It’s a particular issue in Palau, where three overseas owned companies have the right to fish for Sashimi grade Tuna. But President Johnson Toribiong has created a task force with the task to formulate and coordinate policies, projects and programs for the conservation, management and sustainable harvesting of tuna resources.
Victorio Uherbelau is President Toribiong’s Assistant on International Affairs, and has responsibility for overseeing its activities. But Palau politics will also have be taken into account. Last year Palau then government considered banning all foreign vessel from its EEZ. That idea disappeared after the change of government at the start of the year. This task force is unlikely to finish its deliberations until early next year, and Mr Uherbelau says once that’s done, what changes it recommends to fisheries management, has to be agreed to be the country’s politicians.The Scientific Committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission has finished its two week meeting in Port Vila. Over the past fortnight its been looking at some of the measures it has been testing to try and control the amount of Tuna caught within the 10 million square kilometres it has responsibility for monitoring and managing. But with more and more fishing boats heading to the Pacific, it’s finding some species are close to being exploited at unsustainable levels.In recent years the Pacific has seen a significant increase in the number of fishing boats chasing Tuna, a result of a drop in the harvest they’ve been able to get from other fisheries. It’s the job of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to monitor and manage those activities and over the past fortnight its scientific commission has been meeting in Vanuatu, to look at the state of fishery, and how the measures that have been put in place to ensure the viability of the industry, are working. The Executive Director of the Commission, Andrew Wright says they’ve identified some concerns.The commission has been researching ways to try and reduce a reduction in the catch of Tuna, and also bicatch. These have included a phased reduction in long line fishing, the closure of some fishing areas, and a part year ban on Fish Aggregating devices, used to attract fish. Mr Wright says so far the FAD ban hasn’t proved a complete success.The findings of the scientific committee of the Fisheries commission will be used by its member nations when they meet to decide the next course of action to try and ensure fishing has a future. For many island nations the fisheries within their exclusive economic zones are one of the few resources they have to earn income from. But that fishing is often done by foreign companies, and there is a growing concern amongst those nations about what they say is the small amount they receive, with an estimate that it’s as low as seven percent of the value of the fish caught. But illegal fishing remains an issue for the region. Last year Greenpeace made news after it reported its ship “Esperanza” had found three Philippines registered fishing vessels between Papua New Guinea and the Federated States of Micronesia boats, fishing illegally. The Esperanza’s scheduled to begin another Pacific cruise very soon. The Forum Fisheries Agency has released details of Operation Kurukuru 2009, which it describes as a coordinated maritime surveillance operation, using air surveillance by Australian, New Zealand, French and United States aircraft, and sea patrols by the FFA’s member nations. From it there’s been fines issued, other investigations are continuing.The Executive Director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission Drew Wright says illegal fishing is something they take seriously. But he also points out it isn’t alway foreign flagged fishing boats which are guilty of that particular crime. (Radio News Australia)
