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Enhancing capability and resilience for sustainable Pacific fisheries

By IW:LEARN

January 25^th, 2024

“Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

This is the adage that captures two things I’m passionate about — education, and fisheries management.

The people of the Pacific have been skillfully fishing and feeding themselves from the ocean’s bounty for millennia, a tradition that continues to provide sustenance for communities and much-needed export revenue for Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The key aim of the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP3), initiated by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and launched in late 2022 as the third phase of a two-decade-long project, is to use ecosystem approaches for the sustainable management of living marine resources in the Western and Central Pacific.

One of our key focus areas is supporting the ongoing protection of tuna and other highly migratory oceanic animals while still allowing fishing. This is to ensure that populations remain sustainable, both environmentally and economically, into the future.

Yellowfin tuna. Photo: Ellen Cuylaerts / Ocean Image Bank

The good news is that according to the latest Tuna Fisheries Assessment Report released in November 2023 by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, when it comes to the key tuna species fished in the region,

“Skipjack, Yellowfin, Bigeye, and South Pacific albacore — all four stocks are considered to be in a healthy, sustainable status as none are considered to be overfished.”

No room for complacency

There are some uncertainties in the data that require a cautious approach moving forward in some areas, but the sustainable status of the tuna stocks is a testament to the great work of Pacific island nations working in conjunction with the seafood industry, scientists, conservation groups, and fisheries management organisations who have collectively undertaken efforts in recent years.

There is, however, no room for complacency as the Pacific marine ecosystem faces growing environmental pressures in the form of increasing demand for fish, pollution, and the impacts of climate change. While Pacific islanders undoubtedly possess the knowledge to feed themselves, they confront the reality that fish may not be as abundant in the future or available in the same places where they are currently caught. That is why a substantial part of OFMP3’s work involves helping SIDS to ensure food security in a rapidly changing world.

In November, we helped bring together community representatives from 14 countries in Nouméa to share best practices on deploying and maintaining community Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs).

Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). Photo: Shutterstock

FADs are anchored or drifting floating structures that suspend material such as palm fronds to create an environment that attracts fish. They are successfully used throughout the Pacific to aid in coastal fishing operations.

Those who attended the Nouméa workshop, which was hosted by The Pacific Community (SPC) said:

“There is pressure for us to quickly deploy FADs to meet our targets, but from this workshop, I have learned I really need to consider the importance of planning and assessments before deployment,”

said Lorel Dandava, Senior Fisheries Management Officer, Coastal Fisheries, National Fisheries Authority, Papua New Guinea.

"At the end of the day, we want the FADs to last a lifetime – so communities can benefit. At this workshop, I have learned a lot from the experience of older fisheries officers who have decades of experience, and from their experience across 14 countries,”

She added.

Mastering FAD deployment

Another workshop attendee, Beven Wakefield, Fisheries Development Officer at the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, said the Marshall Islands often face issues during FAD deployments as well as in the preparation process.

“It has been a great journey to be able to discuss these issues and to be able to share them and be able to learn from them to help us (Pacific Islands FAD group) to master the skills of FAD deployments, monitoring, post-harvest/value-added practices, and community engagement,”

said Wakefield.

We will continue to assist in efforts to support the sustainable use of FADs in the region, as well as the important role Pacific wāhine (women) play in coastal and community fishing activities.

Elsewhere, 2023 was a busy year for OFMP3 across the board, including in efforts to improve fisheries management practices, support important scientific projects, and bolster compliance efforts in tuna fisheries.

Fish are attracted to debris in the water and palm fronds form good natural materials for FADs. Photo: OFMP3

Among other things, the project:

Trained dozens of fisheries management employees from across 14 countries in interpreting scientific data to enable the best possible fisheries management decisions.
Educated observers to become certified observer trainers, and to build observer capacity across the tuna fishing fleet, a crucial measure to maintain and improve compliance.
Supported a three-week scientific voyage to build knowledge about species distribution and how this may change in the face of climate change.

Understanding climate impacts

If there is one priority that separates OFMP3 from the work undertaken in the previous two projects, it is the work that needs to be done to understand the impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems.

These impacts are complex, potentially significant, and not fully understood. That is why OFMP3 continues to fund and contribute expertise to scientific efforts to inform evidence-based fisheries management in the Pacific.

Pacific Island nations and our numerous partners working in the region are united in our goal to preserve the health and sustainability of tuna fisheries. We face many challenges ahead, but the collaboration and cooperation we know we are capable of will allow us to tackle them together, for the good of everyone in the region.

About the OFMP3 Project

The Oceanic Fisheries Management Project III (OFMP3) was designed to assist Pacific Small Island Developing States in implementing strategies and activities in support of sustainable tuna fisheries management. This project builds on and enhances previous oceanic fisheries management projects and other similar initiatives that have had great success in the past.

Since its inception in 2022, the project has been working closely with our 14 Member Countries to do three things: 1) implement strategies and activities in support of sustainable oceanic fisheries management, 2) prevent, deter, and eliminate Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and 3) mitigate the impacts of climate change on the oceanic fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific.

Through this work, the OFMP3 Project is committed to safeguarding the livelihoods and prosperity of coastal people in the Central and Western Pacific Region through the continued implementation of sustainable concepts and practices.

OFMP3 is a Global Environment Facility (GEF)-funded project, managed and executed under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as its GEF implementing agency. The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agencies is the regional implementing partner together with The Pacific Community (SPC), Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and Pacific Island Tuna Industry Association (PITIA) valued partners in this work.

For more information on the OFMP3 Project, please contact the Project Manager, Lisa Buchanan (lisa.buchanan@ffa.int), or visit the project website.