Parties told to stick with framework

 PARTIES to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) chief executive officer Dr Transform Aqorau has urged Pacific nations not to undermine the fisheries management framework.

The PNA’s eight-member nations are Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Speaking during his keynote address at the fifth Pacific Tuna Forum 2015 in Nadi, Fiji, yesterday, Aqorau highlighted key issues in the tuna fishery, including the evolution of PNA-driven management of the purse seine industry, strategic reviews of the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS) and how these are shaping improvements and changes in its management.  

“The PNA fishery is a multi-species, multi-fleet and multi-national fishery,” he said. 

“It comprises four tuna species in addition to several species of billfish and tuna-like species being fished by a large number of fishing nations, at least 12 nations, employing several different types of fishing gear the most important of which are purse seine, long line, pole and line complemented by various types of fish aggregating devices (FADs). 

“Skipjack tuna remains in a healthy state and the challenge, said Aqorau, was to expand the opportunities in which the economic gains from the harvesting of these resources may be maximised.

In reference to a New Zealand proposal for replacing PNA’s VDS with a New Zealand-style quota management system, which the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Port Moresby earlier this month agreed to examine with a review in 2016, Aqorau said PNA had embarked on its own review based on recommendations from an independent review of the VDS that it commissioned last year.

Among key findings of the review was that VDS fees actually collected by PNA nations – currently at a minimum benchmark of US$8,000 (K22,000) per fishing day.

“This is borne out by the fact that benchmark VDS fees have increased drastically over the past few years while the operating conditions in the fishery have remained comparatively stable, and last year dipped significantly with no impact on fees,” Aqorau said.