Majuro, Marshall Islands 31 December 2016: Growing global market demand for MSC-certified tuna and fishing industry interest is expected to see “wild catch” tuna tonnage double from the waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement in 2017.

   The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) operates a Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified free school caught skipjack and yellowfin tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific fishing zones of its member nations.

   Nadi, Fiji 11 December, 2016: As many as 50,000 fish aggregating devices (FADs) are likely in use in the western and central Pacific tuna fishery, many of which are equipped with increasingly sophisticated sonar and satellite technology linking FADs to fishing vessels.

Denarau, Fiji 9 December 2016: Pacific islands rejected a proposal during this week’s Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission annual meeting in Fiji that would have given distant water fishing fleets an unfair competitive advantage in negotiating fishing access agreements.

   Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) CEO Ludwig Kumoru if the proposal moved forward, it would undermine the commercial interests of member islands. “We have nothing to gain by making trade information available to distant water fishing countries,” he said.

   Denarau, Fiji 9 December 2016: The best news coming out of this year’s Western and Central Fisheries Commission annual meeting for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) is the Commission’s adoption on its last day of meetings today in Fiji of a measure to improve the safety of fisheries observers.

   Denarau, Fiji 8 December 2016: The refusal of distant water fishing nations to take any action in the face of the impending collapse of the northern Pacific bluefin tuna fishery demonstrates the intransigence of these fishing nations in the face of overwhelming evidence of the problem, said Parties to the Nauru Agreement CEO Ludwig Kumoru Thursday in Fiji.

Denarau, Fiji 8 December 2016: The United Nations General Assembly voted today to establish World Tuna Day as an internationally-recognized event.

   The event initiated by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) in 2011 has now gained international ratification for the annual celebration of tuna on May 2.

   The United Nations General Assembly voted without objection to ratify a resolution on World Tuna Day that had been endorsed by nearly 100 nations prior to today’s vote at UN headquarters in New York City. Ambassadors from PNA nations attended the vote.

Denarau, Fiji 7 December 2016: Concern over illegal fishing by so-called “blue boats” was expressed by officials from the Parties to the Nauru Agreement during this week’s Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) annual meeting in Fiji.

   Denarau, Fiji 6 December 2016: Concern over the “disproportionate burden” placed on small islands by some conservation management initiatives was highlighted repeatedly by members of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) during the first two days of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) now meeting in Fiji. Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the region was also a focus of PNA member comments.

   Denarau, Fiji 5 December 2016: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission annual meeting opened today in Fiji with a traditional Fijian welcome ceremony and a call by the organization’s chairperson to appreciate “the value of incremental progress” in the Commission’s decision making process for fisheries conservation and management.

   Nadi, Fiji 4 December 2016: A resolution to establish May 2 as World Tuna Day is scheduled for a vote at the United Nations General Assembly later this week.