The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) said that overfishing of sashimi fish bigeye tuna would continue because of the opposition of some foreign fishing nations to purse seine fishing cuts on the high seas, as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting closed late today.

“This year’s Tuna Commission made some progress but not enough to stop overfishing of bigeye tuna,” said PNA Director Dr Transform Aqorau. “Many foreign fishing nations’ actions seem to be dictated by their fishing industries rather than an interest in conservation. Despite scientific advice that fishing of bigeye tuna needs to be cut by about 40% to return to sustainable levels, this week the WCPFC has not agreed on adequate action to do this.”

This week’s Tuna Commission began with unprecedented cooperation between PNA, Japan, Philippines which drafted a proposed measure which was supported by the Asian and Pacific states but one foreign fishing nation refused to accept any cut of their fleet while another blocked a proposed ban on Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) and discussions stalled.

Bigeye tuna suffers a double jeopardy – purse seine fishing vessels catch juvenile tuna as bycatch when fishing for skipjack tuna and longline fishing vessels target the adult bigeye tuna to supply the sashimi market. The refusal of foreign fishing nations to cut their longline fishing, particularly on the high seas has led to many years of overfishing of bigeye tuna, while the PNA have taken action in their waters to control bigeye catch by purse seiners. However, the WCPFC is tasked with creating rules that cover the high seas in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

“According to scientific reports submitted to the WCPFC, the EU overfished its allocated effort 318% from 2006 to 2012. So, the EU is already engaged in illegal fishing in the Pacific, despite them lecturing other nations on this issue. We find such positions intolerable.”

The WCPFC measure agreed today:

*reduces longline bigeye catch by 10-30% for foreign fishing nations

* freezes the number of large foreign purse seine vessels (larger than 24 metres) and longline vessels targeting bigeye tuna for sashimi that can operate in the region

* high seas FAD closure in 2017

* asks the WCPFC to come back next year to agree for limits on purse seine fishing for after 2014.

Aqorau concluded: “The PNA are pleased that foreign fishing nations have cut their longline fishing on the high seas. Meanwhile we will continue to sustainably manage our own waters, and to cooperate with the foreign fishing nations that have shown willingness to work with, rather than against, PNA’s aspirations for tuna.”

PNA nations are Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. Together they control 50% of the world’s supply of skipjack tuna, the most commonly canned tuna.

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