The Kobe 2 meeting in San Sebastian in June 2009 agreed to hold an international workshop on RFMO management of tuna fisheries. Members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA; 16 countries and 1 territory) offered to host this workshop. The workshop was held at the Brisbane Convention Centre from Tuesday 29 June - Thursday 1 July 2010.
The agreed terms of reference for the workshop are:
Objective:
HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS, FRIDAY19 MARCH 2009: FFA, UNDP, SPC, WWF and SPREP staff met over the past two days to plan a process for the design of a new phase of assistance to Pacific Islands under the Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP).
PAPEETE, TAHITI, FRENCH POLYNESIA, 10 DECEMBER 2009: Proposals from Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members on sharks and
swordfish were adopted at the 6th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting today.
Pacific Island countries are the custodians of the last remaining healthy tuna stocks in the world and manage a marine area of 30 million square kilometres, supported with technical advice and services from the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA). FFA members participate at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission along with other fishing nations (such as Asian nations, EU and US) to set rules for fishing in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
FFA members finalised a process first begun in 2006 to put in place limits to the catch on swordfish. The WCPFC adopted key amendments proposed by FFA members to the Conservation and Management Measure on Swordfish including:
PAPEETE, TAHITI, FRENCH POLYNESIA, 9 DECEMBER 2009: Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members were successful in tightening controls on illegal fishing at the 6th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting.
Pacific Island countries are the custodians of the last remaining healthy tuna stocks in the world and manage a marine area of 30 million square kilometres, supported with technical support and services from the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA). FFA members participate at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission along with other fishing nations (such as Asian nations, EU and US) to set rules for fishing in the Western and Central Pacific
Ocean.
PAPEETE, TAHITI, FRENCH POLYNESIA, 7 DECEMBER 2009: Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members are calling for tighter controls on fishing at the 6th Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting which opened today.
Pacific Island countries are the owners of the last remaining healthy tuna stocks in the world and manage a marine area of 30 million square kilometres, supported with technical support and services from the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).
NADI, FIJI & HONIARA, SOLOMON ISLANDS OCTOBER 2009: The regional headquarters of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)
hosted 3 key meetings last week – the sixth Management Options Consultation to develop FFA positions for the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting, the Special Forum Fisheries Committee to approve these decisions as well as deliberate
on other strategic issues.
MANAGEMENT OPTIONS CONSULTATION AND SPECIAL FFC
FFA members participated in the Management Options Consultation where countries work cooperatively to draft proposals and negotiating
positions for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). This meeting, coordinated by FFA, is in part funded by the
Global Environment Facility Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management Project.
These management recommendations were then brought to the 71st Officials Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) for further discussion and
The 5th Regional Steering Committee was held on 7 November 2009, the final steering committee meeting for the project which ends its first phase in December 2010. Achievements of the Project were detailed in science, fisheries management and fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance.
Discussions on a potential second phase of the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project agreed:
• that the contribution of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) towards assisting Pacific SIDS in oceanic fisheries management was invaluable and much had been achieved under the current project phase;
• that the concept for a further phase of the project support by GEF needed to be ready for an early as possible submission to minimise the impacts of the gap between the current project and the next phase on the delivery of priority activities
At least 80 species of sharks and rays occur within the Pacific Islands region. Around half of these species are considered to be highly migratory, therefore fishing impacts upon them must be internationally managed. Due to their low productivity and long life span, these species are particularly vulnerable to overexploitation. Sharks and rays are also of cultural significance to many Pacific Island communities.
The PI-RPOA Sharks is a response to both the International Plan of Action (IPOA) for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, which encourages assessments and management of shark fisheries, and to the Conservation and Management Measure (CMM) for Sharks adopted by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), requires Commission members to set management arrangements for sharks.
CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA, MONDAY 26 OCTOBER 2009: As the 5th Biennial GEF International Waters Conference hosted in Cairns opened today, participants heard about the remarkable achievements of Pacific Island countries in fisheries management.
Even though Pacific Island countries have limited resources spread over a marine area 30 million square kilometers, they have been at the forefront of developing innovative measures to manage fishing including the establishment of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC).
The WCPFC, an international commission to set rules for fishing tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, has taken several measures to manage the tuna stocks such as cuts to bigeye tuna fishing, fishing observers, vessel monitoring system, closing some high seas pockets and introducing measures on sharks, seabirds and turtles.
POHNPEI, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA, TUESDAY 6 OCTOBER 2009: At
the Fifth Regular Session of the Technical and Compliance Committee (TCC5) of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Pohnpei this week, Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) members advanced recommendations to increase effectiveness of fisheries management in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
The Technical and Compliance Committee of WCPFC makes recommendations to the annual meeting of the Commission, to be held in this year in December in French Polynesia. WCPFC membership consists of the 17 members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency plus 9 other fishing nations. Decisions at WCPFC so far have been made by consensus although there are also provisions for voting.
Outcomes from the meeting include:
ACCESS TO HIGH SEAS DATA
