Fisheries online meet starts today

THE first ever Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) Ministerial meeting to be held online opens today, with the impacts of the Covid-19 on the regional tuna fishery at the top of the agenda.
The 17th FFC ministers meeting (Aug 6-7) is occurring virtually, due to travel restrictions arising from the pandemic.
According to a statement from FFA, fisheries ministers will consider ways in which FFA could provide further assistance around the observer programme, including how observer livelihoods could be sustained as well as monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) support, and national economic impact assessments.
Ministers would also be provided with the “Tuna Fisheries Report Card 2020” before it is submitted to forum leaders later this year.
The card reports on progress against a range of indicators in the regional roadmap for sustainable fisheries.
FFA director-general Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen said: “The pandemic has had a significant impact on the work of FFA member countries, particularly around MCS.