A purse seiner tranships its catch in Majuro's lagoon. Photo: Giff Johnson
There will be an agreement on the revised Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Tropical Tuna Measure when the Commission meets in Rarotonga, Cook Islands in December.
WCPFC executive director Rhea Moss-Christian revealed this to RNZ Pacific in an interview on Tuesday.
Speaking from Ponphei in the Marshall Islands, Moss-Christian said this was something members have been discussing in the past months, following the initial decision taken in Vietnam.
"With respect to the tuna measure, I would say that across the membership, the general view is that there will be agreement on a revised measure," she said.
"It will change and everybody is looking at those fishing opportunities. For purse seine fisheries, the number of days that are available to fish on the high seas.
"And then in the longline fishery, the number of the amount of catch, the catch quarters for flag states. So those are the two main pieces of this measure.
"And my sense is that the Commission members fully expect to be able to make changes and agree to those changes in December."
Pacific countries that are members of the WCPFC include Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
The participating territories include American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna.
Marshalls 201 purse seiner, at right tied to a tuna transshipment carrier vessel, is one of several thousand ships globally that are registered in the Marshall Islands, which operates the world's third largest ship registry. Photo: Giff Johnson
Analysis and reports
Ross-Christian said the issues were discussed at different meetings this years, including the 'Development of a Revised WCPFC Tropical Tuna Measure Workshop 4' and the '19th Regular Session of the Technical and Compliance Committee' in September in Pohnpei, the '19th Regular Session of the Scientific Committee' in Koror in August in Palau and the 'Development of a Revised WCPFC Tropical Tuna Measure Workshop 3' held online in June.
The September meeting in Ponphei received all reports and scientific analysis from the Pacific Community team tasked with analysing the different scenarios, whether it was fishing levels, cash levels, and what the impact might look like on the stock on one of the three tuna stocks.
"Based on that scenario, there were about 10 to 15 different analysis that the SPC was asked to do back in June," she said.
Dr Rhea Moss-Christian - The incoming Executive Director of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission. November 2022 Photo: RNZ Pacific/ Koroi Hawkins
"The commission was also waiting for Scientific Committee meeting in August to receive updates on the yellowfin and bigeye assessment stock assessments.
"Those results were presented at the workshop in September and the members had an opportunity to provide either draft text, negotiating text or principles for negotiating.
"The chair at the end of the workshop was able to put together what is called the consultative draft, and that was circulated about 10 days ago and is with members. Some of it includes draft text an some of what's included is just principles for negotiation in December."
Ross-Christian said the December meeting will be an important one as the Commission had adopted a management procedure for Skipjack last year, with no clarity yet on how that will be incorporated into the Tropical Tuna Measure.
"This is part of the harvest strategy approach. So, this was the first year for that skipjack management procedure to be run by SPC," she said.
"It's still not clear at the moment how that will be incorporated or taken into account in the tuna measure, but it is definitely an important aspect of these discussions, because it is the purse seine fishery."
The WCPFC or Tuna Commission adopted a Skipjack Tuna Harvest Management Plan at its meeting in Da Nang, Vietnam last December.
While the decision was applauded then the Pew Charitable Trust told RNZ Pacific at the time that while it was a step in the right direction, the decision to make this science-based plan non-binding was "disheartening".
Pew Charitable Trusts' international fisheries project officer Glen Holmes said the measure could render the management procedure ineffectual and allow protracted and potentially politicised negotiations that leave the long-term health of the species at risk to continue.
"To optimise management of this stock and ensure a stable supply for the market, members must revisit this decision and agree to realise the full benefit of the management procedure as soon as possible," Holmes said at the time.
A Marshall Islands Fisheries Enforcement Officer heads out to conduct document checks and inspections of an arriving purse seiner in port Majuro prior to start of tuna transshipment operations Photo: Francisco Blaha
Albacore fishery
Ross-Christian said there will be a lot of discussion on the South Pacific albacore fishery, which continues to be another priority for the Commission.
"There's some harvest strategy work there to do. There's an intersessional working group that's been trying to advance what's called the target reference point for this fishery," she said.
"The Commission will be looking at allocation issues, which is tied to the harvest strategy work. Allocation continues to be a really challenging area for this commission, but also for other tuna commissions."
A number of Pacific Island countries, including Tonga and Fiji, rely on the albacore species.
New term
Meanwhile, Ross-Christian, who took over as the new Tuna Commission Executive Director in March this year, said her new role has been a good experience for her as she focuses on making the Secretariat more relevant to members.
She had also served at the WCPFC in different roles, including being chairman for two years.
"It's been it's been great. I've been working in this organization in different capacities for about 20 years but coming into the Secretariat has been an incredible experience," she said.
She commended her team for being "supportive and helpful".
"I'm excited about being able to do things that I've been wanting to do with this organisation around streamlining the work and focusing the Commission's efforts in ways that ensure that all members are participating actively and engaging productively.
"The way to do that is to make sure that information is accessible, that information is available that members have all the tools that they need in order to make good decisions because we're managing the world's largest fishery here and there's a lot of work to do.
"There's a huge responsibility on members' shoulders. So from the Secretariat side, just anything we can do to support the membership to fulfill that mandate is just a really exciting opportunity."
Ross-Christian replaced Feleti Teo as the Tuna Commission's executive director following elections at the WCPFC meeting in Vietnam last December.
