Title: Tuna Fishery Management in the Western Central Pacific - An Industry Perspective
Abstract: The Western Central Pacific Fishery Commission (WCPFC) was inaugurated in 2004 after a preparatory process which commenced in 1996. Scientific advice is that skipjack stocks are in good condition, but bigeye and yellowfin stocks are being exploited too heavily and reductions of effort are needed to avoid overfishing. Compared to other RMFOs the WCPFC has a lot of its area within national EEZs, many of them small, developing States. Decisions at the WCPFC are taken by consensus, and so far no consensus has emerged about management measures. The largest component of the tuna catch is that of purse seiners.The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), whose waters includes the most prolific surface tuna fisheries, have introduced a novel scheme whereby purse seiner days will be limited. This replaces a simple vessel numbers limit. PNA members expect this to create a more active market for fishing licenses and an increase in fees. The scheme is untested, and will create an 'Olympic' style fishery leading to increased capacity and potential fishing down of the tuna stock. Capacity limits are important in order to prevent over-exploitation. Transferable individual quotas within a science based overall quota could be an effective means of maximizing value for resource owners and fishers alike, whilst conserving the resource. ITQs may not be widely acceptable today due to lack of confidence in Government policy.
Publication Year: 2008
Publication Date: 2008-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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