Tag Archives: Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
Depredation: Whales and the Violent Fight for Fish on the Line
In the Gulf of Alaska, as well as in longline fisheries throughout the world from the Bering Sea to the Antarctic and tropical waters between, toothed whales, that is, any whale that feeds with teeth instead of baleen, such as sperm, pilot, and killer whales are learning to see fishers and their gear as a source of an easy meal. Scientists researching this behavior, known as depredation, say whales are increasingly eating lucrative catches right off the hook instead of foraging naturally. There’s no easy way to stop it, and the behavior is spreading through whale culture. Whales’ penchant for hooked fish might be the biggest fisheries story that hardly anyone knows about. >click to read< 10:01
Increased quota offers ray of hope for bluefin tuna fishing industry
The decision to increase the quota cheered Takao Iwane, a 73-year-old fisherman who has plied the Sea of Japan waters off the town of Fukaura, Aomori Prefecture, for about 40 years. “Bluefin tuna prices go up in winter, so the announcement encouraged me,” said Iwane, who catches tuna using a handheld line with a single hook. Fukaura is known as one of the rock stars of Japan’s tuna fishing industry. Fishermen could operate without restrictions in waters off Fukaura several decades ago, but catches plunged around the time after regulations were introduced in 2015. In 2021, the four fishery cooperatives in Fukaura were allocated a combined quota of 302 tons. >click to read< 23:18
Japan to enforce penalties for bluefin catch quota violations starting next month
The Fisheries Agency will start enforcing penal regulations on Pacific bluefin tuna caught by Japanese fishermen in January, in line with stricter international controls aimed at overfishing. The agency hopes that comprehensive resources management will allow fishermen to continue catching the prized fish amid concerns that global tuna stocks are being depleted, officials said. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission allocates catch quotas to its members, including Japan and the United States. click here to read the story 16:15
Countries Pledge To Recover Dwindling Pacific Bluefin Tuna Population
In a joint meeting Friday in Busan, South Korea, the two groups that manage Pacific bluefin tuna reached a historic long-term agreement that would put the species on the path to recovery. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission agreed to take steps to rebuild the population to 20 percent of historic levels by 2034 — a sevenfold increase from current levels. Stocks of Pacific bluefin have fallen to 2.6 percent of their historic size, with countries like Mexico, Japan, Korea and the U.S. exceeding fishing quotas within the last two years. click here to read the story 17:02
US tuna boats seek level playing field
Going into next week’s meeting of the organization called the Western and Central Pacific fisheries Commission, aka Tuna Commission, the body which regulates the fishing of tuna in the Pacific Ocean, US tuna boats are hoping for better outcomes than what has been achieved in the best. The meeting takes place December 5-9 in Nadi, Fiji and American Samoa is sending several representatives. While much focus has been on the canneries and helping them stay competitive and keep them here, the tuna boats that deliver the fish which are processed and canned at the Starkist and Samoa Tuna Processors plants, have not received much attention. Regulations initiated by the Tuna Commission and the United States in recent years have hit the US tuna boats hard and subsequently affected the supply of fish for the local canneries. Read the story here 12:02
Pew: Pacific Bluefin Tuna Management Proposal Will Not End Overfishing
The Pacific bluefin tuna has been overfished for decades and has seen population declines of 97 percent, but a management proposal to be considered by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) would not improve the status quo and must be rejected by member governments, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts. The WCPFC, which oversees the tuna fisheries of the western Pacific Ocean, meets here Dec. 5-9 to discuss management measures for Pacific bluefin. Management of the stock has long been directed by the Northern Committee, a WCPFC subcommittee; in past years, the committee’s recommendations have been approved by the full Commission with little review or discussion, much to the detriment of Pacific bluefin. (according to the Pew Charitable Trust). Amanda Nickson, who directs Pew’s global tuna conservation campaign, issued the following statement on why the WCPFC should reject its current proposal: Read the rest here 12:03
WWF calls for shut down of commercial fishing to save Pacific bluefin tuna
World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has called for the suspension of commercial fishing to save Pacific bluefin tuna because of the inaction of responsible agencies in addressing the decrease in stock. WWF Oceans and Seafood group leader Dr Aiko Yamauchi said members of the Northern Committee (NC) of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) have failed to agree to an urgently-needed recovery plan to save Pacific bluefin tuna. WCPFC was established by the Convention for the conservation and management of highly migratory fish stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean “Because of the lack of progress and the repeated inaction of the responsible bodies, the Pacific bluefin stock will continue to teeter on the edge of collapse,” Dr Yamauchi said. “We call for a full suspension of commercial fishing of this species until a Pacific-wide rebuilding and management plan has been agreed. Link 14:35
WWF calls for suspension of commercial tuna fishing
WWF is calling for the immediate suspension of commercial fishing of the Pacific bluefin tuna stock which it says is teetering on the edge of collapse due to what it calls the repeated inaction of responsible bodies. It said that the call follows another failure to agree on an urgently needed recovery plan to save bluefin tuna by Members of the Northern Committee (NC) of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). Dr Aiko Yamauchi, the leader of the Oceans and Seafood Group, WWF Japan said: “This is the only way to end overfishing, and to provide hope for a future recovery of the stock. Read the rest here 11:33
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission discusses fishing limit of Pacific bluefin tuna
An international fisheries commission began discussing details of fishing restrictions for bluefin tuna in the northern Pacific at a meeting in southwestern Japan on Monday amid concerns about overfishing. At a subcommittee meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission held through Friday in the city of Fukuoka, participants are discussing the possibility of invoking a catch limit based on Japan’s proposal. The panel is discussing specific control measures with an eye to reaching a formal agreement within this year. Meanwhile, nongovernmental organizations Greenpeace and the Pew Charitable Trusts have issued a statement requesting the WCPFC to immediately implement a 2-year moratorium on all commercial fishing for Pacific bluefin tuna. Read the rest here 15:10
Environmental group distraught as tuna conservation body succumbs to politics
The international scientific research and public policy advocacy group, Pew Charitable Trusts, is again calling for a two-year moratorium on the commercial fishing of Pacific bluefin tuna. It comes after the group in charge of looking after tuna conservation failed to recommend action, despite stocks dropping to crisis levels. Angry environment groups say some of the 40 nations that make up the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission are putting politics above scientific advice. And after 10 days of talks in Bali, Pew’s Director for Global Tuna Conservation Amanda Nickson says the commission’s scientific committee has done nothing. Listen to the audio here 10:22
American Tuna Boat Association – ‘Difficult year’ for purse seiners
The president of the American Tuna Boat Association is forecasting a difficult year ahead for purse seiners supplying the two canneries in American Samoa. Brian Hallman, who attended last week’s meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, says its failure to increase fishing days on the high seas is not a good outcome for the US fleet. He says with no fishing on the high seas or in Pacific Island countries’ waters, vessels will either tie up and not fish or leave the western Pacific area. Read the article here 12:19
Pew lie’s, Pew cry’s – Pacific tuna conservation meeting ends in deadlock
Environ mental groups expressed frustration Wednesday after a key Pacific fishing industry meeting failed to adopt measures to protect vulnerable tuna species from overfishing. The Pew Charitable Trusts said the bluefin and bigeye tuna species could become severely depleted due to inaction by the . Critics said a commission meeting, which wrapped up in the Indonesian island of Bali late Tuesday, also did nothing to prevent shark-finning and illegal fishing. Read the article here 08:18
Hawaii’s $100 Million Fishery Reopens in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean
HONOLULU (13 Oct. 2015) After a closure that lasted more than two months, Hawaii’s longline vessels can fish again for bigeye tuna in the waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands. Since Aug. 5th, the 145 active vessels in the Hawaii longline fleet have been prohibited from catching bigeye tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO), i.e., waters east of 150 degrees West longitude. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) determined that the fleet had reached its 2015 US bigeye tuna limit of 3,502 mt, developed by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, to which the United States is a party. Read the rest here 11:35
Pew threatens to get Pacific bluefin tuna banned from international trading
An international body that monitors fisheries in most of the Pacific Ocean ended a meeting in Japan on Thursday without agreement on fresh measures to protect the dwindling bluefin tuna. The lack of a required three-quarters quorum prevented any agreement, since representatives from China, the Cook Islands, Vanuatu and the Philippines did not attend. So any decisions on new long-term measures were pushed back to 2016, the Japanese Fisheries Agency said. Further inaction would likely prompt efforts by conservationists to get Pacific bluefin tuna banned from international trading, said a statement by The Pew Charitable Trusts, Read the rest here 11:27
Eco Imperialists WWF, Greenpeace – Disappointing Outcome at Pacific Fisheries Meet
Delegates from Pacific Island nations had planned to form a united force at the Samoa meeting, calling on the body that manages the fishery to urgently adopt a number of conservation measures at its annual meeting. Greenpeace is reporting than none of the measures were adopted. Journalists were not permitted to attend the final session of the meeting. Read the rest here 11:42
Pacific nations agree to historic tuna fishery pact to protect local industries
Officials from the Pacific Forum Fishery Agency (FFA) countries, meeting in Solomon Islands, have agreed on the text for a framework for managing the fishery, known as the Tokelau Arrangement for the Management of the South Pacific Longline Fishery. The meeting’s chair and Samoa’s ministry of agriculture and fisheries assistant chief executive, Joyce Samuelu Ah Leong, said catch limits will be set. Read the rest here 16:21
Pacific Rim nations agree to halve take of dwindling bluefin tuna
Japan, South Korea and the United States agreed Thursday on new annual limits on the catch of dwindling young bluefin tuna in an effort to double the population within a decade. The conservation plan announced by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission after a meeting in the western Japanese city of Fukuoka aims to boost the depleted stock by counting the accidental catch of young bluefin tuna by long-net trawling as part of the regulated take. Read the rest here 11:27
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission to cut catch of endangered bluefin tuna
The multi-nation fisheries body that monitors most of the Pacific Ocean has recommended a substantial cut to the catch of juvenile bluefin tuna, a move conservationists say is only an initial step toward saving the dwindling species. Read the rest here 06:24
Pacific tuna stocks on the brink of disaster, warns outgoing fisheries head Glenn Hurry
The Australian who heads fishery management in the Western and Central Pacific has warned an international agreement is urgently needed to avert disaster for the tuna industry. Professor Glenn Hurry said bluefin and bigeye tuna should no longer be harvested, as stocks were dangerously depleted. He also warned “serious action” needed to be taken to reduce the yellowfin tuna catch. Read the rest here 18:39
Pacific fishing nations warn more price rises ahead
Pacific nations have warned foreign fishing countries, including the United States, to expect more price hikes to the cost of fishing in their territorial waters. The nations that makeup the have told disgruntled nations that they will raise the daily fishing rate from $US6,000 to $US8,000 per boat from next January. It will raise their total income to around $370 million. Read more here 09:17
Pew: The Pacific 6: Chinese Taipei, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, China and the United States are responsible for 80% of the annual catch of big eye tuna,
The accompanying analysis, by Pew Charitable Trusts attending the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Cairns Australia this week, also documents the destructive methods they use to dominate the $USD 7billion industry. The 43 member countries of the body responsible for the world’s largest tuna fishery – the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – will negotiate from today on an action plan to end overfishing of bigeye tuna by 2018. [email protected] 09:23
TUNA SHOWDOWN: Pacific tuna stock faces growing crisis of inaction
A showdown that could decide the sustainability of the US$7 billion Pacific tuna industry is expected at the annual meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Cairns, Australia, on December 2-6. [email protected] 12:33
The World’s Biggest Fishers Agree To Catch Less Tuna – Greenpeace immediately denounced the reduction
Asia-Pacific fishing nations and territories agreed on Thursday to cut catches of young bluefin tuna by 15 percent, with an agreement environmentalists said would not stop overfishing. Nine economies, including the United States, China, South Korea and Taiwan, concluded a four-day meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Fukuoka, western Japan. more@businessleader 07:24
