Impacts of tuna industries on coastal communities in Pacific Island countries

Tuna fishing and processing industries have brought both a range of economic development and cultural contact opportunities to coastal communities in Pacific Island countries, and a variety of social and environmental challenges. This article outlines the main trends in the tuna industries of the region, examines the aspirations of coastal communities towards these industries, and traces actual experiences of their operations.     

Slow steps towards management of the world's largest tuna fishery

Today, the tuna fishery of the western and central Pacific is one of the world's largest fisheries. Annual catches exceed 2 million mt—approximately 50% of the global tuna catch—with an estimated landed value of USD 3 billion (in 2005). The fishery expanded rapidly from the mid 1980s, following the development of the purse-seine fishery. From the mid 1990s, it was recognised that a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation was required to facilitate cooperation in the management of the resource. Following almost a decade of negotiations and planning, the Western and Central Pacific Fishery Commission (WCPFC) was established in 2004. During the interim period, stock assessments for the key tuna species were developed and revealed that for two species (yellowfin and bigeye tuna) there was concern regarding the increased levels of fishing mortality. However, declarations and resolutions calling for restraint in the expansion of fishing effort were largely unheeded over the last decade and, to date, the WCPFC has been unable to introduce any measures to effectively reduce (or limit) the level of fishing mortality on yellowfin and bigeye tuna. This paper proposes a number of mechanisms for improving the performance of the WCPFC with respect to meeting the conservation and management objectives of the commission and argues that Pacific Island nations need to collectively take the lead to ensure the effective management of the resource.     

The structure of tuna access agreements in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean: Lessons for Vessel Day Scheme planning

The tuna industry in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) is one of the largest and most valuable fisheries in the world. Since the 1980s, Pacific island countries have used licensing agreements with foreign fishing interests—known as access agreements—to earn tuna-related revenue and control the environmental impacts of fishing, with only minimal success. To date, there has been little work detailing the structure of access agreements and assessing how this structure relates to economic and environmental outcomes in the sector. This article helps to fill this gap by providing an overview of various access structures and a detailed empirical assessment of how these structures are applied in access agreements between Pacific island countries and the major foreign fishing interests active in the WCPO. This analysis is placed in the context of evolving regional fisheries management structures. The study reveals that while there is no uniform formula for access agreements, each structure is subject to distinct political, economic and environmental considerations that influence outcomes for Pacific island countries. As Pacific island countries develop the mechanism to allocate fishing rights under the new Vessel Day Scheme, drawing on their long history with access agreements will assist efforts to use access to achieve policy objectives. Improved transparency will enable Pacific island countries to identify successes and problems and adapt the Vessel Day Scheme allocation mechanisms accordingly.     

Rights-based management in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean tuna fishery: Economic and environmental change under the Vessel Day Scheme

Defining, strengthening and enforcing rights over fisheries resources is frequently identified as central to overcoming ‘the tragedy of the commons’ and associated environmental and economic challenges in fisheries systems. Though economic theory generally suggests that output control (e.g. quotas) creates the strongest incentives for efficiency and conservation, input controls (e.g. on effort) remain common. This paper explores the rationale for, and implications of, employing a transferable effort scheme in one of the largest and most valuable fisheries. In 2007, eight Pacific Island countries implemented the Vessel Day Scheme with the aims of strengthening their rights over tuna resources and control over economic and environmental trends. Four years since implementation, the scheme has significantly increased economic returns for the island states and generated improvements in data reporting. However, it has not generated a firm limit on fishing effort and its structure has made it difficult to directly target the biological concerns of individual species within the multi-species fishery. In the future, outcomes of the Vessel Day Scheme will continue to be tempered by the structural limitations of effort-based regulatory scheme, market conditions in the sector and the willingness of firms and island states to clarify, abide by and enforce the technical components of the scheme.     

Subsidies to tuna fisheries in the Western Central Pacific Ocean

Tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean are among the most valuable resources in the region. These fisheries, worth an estimated $4.1 billion each year, play a pivotal role in supporting incomes and development goals in the region. However, due to the twin, and potentially inter-related effects of harmful fishing practices such as the use of fish aggregating devices, overcapacity, and fisheries subsidies, many of these tuna fisheries are currently at risk of over-exploitation—putting the livelihoods of countless local fishers at risk. This study finds that government fisheries subsidies in the region represent 37% of the ex-vessel value of tuna fisheries in the region. Fuel subsidies are estimated at US$ 335 million and non-fuel subsidies are estimated at US$ 1.2 billion for the year 2009. Developed countries are responsible for more than half of the subsidies spent in the predominantly developing region, underlying the fact that the majority of tuna value extracted from the national waters of developing countries in the region benefit larger, developed countries. The total resource rent, or return to society, from tuna fisheries, once adjusted for subsidies is a net negative US$750 million in 2009. Fisheries subsidies are enabling foreign fleets to operate at sub-market rates, putting local fleets out of competition for their own fishery resources.     

Power Europe: EU and the illegal,unreported and unregulated tuna fisheries regulation in the West and Central Pacific Ocean

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are widely considered a main cause of unsustainable fisheries across the globe. The EU has taken a leading role in the fight against IUU fishing, using both its market and normative power to advance its EU IUU Regulation (no. 1005/2008) and wider fisheries sustainability agenda outside its territory. This paper examines how successful the EU has been in using its market and normative power to influence regulatory strategies and frameworks governing tuna fisheries in the Pacific Islands region of the Western Pacific Ocean. The results indicate that while the market power of the EU remains an influential factor, the diminishing normative power of the EU in WCPO is weakening any attempts to implement its IUU fishing regulation and Pacific Island nations have promoted their own regulatory agenda. We conclude that the changing asymmetries between market and normative power has led to a differentiated geography of regulatory uptake, and while market power will remain a dominant strategy for the EU, normative power, when exercised should focus on cooperation rather than ‘teaching’ the benefits of an EU regulatory approach.     

Assessment of eco-labelling schemes for Pacific tuna fisheries

Developments in fisheries governance in recent decades—notably the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and its implementing agreements—have established a framework of principles, standards, institutions and regulations that is broader and more complex than traditional fisheries management, which has generally focused on individual target species. As this framework has evolved, a number of seafood eco-labelling schemes have also developed. These schemes aim to identify well-managed fisheries and give competitive advantage to their products, thus translating the environmental awareness of consumers into direct support for sustainable fishing practices. This paper evaluates a number of these schemes in the context of international fisheries governance principles and considers the conservation benefits that may result from sustainability certification of Pacific tuna fisheries. The paper briefly summarises developments in eco-labeling of Pacific tuna fisheries in relation to the evolution of fisheries management, where focus has shifted from the maximum sustainable yield of individual tuna species to ecosystem-based approaches that directly consider the broader environmental impacts of fishing. The paper discusses two different ‘Dolphin Safe’ eco-labels, the third-party scheme of the Earth Island Institute and the intergovernmental scheme of the Agreement on the International Dolphin Conservation Program, and two broader eco-labels offering sustainability certification of fisheries, ‘Friend of the Sea’ and the ‘Marine Stewardship Council’. The role played by seafood-industry associations with sustainability claims, such as the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation, is also considered.     

Full retention in tuna fisheries: Benefits,costs and unintended consequences

Several tuna regional fisheries management organizations (t-RFMOs) have adopted retention requirements for skipjack, bigeye and yellowfin tunas caught by purse seine vessels to reduce discards, create disincentives to catch small fish, and incentivize the development and adoption of more selective technologies. Although retention policies in the t-RFMOs have been limited to target tunas in purse seine fisheries, some have advocated for an expansion of those policies, and t-RFMOs could consider expanding retention policies to a greater number of species and/or to other gear types. This paper discusses the benefits and costs of broader retention policies for purse seine and longline tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). Using bycatch data from observers and logbooks from the U.S. purse seine and longline fleets operating in the WCPO, this paper documents the types and magnitude of fish discarded. For the purse seine fishery, this information was used to estimate direct impacts of having to off-load at the initial point of landing in key Pacific Island ports. For the longline fishery, estimates of direct impacts were limited to Honolulu and Pago Pago, American Samoa, the two primary ports where U.S. catch is landed. Expanding retention policies beyond the target tunas and to other gear types would further reduce discarding and possibly provide stronger incentives to develop and use more selective techniques. Beyond impacts to the ecosystem and fisher behavior, adopting broader retention policies may have other implications, and this paper explores those implications on vessels, processors, and communities. In general, as is the case with most direct interventions on fishing operations, there will be both benefits and costs, and the magnitude of those impacts will depend on the scope and extent of any expanded retention policy.     

中西太平洋延绳钓黄鳍金枪鱼渔场时空分布与温跃层关系

为了解热带中西太平洋延绳钓黄鳍金枪鱼(Thunnus albacares)适宜的温跃层参数分布区间,采用Argo浮标温度信息和中西太平洋渔业委员会(The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission,WCPFC)的黄鳍金枪鱼延绳钓渔获数据,绘制了热带中西太平洋月平均温跃层特征参数和月平均CPUE的空间叠加图,用于分析热带中西太平洋黄鳍金枪鱼中心渔场时空分布和温跃层特征参数间的关系。分析结果表明:热带中西太平洋温跃层上界深度、温度具有明显的季节性变化,而温跃层下界深度、温度季节性变化不明显,黄鳍金枪鱼中心渔场分布和温跃层季节性变化有关。全年中心渔场的位置分布在温跃层上界深度高值区域,随温跃层上界深度高值区域季节性南北移动。在新几内亚以东纬向区域(5°N~10°S,150°E~170°W)上界深度值全年都在70~100m之间,全年都是延绳钓黄鳍金枪鱼中心渔场。中心渔场上界温度多在26℃以上,但是在上界温度超过30℃区域,CPUE值较小。中心渔场主要分布在温跃层下界深度两条高值带之间区域,在温跃层下界深度超过300m和小于150m区域,CPUE值均偏低。中心渔场主要分布在下界温度低于13℃区域,下界温度超过17℃难以形成中心渔场。频次分析和经验累积分布函数计算其适宜温跃层特征参数分布,得出中西太平洋黄鳍金枪鱼适宜的温跃层上界温度和深度分别是27~29.9℃和70~109m;适宜的温跃层下界温度和深度分别是11~13.9℃和250~299m。文章初步得出中西太平洋黄鳍金枪鱼中心渔场温跃层各特征参数的适宜分布区间及季节变化特征,为我国金枪鱼实际生产作业提供技术支持。     

Distributing the bigeye conservation burden in the western and central pacific fisheries

The Western and Central Pacific Ocean is home to the world's most productive tuna fisheries, with the majority of tuna catches occurring inside the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of the region's developing coastal States. It is important that these fisheries are managed effectively throughout their range, both within and between EEZs and on the high seas. Unrestrained exploitation in a particular EEZ or on the high seas has the potential to significantly impact on catches elsewhere with potentially devastating consequences for developing coastal States, some of which have few alternate resources. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) was established in 2004 to manage the region's highly migratory tuna fisheries. However, the WCPFC has since repeatedly failed to adopt conservation and management measures that are sufficient to meet the WCPFC's conservation and sustainable use objectives. This paper analyses catch data from the WCPFC and suggests that the weak position of bigeye (in a strategic political context), the unwillingness of members to compromise their interests and the lack of a transparent framework for distributing the burden of conservation are key factors in the WCPFC's failure to adopt sufficiently strong conservation and management measures.     

A preliminary study on the intermediate water masses in the tropical West Pacific

INTRODUCTIONIntermediatewaterexistsinalloceansandhasreceivedattentionasanimportantpartoftheoceancirculation.ThefirstsystematicresearchontheintermediatewaterinthePacificwasdonebyReid(1965)andthenbyNitani(1972).ItisgenerallyconsideredthatthereexisttwokindsofintermediatewaterinthePacific.OneofthemisthelowsalinitywaterformedbysubsurfacemixinganddescendinginthenorthpartoftheSubantarcticConvergenceZone,whichisgenerallyknownastheSouthPacificintermediateWater(SPIW).TheSPIWmovesnorthwardata…     

Private provision of public information in tuna fisheries

Private enumeration of landings data and traceability is an emerging phenomena in developing world tuna fisheries. The general goal of these systems is to facilitate compliance with mandatory market requirements such as the European Union’s Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fisheries regulation, as well as support aspirations for voluntary requirements such as the Marine Stewardship Council. The long-term success of these systems appears to be dependent on their ability to complement and extend government data and information systems. Developing and maintaining the credibility of these voluntary private enumeration and traceability systems requires strong market incentives as well as strong state support and assurance. If this credibility can be maintained private fisheries information systems may provide a promising basis for innovative stock assessment and management approaches relevant for complex developing world fisheries such as tuna.     

Optimising fisheries management in relation to tuna catches in the western central Pacific Ocean: A review of research priorities and opportunities

Some of the most important development goals for the countries and territories of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) involve the sustainable management of their fisheries in light of environmental, economic and social uncertainties. The responses of fish populations to variability in the marine environment have implications for decision making processes associated with resource management. There is still considerable uncertainty in estimating the responses of tuna populations to short-to-medium-term variability and longer-term change in the oceanic environment. A workshop was organised to examine how advances in oceanography, fisheries science and fisheries economics could be applied to the tuna fisheries of the WCPO and in doing so identify research priorities to improve understanding relevant to progressing management. Research priorities identified included: (i) improved parameterisation of end to end ecosystem model components, processes and feedbacks through expanded biological observations and incorporation of higher resolution climate models; (ii) development of seasonal and inter-annual forecasting tools enabling management responses to short-term variability in tuna distributions and abundances; (iii) improved understanding of the population dynamics of and the energy transfer efficiencies between food web components; (iv) assessment of the optimal value of access rights and overall fishery value under multiple scenarios of tuna distribution and abundance and influences on decision making by fisheries managers and fleets and (v) development of management strategy evaluation frameworks for utilisation in the implementing and testing of fishery management procedures and to help prioritise research directions and investment. Issues discussed and research priorities identified during the workshop have synergies with other internationally managed fisheries and therefore are applicable to many other fisheries.     

中西太平洋金枪鱼围网技术及存在的问题

金枪鱼围网产量约占全球金枪鱼捕获量的70%,发展金枪鱼围网渔业具有广阔的前景.本文根据中鲁远洋渔业股份有限公司金枪鱼围网渔船的作业情况,分析了围网作业中的一些捕捞技术,并探讨了在发展该项目中存在的问题.     

Introducing a transferable fishing day management regime for Pacific Island countries

On 1 December 2007, eight ‘Small Island Developing States’ in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean implemented a management regime restricting the total number of days fished by tuna purse seine vessels within their waters, commonly referred to as the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS). The VDS is seen as one component of management arrangements to reduce fishing mortality on bigeye and yellowfin tuna, constrain fishing effort, and increase the rate of return from access fees by Distant Water Fishing Nations.     

Turning the Tide: the need for sustainable sea transport in the Pacific

This paper reports on progress in developing a regional research and education strategy for Pacific Island countries and communities wishing to transition to a low carbon sea transport future. Sea transport is an absolute necessity for most such communities. All current services are fossil fuel based and are becoming increasingly unaffordable and unsustainable. The countries in the Pacific region are the most dependent on imported fossil fuels in the world, importing more than 95% of needs. Such dependency is having a crippling effect on national budgets and major impacts on key productive sectors. The region's transport issues are unique; small and vulnerable economies scattered at the ends of some of the longest transportation routes in the world and arguably the most challenging to maintain per capita and per sea mile. Alternatives to current fossil fuel powered sea transport have been almost totally ignored in recent regional and national debates and the issue has been largely invisible within the policy and donor strategy space at all levels despite concerted efforts over more than two decades to transition Pacific countries' electricity sector fossil fuel use. The University of the South Pacific has been collaborating with a network of stakeholders and knowledge partners since 2012 to advance this agenda, building off previous doctoral research and the resultant Sustainable Sea Transport Talanoa 2012. Prasad et al. (2013) set out the basis for a catalytic research program following from the consensually agreed outputs of SSTT 2012 and this paper records the progress made since.     

西太平洋狗母鱼科鱼类种类多样性的研究

整理记述了西太平洋狗母鱼科Saurida、Synodus、Trachinocephalus 三属鱼类,给出了属以及主要种类的检索表,并报告了各个种的地理分布区。在此基础上,讨论了西太平洋狗母鱼科鱼类生物多样性特征、动物地理学特点及部分名称订正和资源与渔业上的意义。     

Socio-economic drivers and indicators for artisanal coastal fisheries in Pacific island countries and territories and their use for fisheries management strategies

This is the first regional study of artisanal fisheries in Pacific Island countries and territories that demonstrated that the future of the region's artisanal fishery sector and the livelihood of coastal communities will be highly dependent on alternative subsistence and income sources, which are necessary to reduce fishing pressure to a sustainable level to maintain ecosystem services and food security. The overall objective of this study was to identify socio-economic indicators and drivers to improve the understanding of the dynamics between socio-economic conditions and current exploitation levels of finfish and invertebrates of coastal communities in 17 Pacific Island countries and territories. We showed that exploitation rates and thus possible overexploitation are not solely the consequence of a simple demographic growth process but are in fact a result of the choices people have. Our results confirmed a close relationship between resource exploitation rates and economic development at the national level and the availability of alternative income opportunities at the community level. Multivariate analysis results suggest that communities in countries with somewhat unfavourable conditions and limited access to alternatives and fishing households in communities with overall favourable economic conditions are at highest vulnerability as they have the highest dependence on coastal fisheries resources. Alternative economic opportunities at the national scale and availability of alternative income at the community level vary significantly between cultural groups. Based on our results, the development of management strategies with realistic expectations of ensuring livelihood of coastal communities and sustainable resource use in Pacific Island countries and territories requires a hierarchical and integral approach. Major drivers identified at the regional, cultural and local levels should be used to identify priorities, to assess overall advantages and limitations at the different levels as well as the vulnerability of communities targeted, and to develop strategies accordingly.     

晚新生代西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制

晚新生代西太平洋通过水文循环和碳循环两类关键过程,对区域乃至全球气候变化产生深刻的影响。本文从上新世以来西太暖池及其主流系演化、晚第四纪北太平洋中层水演化和白令海峡开合、第四纪中国东部陆架环境演化以及新生代亚太沉积物源-汇过程与碳埋藏等方面,综述了西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制。上新世以来西太暖池与印尼贯穿流的演化过程伴随构造运动而阶段性地发生,但其在轨道时间尺度上演化的细节过程并不清晰,尚未形成系统性认识。北太平洋中层水以及白令海峡开合等关键高纬过程在冰期旋回中发生了显著变化,并与低纬过程之间存在遥相关。第四纪中国东部陆架环境演化主要受控于海平面变化以及与低纬过程相关联的热量与物质传输,在此背景下,中国东部陆架形成了富有机碳的泥质沉积体系。构造隆升和亚洲季风驱动下的亚洲大陆与邻洋的沉积物源-汇过程具有显著的碳汇效应,可能在大气CO₂浓度（${p_{{\rm{C}}{{\rm{O}}_2}}} $）冰期旋回和新生代气候变冷中发挥重要作用。就西太平洋古海洋环境演化过程与机制中若干关键科学问题开展深入和系统研究,不仅可为建立气候变化的低纬驱动理论提供支撑,也可为更好认识我国陆架环境变化规律以及碳汇潜力提供科学依据。     

西太平洋海鲶(Ariidae)主要种类与分布的研究

简述海鲶科鱼类研究概况,并结合作者的调查研究列出了西太平洋海鲶科鱼类的主要种及其检索表;又描绘各个种的地理分布区,通过分析比较认为印度—西太平洋是该科鱼类的分布区;中日海域是该区的一个分布边缘;最后讨论了有关于印度—西太平洋海鲶科鱼类的起源与分化问题。