PNG National Fisheries Authority clarifies tuna supply issues
Papua New Guinea’s National Fisheries Authority (NFA) says tuna supply issues facing the processors in Lae have nothing to do with the lack of fish stocks in the waters. It added that the issues resulted from supply
28 Indonesians caught illegally fishing in PNG waters
About 28 fishermen from Indonesia who were caught illegally fishing in PNG waters would be handed over to Immigration officers and would be detained at the Bomana Immigration Centre (BIC) awaiting full investigation and
Tuvalu joins forces with Sea Shepherd Global to combat illegal fishing
The Government of Tuvalu has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sea Shepherd Global, a marine conservation organisation based in the Netherlands, to combat illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing
Opinion: It’s time to move on from “fisheries management”
The last year has seen some promising changes in the global framework for environmental governance. COP27 and COP15, while they didn’t go as far as necessary to hold back the escalation of global temperatures, have
Fishing Industry Association of Papua New Guinea Tuna Purse Seine Vessels Achieve FISH Standard for Crew Certification
Certification is First for FISH in the Western Central Pacific Region On 22 February 2023, another milestone was achieved by the Fishing Industry Association of Papua New Guinea (FIA PNG), its members and associates
Climate Change in the Western Pacific: Where to Now?
Across the globe, climate change is altering the way people look at the world. Adjusting to shifts in economic drivers is now the norm, as access to natural resources becomes more limited and coastal infrastructure is
WTO fisheries agreement awaits ratification
The Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) says members need to move faster on ratifying a fisheries agreement that would ban subsidies for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. “We need
Fiji tuna symposium considers industry’s future
Ten years ago, Suva port was one of the region’s most preferred ports for foreign vessels fishing in the western and central Pacific ocean, says the president of the Fiji Fishing Industry Association (FFIA). Speaking
Fish surveys in your pocket
The era of filling out paper forms, mountains of paperwork, and cabinets full of documents containing fish catch surveys could be nearing an end with the increased uptake of the Ikasavea app. The Pacific Community (SPC)
More recruitment by StarKist anticipated
There could be employment for Samoans in the neighbouring country of American Samoa as the Starkist fish processing plant looks for workers. This was one of the outcomes from the third Atoa o Samoa Executive Meeting.
New data reveal links between Korean vessels and illegal fishing in Pacific
A fish carrier sailing under the flag of South Korea was recently denied permission to unload a tuna catch of over 4,000 kgs, estimated to be worth 250 million baht (US$7.2 million), in Bangkok. However,
How Vanuatu allegedly lost its mackerel rights — and fought back
A Vanuatu government envoy was at a fishing summit in Ecuador this year when he claims to have had a surprising encounter: two men linked with an obscure Panamanian company who said they represented his country. Saade
CNMI, American Samoa criticise Pacific Remote Islands expansion plan
U.S. President Joe Biden’s plan to expand the Pacific Remote Islands’ marine sanctuary has been receiving negative responses from territorial leaders, who criticised the lack of consultation prior to the
Big picture vision conversations missing in the Pacific
Big picture conversations about the future of the Pacific islands should be happening, but they are not, said one of the region’s foremost commentators in an interview published this week in the Marshall Islands
Congresswoman Amata opposes Pacific Remote Islands expansion plan
Closing off more areas around the Pacific Remote Islands would only invite foreign vessels to poach into the U.S. waters, American Samoa delegate Uifa’atali Amata Radewagen said, opposing the Biden administration’s
Worry, frustration as UN tries to finally agree high seas treaty
UN member states have much work to do to finally agree a treaty to protect the high seas before scheduled negotiations close in five days, participants and observers say. After 15 years of formal and informal talks,
Tuna cannery still in the pipeline in Vanuatu
The outgoing Director General (DG) of Vanuatu’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Forestry, Fisheries and Biosecurity (MALFFB), Moses Amos, has confirmed that the management of Sino-Van plans to set up a small
Marine protected areas don’t help tuna, new paper shows
A new study published in Frontiers in Marine Science has found that Kiribati’s Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA), which banned all fishing in 2015, has not had a significant impact on the skipjack and bigeye tuna
Parties to the Nauru Agreement set to open new HQ in Majuro
The capital of the Marshall Islands, Majuro, will host the first in-person annual meeting of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) since 2019 when the powerful fisheries organisation convenes on Monday. To coincide
Are Marine Protected Areas effective for tuna conservation?
The first-ever quantitative evaluation of the contribution of no-take Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) to the conservation of tropical tunas in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has been published in Frontiers
Fiji cabinet wrap: Kiribati relations, MSG sports, NZ defence cooperation and local elections
Bilateral relations with Kiribati was one of the key issues discussed by Fiji cabinet ministers in their meeting this week, including deeper cooperation on fisheries. Fiji Prime Minister noted: “Kiribati is also
Marshall Islands sees tuna rebound
Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority (MIMRA) records show that tuna transshipment in Majuro rebounded following the disastrous first year of Covid in 2020 when transshipment plummeted by 60 percent compared to
Pacific People 2022: Women At The Helm
The three key Pacific Islands fisheries organisations head into 2023 with competent, charismatic women at the helm. Rhea Moss-Christian of the Republic of the Marshall Islands now heads the Western and Central Pacific