Bernadette Carreon

Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), in late November 2019, completed the purchase of a fisheries information management system (FIMS) it says will aid in the effective management of fisheries in the region’s waters.  

In 2018, the PNA said the FIMS “revolutionized management” of the tuna fishery. The PNA used the system for two years, before finally deciding to buy the system outright.  

A new PNA-owned

The New Year ushered in Palau’s much-touted environmental law, creating a marine sanctuary which will close 80 percent of Palau’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) to fishing and all other extractive activities such as mining, shark-finning, and transshipment – creating one of the largest marine protected areas in the world.

The marine sanctuary law, which took effect on 1 January, 2020, covers an area of about 500,000 square

New Zealand longline fishers have hailed the approval of the United Kingdom-designed Hookpod last week, a device designed to prevent sea bird bycatch.

The Hookpod is a device that has been tested to be effective in eliminating the bycatch of albatross and other sea birds, without having a negative effect on target species catch rate in the surface longline fishing industry. In a press release, Hookpod lauded New Zealand’s approval of the

The Micronesian Association for Sustainable Aquaculture (MASA) and Kiribati finalized this month a regional business development strategy that will further sustain aquaculture activities region, the Pacific Community (SPC) announced in a press statement.

The new strategy, the SPC said, is part of a regional project funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, and implemented by the Pacific Community since 2017.

Despite an agreement on a resolution addressing climate change’s impact on the fisheries it regulates, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) failed to tackle several key issues at its annual meeting, which took place in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, last week.

In its most notable move during the meeting, the commission adopted a climate change resolution introduced by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries (FFA) that

Pacific bigeye, yellowfin, albacore, and skipjack tuna are all reported to be in healthy condition, according to a 2018 stock assessment announced this week during the 16th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The Pacific Community’s (SPC) stock assessment report stated that the estimate of the total tuna catch in the WCPFC Convention Area for 2018 is 2,790,859 metric tons

Pacific fisheries officials are calling on members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to band together and commit to an action plan that takes climate change’s impacts on its fisheries into account.

In a statement ahead of the week-long tuna commission meeting – taking place in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, between 5 and 11 December – the 17-member Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) are