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Pacific power: A blueprint for global fisheries

The Pacific region’s journey in transforming tuna fisheries into a model of sustainability offers critical lessons for global ocean stewardship.

By IW:LEARN

May 23^rd, 2025

Over two decades, collaborative governance, technological innovation, and community-led initiatives have safeguarded the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), home to 60% of the world’s tuna, while boosting economic resilience.

“Here in the Pacific, we not only value tuna as an important species, but we recognise it as an integral part of our livelihoods,” says FFA Director General Noan Pakop.

“In fact, tuna is a pillar of our identity, a driver of our economies, and a cornerstone of our food systems. Our tuna stocks – skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, and South Pacific albacore – remain amongst the healthiest in the world. This success reflects the strong cooperation across our region and with our global partners,” he adds.

An upcoming report, Pacific Power: A 20-Year Journey to Transform Tuna Fisheries, sees the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP) delving into the key lessons learned from two decades of intensive work to foster sustainable tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. OFMP was started in 2005, with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), where its work continues 20 years later.

The FFA’s work in this space has been made possible through close collaboration with its Member Governments, regional Partners - including the Pacific Community (SPC), the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office (PNAO), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and with support from the GEF, implemented through UNDP.

Women selling tuna at a local fish market in Solomon Islands. Credit: Lisa Buchanan/OFMP

Regional unity: the foundation of sustainable management

The establishment of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in 2004 marked a turning point, enabling Pacific nations to negotiate as a bloc.

Ludwig Kumoru, FFA’s Director of Fisheries Management, recalls the shift:

“With the help of FFA and the Commission, we pushed ideas through as a block. People began taking ownership of measures, seeing that to benefit, we had to step up,” he said.

Regional frameworks like the Parties to the Nauru Agreement’s Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) revolutionised economics, quadrupling license revenues to US$550 million annually by 2019 while curbing overfishing.

Harvest strategies, binding pre-agreed management rules, now guide decisions for skipjack tuna and are expanding to other species.

A fisherman displaying the latest tuna on a fishing vessel in Solomon Islands. Credit: Lisa Buchanan/OFMP

Fisherman unloading tuna from the hold of a fishing vessel in Solomon Islands. Credit: Lisa Buchanan/OFMP

Curbing illegal fishing: people, rules, and tech

Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific has plummeted to 6.5% of catches-down from 15% in 2015, thanks to regional surveillance networks and electronic monitoring.

The FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre tracks vessels in real-time via satellite, while 100% observer coverage on purse seiners ensures compliance.

Allan Rahari, FFA’s Director of Fisheries Operations, highlights the tech revolution:

“The elevation of electronic reporting as a key tool to addressing unreported, misreported catches on fishing vessels has continued to strengthen,” he says.

Climate resilience: preparing for a warmer ocean

Climate change remains a key existential threat, with tuna stocks projected to shift eastward, potentially reducing biomass in Pacific EEZs by 30% by 2050. Dr. Valerie Allain, SPC Senior Scientist, warns:

“Based on the work we have done, we are expecting significant changes, not in the next decade, but more around the 2040–2050 timeframe.”

OFMP has supported the FFA regional Climate Change Strategy and helped build Member capacity to plan for a future where climate change impacts tuna stocks, ecosystems, and Pacific livelihoods.

Empowering coastal communities

Initiatives like biodegradable fish aggregating devices (FADs) and protected migratory corridors also help strengthen ecosystem resilience.

From Fiji to the Marshall Islands, communities are pivoting to sustainable practices. Nearshore FADs help fishers transition from overexploited reefs to pelagic species. As the late Hugh Walton, former OFMP2 leader who passed away in November 2024, noted:

“FADs are lifelines. They offer food security as reefs decline.”

A FAD workshop held in Nouméa in 2023 and supported by OFMP helped build capability in FAD management.

An OFMP-supported project in the Cook Islands is also assisting sustainable turtle tourism, using facial recognition technology to track the movements of turtles so their population can be better understood.

The road ahead

The OFMP report underscores that tuna sustainability hinges on five pillars:

Regional cooperation,
Science and innovation,
Climate adaptation
Equity and capacity, and
Economic sovereignity.

These pillars are not standalone—they are deeply interconnected. Together, they have enabled Pacific Island countries to manage one of the world’s most valuable fisheries with vision, resilience, and leadership.

As the Pacific navigates warming seas and increasing pressure on its marine resources, its success offers a roadmap: invest in science, empower communities, and prioritise equity.

For Ludwig Kumoru, a 30-year veteran of fisheries management, the type of capacity building supported by OFMP has been integral to building the capability to allow fisheries management to be successfully adopted across a wide and diverse region.

“Through the help of OFMP3, members are better organised. We have knowledge transfer. It has really helped the Pacific to arrive to where they are today.”

Visit www.tunapacific.org for more stories charting the effort to maintain sustainable tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

About the project

Full project name: Mainstreaming climate change and ecosystembased approaches into the sustainable management of the living marine resources of the WCPFC.

The aim of the Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP3) is to use ecosystem approaches to ensure the sustainable management of the living marine resources of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission area.

This includes the ongoing protection of stocks (populations) of tuna and other highly migratory oceanic animals while still allowing fishing. This is so populations remain sustainable environmentally and economically.