Tuna redistribution result of climate change, says official

TUNA redistribution is one of the consequences of climate change, which is expected to further weaken Pacific economies and important food systems already heavily impacted by the Covid-19, an official says.
Pacific Community (SPC) director-general Stuart Minchin said the small island developing states were disproportionately suffering from a crisis which they were not responsible for. “This critical situation has already been raised in several international forum, including the UN security council and will be highlighted by the Pacific Island region at COP26 (Convention of Parties) in Glasgow,” he said.
“We strongly hope that it will lead to concrete commitments by the COP and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change architecture, including its financing mechanisms.”
The study “Pathways to sustaining tuna-dependent Pacific Island economies during climate” published on Friday revealed that global warming was expected to push tuna populations from the waters of small islands developing states.
Chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement Sangaalofa Clark said: “When tuna move from the exclusive economic zones of Pacific to the high seas, it is more difficult to enforce the regulations designed to sustain the stocks and the economies that rely on them.”
The Pacific island countries have implemented the world-class vessel day scheme to manage tuna catches sustainably within their combined waters.
According to Quentin Hanich from the University of Wollongong, the implications of tuna redistribution were potentially severe and need to be addressed through cooperative management consistent with the international legal framework.
“The western and central Pacific fisheries commission has already begun to consider such issues and adopted a resolution on climate change in 2019,” he said.