientific Committee and Commission decision making; and, increase local capacity for data analyses/interpretation. SPC will be holding two stock assessment workshops in 2007, using funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project and other sources.

Workshop 1 (June 25th -30th 2007, Noumea) is intended for officers who have not undertaken such training previously, and will contain similar content to the 2006 workshop (see attached report for details).
Workshop 2 (July 2nd -7th 2007, Noumea) is intended predominantly for participants from the 2006 workshop, and will refresh and build further upon the knowledge imparted to them last year.

In addition to covering the basic theory of stock assessment in some detail, both workshops will provide discussion of recent changes and improvements to the WCPO tuna assessments, as well as provide increased focus on oceanographic impacts and discuss recent ecological risk assessment analyses and other ecosystem research. We would strongly encourage last year’s participants to attend Workshop 2 to ensure that the increased knowledge and understanding gained last year are not lost over time.

Countries who wish to participate in these workshops are asked to provide a nomination (see attached form) by the 15th of March. In doing so, please note the following conditions:

There are 12 places available in each workshop (so 24 overall). This is 8 more places available than in 2006.
Each country or territory can initially nominate one officer only, to attend either workshop 1 or 2, but not both.
The OFP only holds enough funding to cover the travel and per diem for one officer per country or territory. In the event that there are still vacancies available after nominations have closed, those countries or territories that wish to send a second participant will be offered the opportunity to do so.
The costs associated with a second officers attendance will be carried by the requesting country or territory.
Nominations close on the 15th of March 2007.

For further information, please contact
Dr Don Bromhead
Fisheries Scientist
Oceanic Fisheries Programme
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
Ph: +687 260120 DonaldB@spc.int

Attachment	Size
SAW 2007 Nomination Form	10.33 KB
SAW 2007 Report	598.92 KB