Bernadette Carreon is a Palau-based journalist who has covered the Pacific for more than 15 years. She was born in the Philippines but has made Palau her home since 2001. A journalist for almost two decades, Bernadette has been selected to attend numerous trainings in covering and writing about Pacific fisheries. She has written for Agence France Presse, Marianas Business Journal, Radio Australia, Island Times and Pacific Media Network. She is also a co-founder of the Palau-based online news organization Pacific Note.
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The non-governmental organization Human Rights At Sea earlier this month published a report with numerous recommendations to better protect fisheries observers who monitor fish catches by tuna vessels in the Pacific.
The report, Fisheries Observer Deaths at Sea, Human Rights and the Role and Responsibilities of Fisheries Organisations, highlights “the often challenging and solitary working conditions for observers who are away at sea
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The fishing effort in the tuna-rich waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) does not appear to have been significantly impeded by the COVID-19 crisis, according to a report prepared by Brisbane, Australia-based resources consultancy MRAG Asia Pacific.
The report, which was completed in April, stated that travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic “has not resulted in a widespread decline in fishing effort.”
The
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The Australian government has set aside AUD 10 million (USD 6.9 million, EUR 6.1 million) to provide levies to commercial fishers across the country that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic …
Photo courtesy of
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Australia’s orange roughy fishery has been recommended to be certified sustainable to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification guidelines.
According to the U.S.-based MRAG Americas Inc.’s 226 page report and determination, the fishery is certifiable to the standard and can be given sustainability status.
“Following client, peer, and public review, and review and decision by a qualified individual within MRAG
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The Australian government’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM), which assists farming and seafood industry companies export their produce overseas, has been extended until the end of the year.
In a statement, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, and Regional Development Michael McCormack said the government has poured in an additional AUD 240 million (USD 167.5 million, EUR 147.7 million) in
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New Zealand-based company X-Craft has announced it has developed an unmanned sea vessel, designed for extreme endurance at sea, that can assist nations in the Pacific in combatting illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
X-Craft CEO Philip Solaris told SeafoodSource that the company is looking for ways to enhance protection of the ocean, especially in the Pacific.
Called the Proteus, the unmanned vessel will feature an
… Read More Seafood Industry Australia (SIA) recently announced that the Australian government is investing AUD 4 million (USD 2.8 million, EUR 2.4 million) into to the organization to fund a national marketing campaign to promote domestic seafood in the country – a move that will support the nation’s seafood industry as it recovers from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a press release, SIA said the money would help
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American Samoa continues to depend on the tuna-canning industry as a key pillar of its economy, according to a new United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released last week, but the government of American Samoa is worried that a planned minimum wage increase for 2021 will have a negative impact to the economy.
The report is the fifth iteration in a series of U.S. Government Accountability Office reviews to examine economic
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The impact of COVID-19 has resulted in Auckland, New Zealand-based Sanford Limited seeing a 17 percent drop in profits for the first half of 2020 ...
Photo courtesy of Sanford
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Pacific Fisheries officials, on 21 May, extended a suspension of 100 percent observer coverage requirements on all purse-seiners fishing in the waters of member-nations to 31 July.
The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), in a circular memo, endorsed the extension of the measure, stating that the “temporary suspension will apply to new trips after a vessel operator has met any requirement for repatriation of
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