Top PNA executive prepares to leave office

After serving as the CEO of the Parties to Nauru Agreement (PNA) for more than six years, Transform Aqorau will soon be stepping down from his post at the helm of the eight-member fisheries bloc.

It is expected that Aqorau’s replacement will be selected at a PNA meeting next week in Kiribati, according to Radio NZ. Aqorau will continue to serve in the leadership role throughout the upcoming transition period, and then shift into a consultancy role with PNA once a new CEO is in place.

During his tenure, Aqorau oversaw revenues accrued by PNA member nations jump from USD 60 million (EUR 53 million) circa 2010 to an estimated USD 400 million (EUR 353 million) in 2015 – an increase due in large part to the PNA’s vessel day scheme, which regulates the number of fishing says allowed each year and then sells the days to international and domestic purse seine fishing fleets at a minimum rate of USD 8,000 (EUR 7,064) per day.

Aqorau has also been present for PNA’s enforcement of 100 percent observer coverage of purse seiners, in-port transhipment and a three-month ban on the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs) as a conservation measure, recounted Radio NZ. Moreover, certification for free school-caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna in PNA zones was granted by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) while Aqorau held top office.

Member nations comprising the PNA include Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu, Nauru, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.

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