E-monitoring trial of tuna longliners in the Solomons

 The Yi Man #3 pulling into Port in Noro

Two CT4-class tuna longliners left the port of Noro in the Western Province of Solomon Islands earlier this month with the latest video technology on board to improve data collection of their catch – albacore, yellowfin and bigeye – in the Western and Central Pacific.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), for which Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) provides secretariat services,  calls for 5% observer coverage on board longliners operating in the region. However, lack of space on board smaller vessels, logistics and costs have limited human observer coverage to around 2%. Third party data are, therefore, lacking on longline target catch, non-target catch and overall operations.  These data are necessary to improve our scientific understanding of these fisheries, strengthen management tools, and promote better enforcement of existing national and regional conservation measures. The use of modern technology to supplement the role of human observers offers real opportunities to overcome these challenges in tuna longline fisheries, making this an important and pioneering effort.

This highly collaborative project was developed and launched by Tri Marine, National Fisheries Developments (NFD), Yi Man Fishery Company, Satlink, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), SPC, and Solomon Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR).  Tri Marine and NFD are contributing to project management, and installation, maintenance and cost of the electronics.  FFA, via the EU-funded DevFish 2 project, shares the equipment costs and plays a major role in overall coordination.  Satlink provides and partially covers the cost of the electronics, while also designating staff to installation, data monitoring and review.  The Yi Man Fishery Company volunteered two vessels, allocating valuable time to facilitate installation, and providing vessel space and resources to accommodate the equipment and human observers. MFMR has provided human observers to overlap with the electronics, while SPC assigned a field coordinator to assist with observer placement, data review, and project evaluation and reporting.

This multi-stakeholder effort will assess whether or not video cameras, electronic storage, and vessel monitoring systems (VMS), combined with at-port inspections, can generate information sufficient to fulfill the requirements of the WCPFC Regional Observer Programme minimum data fields.  Imagery collected will be reviewed after each vessel trip by MFMR, with FFA and Satlink involvement, using customised reviewer software.  Human observers will also be on board, conducting regular observer duties, with results to be compared against those collected electronically.  The project is being done with two vessels for two fishing trips, which may last anywhere from six to ten weeks each, for a total of four trips.  Early results will be presented at the WCPFC Scientific Committee meeting in August, 2014, followed by a full report summarising the findings, including cost-benefit analysis and recommendations for further development and implementation.

Although the project is unique and innovative in its application to distant water tuna longliners in this part of the Pacific, it does fall within the broader framework of WCPFC electronic technologies development.  E-reporting to digitise and streamline data recording by vessel and fisheries department staff has been tested with NFD purse-seiners and is being expanded to other fleets.  E-monitoring, or EM, is already applied under VMS requirements, and is now being broadened to incorporate video systems like the one being tested with this project.  This week, WCPFC is advancing these complementary efforts by hosting an E-Monitoring and E-Reporting Workshop at FFA headquarters in Honiara from 31 March  to 1 April 2014.  The objective is to gain member input into promoting E-technology and developing a related proposal for the next Technical Compliance Committee Meeting.  An overview of the design and launch of this project will be presented at the workshop and, it is hoped, result in feedback to be applied to the upcoming second trips of the vessels.

Although tuna resources face growing pressure, collaborative efforts like this one between industry and fisheries managers provide tangible results that can guide improvements.  Modern fishing technology is often blamed for negative impacts on the marine environment, but strategic application of new innovations can also contribute to improved science, and the monitoring, control and surveillance needed for a more sustainable future.

Original article here

What do you know about tuna tagging? Not much? Come on board!

This is a short video by SPC (filmed in October 2011) about a tagging campaign in the area between Tonga and Wallis and Futuna.

Tuna tagging involves the capture, tag and release of large numbers of tuna with numbered plastic dart tags, and the documentation (time, location, fishing method, fish size) of subsequent recaptures of these fish by the various types of fisheries across the region.  Tagging is carried out mainly using the pole-and-line fishing method, in which fish are caught, tagged and released in a matter of seconds. Information is recorded on the fish’s species and size, along with the date and location of the tagging.

More on SPC Tunna tagging programme here

Bad report from the EU's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) on Spain

When the FVO visits a country to evaluate how its Competent Authority controls the EU Market Access Requirements, everyone shakes... A bad report implies that that country could loose its access to the EU market (the biggest buyers of fish in the world), this normally bring the ruin to a big sector of the industry with lots of job losses, etc...

Interestingly the FVO also evaluates the EU member countries, however if they don't perform  and get a bad report... not much happens as they are part of the EU and there is no "borders" inside it to detain the products.

It took 3 years of solid efforts to get Fiji back in a few years ago, the budget for EU markets access exceeds many health initiatives their people needs. Ecuador almost lost access and had to work really hard at massive cost for a relatively poor country.

So.. when we read the reports (to their credit are public) to member states, like this one below to Spain' we find it almost too cynic...  any non EU country would loose market access, while they, they just keep on. 

Not fair... even if I have really lovely and dedicated friends working there... Judge for your self:

The Food and Veterinary Office of DG SANCO of the European Commission reported on a mission to Spain conducted in May 2013, to evaluate the national food safety controls on fishery products, and to follow up on a previous mission in 2008. The mission found that the organisation of the competent authorities visited, the standards set and their operational procedures, could in principle provide an acceptable system of official controls of fishery products. However, the mission found that there were deficiencies in relation to the supervision and audit of official controls by regional authorities, shortcomings in the implementation of approvals of establishments and freezer vessels (7 vessels were found to be operating without approval for at least two years). In addition sanitary controls on fishing vessels and landings were not always effective, there were deficiencies in the evaluation of HACCP plans (which in some establishments were non-existent). Fish was imported via a third country without a health certificate. Monitoring arrangements for dioxins, PCBs and PAH were not implemented in all regions. The two Ministries who share Competent Authority functions (the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment and the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality) were required to submit a plan of corrective actions subsequently accepted by the Commission.

Is there a lesson for fisheries in regards the ICJ ruling on whaling by japan in the southern oceans?

I think so; vigilantes ram boats, antagonise people and at the end achieve little, but the sometimes imperfect, always boring and slow due course of justice do reach results when provided with knowledge and evidence. There is were we should keep focussing our efforts.

South Korea to (finally!!) begin real-time vessel tracking

Funny for a such a "techie"  nation not to have VMS and such crappy vessels

South Korea is set to begin monitoring all its fishing boats operating in international or foreign waters to prevent illegal fishing or any other unwarranted activities, the government said Thursday.

The country's first-ever Fisheries Monitoring Center will open in the southern port city of Busan on Friday, enabling real-time monitoring of all South Korean vessels engaged in deep-sea fishing for the first time in the country's history, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.

Information on the real-time location of a vessel may allow the government to issue a warning when the vessel appears to be engaged in illegal, unreported or unregulated (IUU) fishing in foreign waters.

"The opening of the Fisheries Monitoring Center, along with the requirement for all deep-sea fishing vessels to be equipped with a vessel monitoring system, is at the heart of the government's efforts to curb IUU fishing," the ministry said in a press release.

The monitoring center was earlier scheduled to open in July under a revised law on deep-sea fishing that also raised the limit for maximum fines to 200 million won (US$185,000) from 30 million won for illegal fishing.

European Commission identify Belize, Cambodia and Guinea as non-cooperating third countries

Despite the Commission working closely with the countries' authorities to set up fisheries management and effective control measures, these three countries have still not addressed structural problems and have failed to show real commitment to tackling the problem of illegal fishing. The Commission now proposes to the Council of Ministers to adopt trade measures against the three countries in order to tackle the commercial benefits stemming from these illegal activities. Ultimately, fisheries products caught by vessels from these countries will be banned from being imported into the EU.

The decision is consistent with the EU's international commitment to ensuring the sustainable exploitation of fisheries resources at home and abroad. The EU's approach towards combatting illegal fishing reflects the fact that IUU fishing is a global criminal activity which is harmful not only to EU fishermen and markets but also to local communities in developing countries.

Fiji, Panama, Sri Lanka, Togo and Vanuatu also received formal warnings last year, but they have all made credible progress in close cooperation with the Commission. They have set in motion new legislation and improved their monitoring, control and inspection systems and, as a result, dialogue with these countries has been extended until the end of February 2014 with progress to be evaluated next spring.

New formal warnings

The European Commission has today also handed out formal warnings – 'yellow cards' - to Korea, Ghana and Curaçao, as they fail to keep up with international obligations to fight illegal fishing. The Commission has identified concrete shortcomings, such as a lack of actions to address deficiencies in monitoring, controlling and surveillance of fisheries, and suggests corrective actions to resolve them.

These yellow cards will not, at this stage, entail any measures affecting trade. Instead the EU will, as was the case for the previously listed countries, work closely with the countries, through formalised dialogue and intensified cooperation, to resolve the identified issues and implement the necessary action plans.

Background

The decision on Belize, Cambodia and Guinea, gives Member States an additional tool to verify and, if necessary, to refuse imports of fishery products. The Commission promotes a coordinated approach in this respect. Once the Commission's proposal for a trade ban has been adopted by the Council, fisheries products caught by vessels flying these countries' flags will be banned from being imported into the EU. EU vessels will have to stop fishing in these waters. Other forms of cooperation, such as joint fishing operations or fisheries agreements with these countries will not be possible anymore.

With these actions, the EU is not merely enforcing EU rules but rather ensuring the respect of IUU rules adopted by the United Nations and FAO, in line with its international commitments. All of the identified countries have failed to fulfil their duties as flag, coastal, port or market states typically by disrespecting United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) or the United Nations Fish Stocks Agreement.

en castellano aqui

Countries unite to identify illegal fishing vessel via INTERPOL

 'Thunder' as Wuhan N 4 in Singapore, October 2012

A joint effort by New Zealand, Australia and Norway to find a vessel suspected of illegal fishing has led to the publication of an INTERPOL Purple Notice to assist in identifying its location.

Circulated to all 190 INTERPOL member countries the Notice, requested by New Zealand supported by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and the Norwegian Directorate of Fisheries, also seeks information about the individuals and networks which own, operate and profit from the suspected illegal activities of the vessel, currently believed to be called ‘Thunder’.

During the past two years, the vessel has operated under at least three different names and under several flags, in order to avoid detection of illegal fishing activities.

In July 2012, Mongolian registration papers for a vessel called ‘Wuhan 4’ were issued; however in August 2012 the vessel was sighted in the North Indian Ocean under the name ‘Kuko’. In October 2012, the vessel was spotted at a Singapore shipyard under the name ‘Wuhan N 4’ and under a Mongolian flag.

In April 2013, the same vessel requested access to a port in Malaysia under the name ‘Wuhan 4’ but when inspected a few days later in Indonesia, it was using the name ‘Thunder’ and with the Nigerian flag.

“Thunder has been operating under a number of names and flags over several years and we believe this is being done to avoid been caught violating international laws and conventions,” said Gary Orr, Manager, Operational Coordination with New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries.

“Fisheries crime is not constrained by borders and is commonly carried out by transnational organized networks. Norway is deeply concerned about its global effects. We need an international, coordinated response to effectively tackle these networks, and I welcome the good cooperation we have established with Australia and New Zealand via INTERPOL,” said Norway’s Minister of Fisheries, Elisabeth Aspaker.

AFMA’s Fisheries Operations General Manager Peter Venslovas said illegal fishing activities seriously undermine the sustainability of fisheries: “Ongoing cooperation between countries across the globe to combat illegal fishing is having a real impact and making it harder for these operators to make a profit.”

It is possible that the owners of ‘Thunder’ have earned more than USD 60 million from its illegal fishing activities since it was blacklisted by the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in February 2006.

The vessel is currently believed to be operating in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica where it may be fishing illegally for Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean Sea Bass, a highly sought after protected species.

This is the third INTERPOL Purple Notice issued in connection with illegal fishing activities, with the first published in September this year at the request of Norwegian authorities for a vessel named ‘Snake’.

Sea Cucumbers - A Response to the Poor Status of Stocks in the Pacific

SPC is issuing a series of country reports for the Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga and Vanuatu covering the status of sea cucumber resources and related management recommendations.   While these coastal invertebrates are generally in decline, the situation in each country calls for specific recommendations.

A high-added-value and sensitive resource
For the past four years, the European Union-funded SciCOFish project has allowed SPC scientists to support Pacific countries with enhancing capacity in coastal resource assessments to inform management. And one of the priorities for most countries is sustainable sea cucumber fishery management. In fact, these “sea slugs” are a traditional food item in certain Pacific island and are popular in Asian countries, which has led to overfishing in the Pacific region.

Fisheries officials are concerned about maintaining this resource as it is a significant source of income for fishers, processors and exporters due to its high added value and it plays a role in communities’ food security.

Certain countries began to take action a few years ago, since they wanted this valuable resource to continue to contribute to the lives of future generations, by implementing measures which are now paying off. But whatever the exact situation may be, sustainable sea cucumber conservation requires complex management. All of SPC’s member countries made this a priority expressing concern of declining state of sea cucumber fisheries and would like to improve the current knowledge and management of this fishery. They requested SPC technical support in resource assessment and management advice. 

Informative and educational surveys
SciCOFish has made it possible to train fisheries-department and NGO staff in coastal invertebrate stock assessment techniques. These training sessions have also provided an opportunity to carry out sea cucumber stock assessments at 40 sites in eight countries. So the outcomes have been two-fold, i.e. countries now have a number of trained professionals who can regularly carry out surveys plus the data collected, its analysis and interpretation.

Kalo Pakoa, SPC’s marine invertebrate specialist, noted, “Our colleagues now have the technical skills they need to carry out assessment surveys over the long-term and to interpret the data. It is important to do regular stock assessments in order to evaluate the real impact of sea cucumber management measures.”

The data collected most recently give a glimpse into the current status of stocks and can be compared to previous assessments carried out from 2002 to 2009. Of the 30 sea cucumber species found in the Pacific, certain species are high value of the beche-de-mer trade and are harvested more heavily than others. For that reason some species may be relatively abundant whereas others (high value species) have disappeared. These surveys also show that those zones where fishing has been prohibited for at least 10 years have experienced real gains in terms of the size of their sea cucumber populations.

A series of technical reports for practical management
The SPC reports provide recommendations to countries by proposing measures to be incorporated into their national sea cucumber management plans (documents can be downloaded from: www.spc.int/fame/en/projects/scicofish/activities/202-the-status-of-sea-cucumber-resources-in-cook-islands-fiji-and-samoa). Each country’s situation is quite different: some already have management plans that include strong fisheries management measures such as sea cucumber species selection, minimum harvest sizes, well defined fishing zones or bans on fishing with scuba gear.  

In some cases, the marketing system is also very well controlled and makes a distinction between fishing for subsistence, for local sales or for export. A permit system for processors and exporters can be set up, which allows oversight and data collection on species, quantities and the quality of marketed products.

In certain zones, work to reintroduce sea cucumber species is also planned. Kalo Pakoa says, “We can move specimens from one part of a zone where they are abundant so as to reintroduce them in another part where they have been wiped out. For example, from one zone to another within one country but also from one country to another as has already been successfully done for trochus.”

Another opportunity could be to reintroduce sea cucumbers from aquaculture farms. Sea cucumber farming is in the trial stage in various Pacific island countries at the current and further work is needed to collect proper data on survival rates in order to be able to determine the effectiveness of ranching and its applications.

Original article here

INTERPOL establishes unit to fight illegal fishing

In February 2013 INTERPOL launched a new programme, called Project Scale, aims to suppress criminal networks and the ships they run, which, by some estimates, account for one in every five fish caught every year.

David Higgins, head of the environmental-crime programme at INTERPOL, says that there are various indicators to suggest that organized crime is involved in illegal fishing. “It’s like an unlawful business that’s operating. Wherever money is to be made there will be criminals looking to exploit that industry.”

Officially launched in Lyons, France, and falling under the auspices of INTERPOL’s environmental-crime programme, Project Scale is backed by funding from the Pew Charitable Trusts, a charity organization, and will work in tandem with a working group on fisheries crime. The main purpose of the programme will be to collect data on what is a very murky area and provide a forum in which those responsible for enforcing maritime laws across the globe can exchange intelligence.

It is unclear at present exactly how much fishing falls into the overlapping categories of illegal, unreported and unregulated — known in the business as IUU. A widely cited 2009 study puts it at between US$10 billion and $23.5 billion, and between 11 million and 26 million tonnes of fish.

Illegal fishing has been blamed for devastating not just fish populations but also local economies in developing nations. Somalia’s recent outbreak of piracy has been attributed at least in part to fishermen seeking alternative incomes after their former livelihoods were destroyed by IUU ships.

Some IUU activity is likely to be small-scale unreported fishing done by otherwise legal vessels. At the other end of the spectrum, there are thought to be completely illegal fishing vessels run by large-scale criminal organizations.

“It’s a complex problem and a global problem. The importance of INTERPOL is it brings together 190 countries and their experience of environmental crime,” says Anthony Long, who runs Pew’s campaign against IUU fishing. “The most important thing is they get countries starting to share information. INTERPOL is the first step in getting back into the battle.”

More here

Machine Perfectly Fillets and De-Bones Fish with X-Rays and Water

Machines that can accurately and efficiently fillet a fish have been used for years to speed up processing plants—though only with farmed fish that are all the same size and weight. Fish caught in the wild usually have to be processed by hand given the variaton in size, but a new machine that employs x-ray vision and precise water jets can finally automate the filleting process.

Developed through a joint venture between several companies involved in the Norwegian fishing industry, the machine uses x-ray technology to locate the small pin-bones found in white fish like cod which usually have to be manually removed during the filleting process. And that usually results in three to seven per cent of the fish's most valuable meat being lost in the process.

So instead of a knife, the new machine uses an incredibly precise high-pressure water jet to remove bones and fillet each fish, maximising the portions while speeding up the process. And while it will eliminate jobs, it should help improve Norway's fishing industry which has been dramatically shrinking over the past 40 years

Korean fish-dumping trawler likely to be seized

New Zealand could end up owning a controversial South Korean fishing boat after a court judgment.

At stake is the Oyang 75, a 68-metre stern trawler worth about $9 million that was involved in fisheries and environmental offences.

The owners were found guilty of the largest case of fish dumping prosecuted in New Zealand, with the finding at the hearing that 355 tonnes of fish had been discarded.

Legal processes were complex, with four of the South Korean officers refusing to return to New Zealand for trial.

The trawler was arrested in 2012 and officers were accused of dumping low-value catch to replace it with fish that was more worthwhile.

In the Christchurch District Court, Judge David Saunders fined four South Korean officers more than $420,000 for trawling activities described in court as "arrogant" and "incompetent".

He found that the officers ruled the Indonesian crew "with an iron fist". One officer, factory manager Tae Won Jo, has asked for special consideration before the sentencing.

The Oyang 75 owners were later heavily fined for dumping waste at sea after inspectors found the boat had hidden piping controlled by a secret switch that allowed it to secretly dump bilge, including oil, into the sea unnoticed.

In the two cases, Sajo Oyang and Southern Storm did not take part in the court process, but after the forfeiture was raised, they sought to be heard by the court.

The district court declined their application and it ended up in the Court of Appeal.

In a decision this week, the three-man panel said the district court was correct to deny Sajo Oyang party status.

The ship was allowed to leave New Zealand and has since operated out of the Seychelles. Ship-tracking websites show it is now in the South Atlantic.

A Ministry for Primary Industries spokesman said the forfeiture would not yet be enforced, as aspects of the case were still before the courts. The ministry knew where the ship was, he said.

The judgment says forfeiture had a "long history in New Zealand fisheries legislation".

From 1908, the law "provided that ships, boats and other property used in any unlawful fishing were forfeited to the Crown and were to be disposed of as the minister [of fisheries] thought fit".

The Oyang 75, which had an Indonesia crew, and fished under charter for Lyttelton's Southern Storm Fishing Ltd, was brought to New Zealand by Sajo Oyang in South Korea to replace the Oyang 70, which sank in 2010 off Otago with the loss of six men.

Upset at Cook Islands' timid response to shark finning offences

The leader of the opposition Democratic Party in the Cook Islands says a decision by maritime officials to let go a Chinese-flagged longliner discovered with shark fins onboard reflects badly on the country.

Shark fishing is illegal in the Cook Islands as is the transport and possession of shark or shark parts.

Wilkie Rasmussen says the boat should have been confiscated and brought back into the harbour but that wasn't done.

Mr Rasmussen wants maritime officials and the government to explain why the vessel's owners were not charged.

"We also expect some sort of action to be taken against a vessel that has clearly breached our sanctuary and of course breached the laws that prohibits the finning of sharks in our waters."

Wilkie Rasmussen says the Cook Islands has been declared a shark sanctuary and to not have charged the vessel is a terrible indictment.

The Ministry of Marine Resources says it will talk with Chinese authorities about the eight kilograms of shark fins found onboard the vessel, through the settlement processes within the Tuna Commission.

Not good... particularly since the minister was removed because corruption from Chinese sources....

Beauty in Cyclone

Luci making his way to NZ from Fiji

Come on board! Today in a Purse Seiner

An introduction to Purse Seine Fishing in the Central and Western Pacific Ocean.

Practical Applications of Unique Vessel Identifiers (IMO Numbers) in Supply Chains

If you go to the Boston Seafood Show, FishWise and EJF would like to invite you to a roundtable discussion on International Maritime Organization (IMO) numbers and how they can be leveraged within seafood supply chains to reduce IUU and enhance traceability at the Boston Seafood Show. 

The objective is to have an open and frank discussion on the practical applications of IMO numbers in supply chains. Experts will be on hand to answer questions from the industry and other interested stakeholders. The event will also include an update on the development of the UN FAO Global Record of Fishing Vessels.

Good people with good ideas!

Model Tuna makes loining for sashimi a less messy game

Before..

After...

I sooo want this one!

It turns out that "fish wholesaler" and "toy designer" are not mutually exclusive professions: Kazuyoshi Watanabe, a Tokyo fish wholesaler, created this wooden tuna to teach people how to properly loin the fish.

The model comes with just about everything you need to get the job done—including a cutting board a long knife to do the cutting. The model itself is much like any other anatomical version you've probably seen—each piece comes apart and then stacks back together for easy storage.

get it here in time for my birthday!

How deep can a fish go?

They may look like guts stuffed in cellophane, but five fish hauled up from near-record depths off the coast of New Zealand are providing scientists with new insights into how deep fish can survive.

In a paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists from the U.S., Britain and New Zealand describe catching translucent hadal snailfish at a depth of 7 kilometers (4.3 miles).

By measuring levels of a compound in the fish that helps offset the effects of pressure, the scientists say they've concluded that fish likely can't survive below about 8,200 meters (5.1 miles). That would mean no fish at all live in the deepest one-quarter of the world's oceans.

The snailfish have little pigmentation due to the lack of light in their environment, hence their translucent appearance.

New Zealand marine ecologist Ashley Rowden, a co-author of the paper, said nobody had caught a snailfish in nearly 60 years and so he wasn't overly hopeful when they sent down a box-like trap into the Kermadec Trench near New Zealand in late 2011.

He said they used mackerel as bait to attract the small sandhopper-like creatures the snailfish feed upon.

"When it came up, it was just amazing to see. It was 'Oh my God, we've got the fish, and we've got more than one,'" Rowden said.

Rowden said he put on gloves and carefully picked up one of the fish.

"It was like a water-filled condom," he said. "A sloppy, gelatinous mass that moves between your hands. It was very cool, and very strange to see its organs and everything."

Rowden, who works at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, said scientists had previously speculated fish couldn't live below certain depths but that catching the fish and studying them helped provide more scientific certainty.

The fish are the second-deepest recorded catch. In 1970, a boat off the coast of Chile reported catching a cusk eel at a depth of 8,370 meters in a trawl net, although questions remain whether that fish was caught at the ocean floor or higher up as the net was hauled in.

The paper's lead author, Paul Yancey of Whitman College in Washington state, said they were able to measure the levels in the fish of trimethylamine oxide, a molecule that protects proteins from pressure. He said there appears to be a natural limit to the amount of the molecule a fish can contain.

Yancey said the molecule is already being studied for its human applications, including in the treatment of glaucoma.

Meanwhile, he said, if the hadal snailfish look strange enough, they would smell terrible when they decompose. That, he said, is because the molecule has another property — it gives fish their distinctive smell, so the deeper they live, the stronger they stink.

PNA countries argue ways into a better fisheries future at their meeting this week

Honiara (March, 2014) The United States government and its purse seine fishing industry have tripled what they are paying for fishing rights in waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The PNA’s “vessel day scheme” (VDS) now enforces a minimum payment of US$6,000 per fishing day, providing ever-greater financial benefits to island members. And at the end of 2013, PNA began successfully marketing internationally certified sustainably caught skipjack in Europe, generating a premium price for the product.

PNA’s engagement has brought a paradigm shift to the western Pacific tuna fishery long-dominated by distant water fishing nations. “We’ve been successful in dramatically increasing benefits to our islands because of the unity of the Parties,” said PNA CEO Dr. Transform Aqorau, who is based at PNA headquarters in the Marshall Islands. Success brings new challenges, and the PNA faces key decisions at next month’s annual meeting that will shape the region’s US $7 billion tuna industry in 2014 and beyond, he said.

Representatives from Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu will gather in the Solomon Islands March 5-14 for their annual meeting,

Among the PNA’s list of challenges is how to distribute US$93 million resulting from last year’s successful conclusion of negotiations with the U.S. government and its tuna industry. Differing interpretations in 2013 of “non-fishing days” by PNA members turned this into a prominent loophole in PNA’s vessel day scheme, which aims to limit the total number of days to
both create scarcity that drives price and conserve the resource.

Demand for fishing days will only increase with a lineup of foreign fishing fleets beating a path to the lucrative fishing zones of the PNA. “What we do as a group is contingent on what we do individually,” said Marshall Islands fisheries Director Glen Joseph in the lead up to the March
meeting.

   In Honiara, PNA officials aim to resolve these issues:

• Distribution of US$93 million from the US fisheries treaty. Key to this is deciding how many days individual PNA members will provide to satisfy the 8,000 days promised under the new treaty. The U.S. treaty includes provisions for 15 percent of the funding to be distributed equally among all Forum Fisheries Agency members as well as a percentage for administration costs. As a result, actual per day rate of U.S. payments to islands in whose waters tuna is caught will be below the new US$6,000 daily benchmark fee, making it less attractive for PNA members to offer days.  Revenue has been sitting since last July, waiting for PNA members to work out the details. 
•  Defining non-fishing days: Differing definitions of non-fishing days is causing “leakage” in the VDS that is intended to cap fishing days to create scarcity and maintain the price. Allowance for non-fishing days need to be tightened so it is not abused by distant water fishing nations. The terms “transit” and “non-fishing days” need to be standardized. Synchronizing fishing rules at the national level with those at the regional level is crucial to ongoing success of PNA.
•  Domestic fisheries development: PNA members are benefiting by foreign vessels gaining domestic designation by accessing licenses through the FSM Arrangement, which allows vessels to fish in multiple exclusive economic zones on a single license. The number of foreign vessels seeking licenses under the FSM Arrangement jumped last year and there is concern that it could be used as a vehicle for cheap licenses at the expense of domestic fleet development and access to the region. “

One important issue that doesn’t fit easily into a bullet point issue for resolution is the difficulty that fisheries access agreements represent to PNA members maximizing the value of a fishing day. As conceived, the VDS aims to create a sellers market, allowing PNA members to auction their days to the highest bidders. But bilateral fisheries agreements — where fisheries and foreign ministry officials from Asian or other nations negotiate deals with their island counterparts for access to fishing zones — has been a mainstay of Pacific fisheries for more than a generation. PNA is encouraging fisheries officials to move away from bilateral
fisheries access negotiations to selling days through the VDS, allowing the market to dictate the price — which he believes will punch the price well above the current $,6000 a day benchmark.

“The strategic environment created by PNA lends itself to other innovative ways in which the value of days can be maximized,” said Dr. Aqorau. “Reforms that will enable these more innovative means of maximising the value of a day will take some time to institute. Without doubt they will create some major changes to the strategic directions of this fishery and firmly place its control in the hands of the Parties.”

Although enforcement of the VDS has already increased revenue to the islands more than three-fold, Dr. Aqorau said this is a fraction of what the industry is worth to PNA members. “With greater cooperation among the Parties to make the VDS more effective and reduce leakages from allowances being made to vessel operators through the manipulation of non-fishing days, revenues generated from sale of days can be trebled,” he said.

NZ's Fisheries Performance Evaluation

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has now released its 2013 summaries of the Status of New Zealand’s Fisheries which confirms most New Zealand fisheries are performing well. Highlights from the 2013 review show that:

• Both stocks of hoki have now increased for seven consecutive years and both are now well within or above their management targets.  As a result it has been possible to  increase the quota from 90,000 tonnes to 150,000 metric tonnes
• The recent discovery of a new aggregation of Chatham Rise orange roughy has led to a favourable revision of the status of this stock
• The Campbell Island Rise stock of southern blue whiting remains at an historic high
• A new assessment of blue cod in the southern South Island indicates that the stock is performing well
• A number of South Island stocks of gurnard, John dory and elephantfish have increased significantly.

James Stevenson-Wallace, Director Fisheries Management, MPI says the Ministry is committed to sustainable fisheries and that fish are a valuable resource in a number of different ways. He says New Zealand continues to be world-leading in the sustainable management of fishing, and the QMS gives fisheries managers the ability to address problems when they occur.

MPI is continuing to improve its comprehensive fisheries management regime designed to provide sustainable fisheries now and into the future. This regime is based on international best practice and is contained in the Harvest Strategy Standard. The Standard sets fishery and stock targets and limits for fish stocks in New Zealand’s Quota Management System (QMS).

There are currently 638 stocks in the QMS. Of these, 350 stocks are considered to have significant commercial or non-commercial potential. Their status is determined relative to four biological reference points – a ‘soft limit’, a ‘hard limit’, an ‘overfishing threshold’, and a ‘management target’. 

The soft limit is the lower bound on the desirable population size; the hard limit is a population size below which fisheries closures may need to be considered; the overfishing threshold is the maximum percentage of the population that can be removed each year; and the management target is the population size that well-managed fish populations are expected to fluctuate around. 

Dr Pamela Mace, Principal Advisor Fisheries Science, reports that in terms of stocks of known status, 82.0% were above the soft limit, 93.5% were above the hard limit, 82.1% were below the overfishing threshold, and 69.2% were above their management targets.

When considering the tonnage of landings (of known status), 96.2% of the landings was composed of stocks above the soft limit, 99.5% of the landings were above the hard limit, 95.5% were below the overfishing threshold, and 92.8% were above the management target.

Twenty five stocks are considered to be below the soft limit.  In all such cases, corrective management action has been, or is being, put into place to rebuild the stocks.  In 2013, overfishing was documented for 17.9% of stocks, down from 25% four years ago.

To see the full report see the Status of Stocks.  Or to see the evaluations for each fish stock

Truths from the sea

It is a truth known among seafarers and commercial fisherman that life on a boat either forges the strongest of friendships, or breaks them. Some will jump ship, but others will find themselves wondering if it’s just a coincidence that ‘ship’ is tacked onto ‘friend’ to make friendship.