Observers play key role in tuna industry

By GYNNIE KERO
Observers are the biggest source of information and verification of tuna catches, National Fisheries Authority (NFA) says.
Deputy managing-director, technical operations Noan Pakop said at a meeting this week in Honolulu: “They (observers) are our eyes at sea.”
Information generated by observers about purse seine catches helps tuna stock assessments by scientists and helps with developing and improving compliance measures.
Papua New Guinea has the largest observer force of about 300 out of the Pacific-wide observer corps of 800.
Many of the smaller islands have observer forces ranging from 40-80.
Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) CEO Ludwig Kumoru said in a statement: “Having 100 per cent observer coverage on all purse seiners fishing in PNA waters has been a game-changer for fisheries management.”
Initially, when PNA implemented the 100 per cent observer requirement for purse seiners, there were concerns from industry and misunderstanding among crew about observer roles.
Pakop said: “Problems that do arise are reported to observer debriefers at the conclusion of a fishing trip.
“If the incident needs investigation, the report is passed along to the country’s enforcement division for proper investigation and possible next steps.”
Information sourced from NFA highlighted tuna as the largest of PNG fisheries and represents a balance of both domestic industry development and foreign (distant water fishing nations) access arrangements.
The fishery is primarily based on the skipjack and yellow fin fish species with smaller quantities of bigeye and albacore.
The catch is usually between 150,000 and 200,000 tonnes a year but it is estimated that the resource can sustain much higher annual catches of between 250,000 tonnes and 300,000 tonnes.
The potential market value is about K1 billion, depending on the commodity price.
Catch from Papua New Guinea waters accounts for 20-30
per cent of the regional catch and is about 10 per cent of the global catch.
There is now concern that yellow fin and bigeye tuna may be nearing an overfished state.