By Paul Cleary

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The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission formally opened its new office in Pohnpei, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia in October 2007, with a mandate to monitor and conserve critically-low levels of highly migratory fish stocks in the high seas of the Pacific.

The office opens at a time when scientists have warned that tuna stocks are dropping to perilously low levels, threatening many subsistence communities in the Pacific and denying commercial fisheries in the region a better livelihood.

There are also concerns that at least one Pacific state has recently allowed a fleet of 9 South American fishing vessels not authorised by the Commission to fish in the high seas within the WCPF Convention area. While the fleet is registered in Ecuador it is believed to be backed by Spanish interests.

In an industry worth $US3 billion, Pacific island nations are believed to earn a return as low as 5 per cent.

The new Commission compliments work of the Honiara-based Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), which since 1979 has sought to assist its 17 member states to manage and conserve tuna resources.

The FFA, however, only regulates areas within the Exclusive Economic Zone of each country, and does not cover the high seas, from where more than 20 per cent of the catch is harvested.

This task is now being undertaken by the newly-formed WCFPC, which is the result of a convention signed by Pacific countries and the Western and Asian nations that exploit these waters.

Many analysts and observers believe that both agencies are fighting an uphill battle because some island nations are willing to allow access to their tuna stocks at very low rates of return. In an industry worth $US3 billion, Pacific island nations are believed to earn a return as low as 5 per cent.

The 4th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCFPC) meeting got underway on 3-7th December 2007.

“History is already repeating itself in the WCPO. As tuna populations in other parts of the world are depleted, fishing fleets are moving to the WCPO and are overfishing now. This Commission must be prepared to take the hard decisions to prevent fisheries collapse now.” - Download the joint position paper presented by WWF South Pacific and TRAFFIC at this meeting.

Several tuna species, including Bigeye, Southern Bluefin and Yellowfin, are considered by scientists to be over-fished.

The ‘Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean’ was opened for signing in 2000, and this has led to the creation of the new Commission.

The WCPFC is beginning its life with a modest budget of just $US3 million a year and nine staff members. A Technical Committee meeting held over six days from September 27 was designed to reach agreement on a raft of regulatory initiatives, including satellite monitoring, according to Andrew Wright, the Commission’s Executive Director.

Mr Wright said the Commission’s modest resources were “no investment in long term conservation”. He said the $US3 million budget was very insignificant when compared with the US$3 billion value of the annual tuna catch.

But he said the Commission faced a challenge in convincing companies to invest in conservation.

“You have to make people realise that investment in conservation and management should be a part of their operations,”

he said.

Mr Wright said the Technical Compliance Committee met to decide on a range of micro management issues, such as how to go about monitoring fishing activity. Establishing a satellite-tracking system at a cost of $US800,000 was one of the matters on the agenda.

Mr Wright argues that there is a need to reduce the catch. Bigeye tuna should be reduced by 25 per cent, he says, and Yellowfin by 10 per cent.

With the Technical Compliance Committee meeting completed, the next big challenge for the Commission will be a meeting of all member countries in Guam in the first week of December.

With one member already breaching the Convention by awarding permits to unlicensed vessels from South America such an action indicates that from the very beginning the Commission faces a challenge to encourage Pacific island members to avoid the temptation of one-off deals which undermine collective action.

The chairman of the WCPFC, Glenn Hurry, has warned in a letter to members that the action by this nation is a serious breach which undermines efforts to keep the catch at a sustainable level.

“I understand that South American vessels are now openly fishing in the WCPFC area in blatant disregard of the scientific evidence on the status of the stocks, the capacity resolutions we have agreed in the Commission and the arrangements in place to authorise vessels to fish in the WCPO,”

Hurry told members in a recent letter.

Mr Hurry, who is also the chief executive of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, says the sustainable catch in the entire region is 2 million tonnes, but this limit is being exceeded. He says Pacific nations are allowing access at low rates. He cites a situation where access is granted for skip jack with a world price at US$800 per tonne but when the price rises the access fees do not change. With skip jack now worth some US$1400 per tonnes there is a significant loss in potential revenue from not getting the access arrangements right.

WWF is an observer at the annual meetings of the WCPFC and its subsidiary committees. WWF supports sustainable and equitable tuna fisheries management in the Pacific Islands Region.

Note: Paul Cleary is an author and journalist who writes on natural resource issues, and has been engaged with conservation groups including WWF Australia.

For further information, contact:

Seremai Tuqiri, Fisheries Policy Officer- WWF South Pacific. Ph:(679) 331 5533

Ashwini Prabha, Communications Coordinator- WWF South Pacific. Ph:(679) 331 5533

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