FFA supports PNG's tuna management plan

THE Deputy Director of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Mr lan Cartwright, has given the agency’s support to PNG’s Tuna Fisheries Management Plan recently launched by fisheries’ minister, Sir Mekere Morauta.

“Through the development of plans such as this, island countries are demon strating a clear commitment to the sustain able development of their valuable tuna resources,” Cartwright said.

“Papua New Guinea is one of the first of our member countries to develop and implement in-zone management arrange ments that will yield benefit to all sectors of the industry. The recently launched plan represents a clear policy direction, based on conservation and management princi ples, rather than unsustainable short term economic gains”.

This initiative taken by the PNG gov ernment has wider implications than for tuna management within the country’s 200mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The whole western and central Pacific region is now engaged in negotiations with distant

water fishing nations (DWFNs) including Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the US, that will see development of management arrange ments covering the entire region.

Cartwright considers that “such a region-wide management arrangement is essential if the future of highly mobile tuna is to be assured - a tuna in PNG today may be on the high seas tomorrow and in the EEZ of another Pacific island country next week”.

“The success of efforts at co-operation and harmonisation amongst the members of the FFA, other coastal states, and the DWFNs hold the key to the future of the region’s tuna fishery”.

He noted that “by laying firm national fisheries management foundations, PNG is well placed to enter into the regional nego tiating arena. A number of other Pacific Island countries are putting similar in-zone arrangements in place, and we are hopeful that such demonstrations will place the island countries of the region in a strong position to influence the successful out come of the regional negotiations”.

Included in the region-wide manage ment arrangements is the compulsory use by all DWFNs of a vessel monitoring sys tem or VMS by vessels when they are in the zone of FFA member countries.

The VMS will allow real time tracking of DWFN vessels using satellite technolo gy, wherever they are in PNG’s massive 2.4 million square km FEZ. This system is not being accepted without a struggle by DWFNs, who seem reluctant to submit to this requirement now being introduced throughout the region.

The tuna fishery of the FFA region is the greatest tuna fishery in the world with an annual catch of over one million tonnes, valued at around SUSI. 7 billion. PNG’s annual share of this catch is of the order of 300,000 tonnes, worth SUS3OO to $4OO million.

Sir Mekere said he was determined that “PNG will stand firm on its regional com mitment to implement VMS. It is a modest but very significant investment in our valu able tuna resource, that will yield benefits to all states participating in the fishery”. ■