Mini-HoF meetingNoumea, 4 June 2012

Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division

(FAME)

Topics of the presentation• Structure and functions of the Division• Finance – looking ahead to 2012• Outlook for the work of the Director and support

unit• Outlook for the work of the Coastal Fisheries

Programme• Outlook for the work of the Oceanic Fisheries

Programme• Conclusions and recommendations

DirectorInformation

CRISP Project

Coastal Prog. Manager• Coastal fisheries

management and science;• Nearshore fisheries

development;• Aquaculture.

Oceanic Prog. Manager• Stock assessment and

modelling;• Data management;• Fisheries monitoring;• Ecosystem monitoring and

analysis.

Coastal Fisheries Oceanic Fisheries

Budgets

Type Director Oceanic Coastal Division

Recurrent 540,600 1,156,200 1,295,600 2,992,400

Project 1,717,600 6,050,100 2,256,200 10,023,900

Total 2,258,200 7,206,300 3,551,800 13,016,300

2011 (revised)

Type Director Oceanic Coastal Division

Recurrent 477,700 1,132,700 1,199,200 2,809,600

Project 1,357,200 5,825,500 2,295,300 9,478,000

Total 1,834,900 6,958,200 3,494,500 12,287,600

2012

All values in CFP Units

Recurrent funding : 3,297,600 (2011) > 2,992,400 (2011 R) > 2,809,600 (2012)

New Projects Started in 2012• AusAID Fisheries for food

security #2 – AU$4.8 million over 4 years

• GIZ Fisheries and climate change - €700,000 over 3 years

• AusAID Fisheries and climate change – AU$2 million over 2 years

BUT SciFish (EU) CRISP (France) and OFMP (GEF) ended in 2011, leaving some big gaps.

Proposed RESCCUE project• Initial focus on Vanuatu,

Fiji, New Caledonia & French Polynesia;

• Integrated coastal zone management to protect against climate change;

• Marine -marine managed areas and resource management;

• Terrestrial – watershed management & sustainable food crops.

Planned for 2012 – Director/Info Unit• Internal mid-term review of strategic plan;• Continue to strengthen relationships with FFA, PNA, WCPFC,

FAO and other organisations;• Work on sustained funding mechanisms, notably with the EU;• Ensure project implementation and reporting requirements

are met for Divisional projects;• Develop and progress new project funding proposals;• Continue to meet fisheries information needs through regular

and special publications;• Improve website following review to it make more ‘user-

friendly’;• Oversee implementation of communications plan;• Fisheries education materials for schools.

Coastal Fisheries – 2011 highlights and some 2012 planned activities

• Core and programme activities• EU-funded SciCOFish project, coastal comp.• EU-funded DEVFISH II project, coastal comp.• Australian-funded coastal fisheries CC project• Australian-funded Fisheries and Food Security• Some new initiatives

Aquaculture/Mariculture• Joint SPC/ACIAR workshop on culture and

re-stocking of sandfish (sea cucumbers)• Joint SPC/FAO workshop on opportunities

and constraints for mariculture dev. and updating the 2007 Action Plan.

• Training needs assessment done in PNG on inland aquaculture and mariculture.

• Strengthening aquatic biosecurity and aquaculture statistics with FAO.

• All ACIAR mini-projects completed and reports produced and distributed.

• Continue capacity building at all levels including in-country technical assistance and the supervision of Masters students

Development• Development and implementation of FAD

programmes, including capacity building with FAD construction and fishing skills plus sea safety (SI, FSM, Kir, Niue)

• Co-hosting FAD symposium in Papeete (December 2011); any new initiatives to be included in future technical assistance

• Economic and cost benefit analysis undertaken on FAD programmes (Niue) and other development projects (Pitcairn, Van, NC, Wallis, Cooks and PNG)

• Fishing trials for small pelagics underway in Marshalls and if successful (catching and marketing) implement in other countries

Development/DEVFISH II/Post-harvest• Strengthening and supporting fishing

associations (Cooks, Tuvalu, SI, PNG); fishers have a voice in the national tuna fishery

• Assistance to countries in post-harvest activities and their Competent Authorities– Seafood standards / sanitation requirements– Requirements for canning (thermal process)– Exporting requirements, mainly for EU– Development of quality management system

for auditor’s accreditation – Legislation requirements for CAs– Capacity building at all levels

Science/Management/SciCOFish• Capacity building in sea cucumber

monitoring and management advice (SI, Vanuatu, Marshalls)

• Production of information sheets and guide on fisheries management for communities, in collaboration with LMMA; additional sheets planned for 2012

Science/Management/SciCOFish• Assistance with setting up community-

based management arrangements and working with NGOs; LMMA, TNC, CTI etc

• Assisting with reviews of legislation in collaboration with FFA (Tuvalu, Marshalls) and regulations (Vanuatu, SI, Cooks) for specific fisheries.

• Capacity building in CEAFM (Tonga, Samoa, Nauru, Kiribati, FSM)

• Develop export database and trial in Vanuatu and SI.

Science/Management/Climate Change• Monitoring pilot sites established in 5

countries; baseline surveys completed at 3 sites (Marshalls, Tuvalu, Kiribati)

• 3 PI young professionals (Samoa, PNG, Fiji) undertaking capacity building and providing in-country training

• Joint SPC/IRD project approved for 2012 to place temp data loggers in another 5 countries

• Phase II of CC monitoring project approved for commencement in 2012.

New Initiatives• Development and management of export

fisheries for aquarium trade – New AusAID funded project– Develop environmentally, socially and

economically sustainable aquarium trade; alternative income source in support of food security

– Assist governments to develop and implement management plans

– Establish databases for monitoring aquarium trade exports

– Capacity building in a range of areas from catching sector to management of fishery

– Work commenced with training provided in Nauru

New Initiatives• Improving trade for aquaculture/

mariculture products from Pacific ACPs– New activity under the EU-funded “Increasing

Agricultural Commodity Trade” (IACT) project– Strengthening national systems and

institutional framework to develop trade capacity

– Increase private sector competitiveness– Increase international market access– Focus on small- and medium-scale

enterprises

New Initiatives• Assisting coastal communities to adapt

to climate change effects – New GIZ funded project– Establish up to 8 pilot sites for trialing

adaptation projects– Use holistic approach covering land and

marine based natural resources– Establish monitoring programmes for

assessing adaptation activities– Develop community-based management

arrangement where needed– Promote successful adaptations to other

communities

Planned for 2012 – CFP objective 1: To assist governments and administrations in the development of scientifically

informed and socially achievable coastal fisheries management policies and systems in line with the guiding principles of the “Apia Policy”

• Invert capacity building, Samao, Tokelau, Palau, Fiji• Market and creel survey manual developed and trialled

in Nauru, Tonga and FSM• Develop and implement supporting databases and

install mini-servers (Palau, Tuvalu, Kiribati + 3 others)• Progress aquarium trade dev/man in Solomons, Nauru,

Vanuatu, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshalls• Final 2 CC monitoring sites surveyed (PNG, FSM),

finalise all baseline report and commence otolith collection and reading capacity building

• Establish CC adaptation sites with 5 communities

Planned for 2012 – CFP objective 2: To provide a regional framework for sustainable aquaculture, in the areas of planning, research, development and trade, for Pacific Island governments, private enterprises

and other stakeholders.

• Assist with developing/reviewing aquaculture plans with Fiji, Cooks, Samoa and FSM.

• Work with FAO for aquaculture stats database• Collaborate with WorldFish SI milkfish project• Collaborate with IFREMER on aquaculture feeds from

tuna waste in PNG, NC and Fiji• Hatchery assistance in NC, Samoa and PNG• Risk assessments for introductions, sandfish in Kiribati

and cobia in PNG• Biosecurity assistance in Vanuatu and PNG• Compile import standards and requirements in key

markets for aquaculture products

Planned for 2012 – CFP objective 3: To develop sustainable nearshore fisheries in PICTs to provide food security,

livelihoods, economic growth and climate change adaptations

• FAD rigging and fishing skills training in FSM, Cooks, A. Samoa, Vanuatu, Marshalls, Kiribati

• Training local guides in sports fishing in Niue and NC• Assist Competent Authorities in Fiji, PNG, Solomons,

Kiribati, Samoa• HACCP training and plans for Fiji, Solomons• Fish silage projects supported in NC, Fiji, Vanuatu• Diamond-back squid fishing trials in NC• Economic assessment: Marshalls (fish market and bagan),

Niue (sports fishing), Tokelau (tuna jerky), Fiji (milkfish farming), Solomons (inshore FADs), W&F (longline vessel operations)

• Capacity building in small business management and economics (Solomons, Fiji, Vanuatu).

Oceanic Fisheries – 2011 highlights and some 2012 planned activities

• Core and programme support• NZ purchased services• WCPFC service provision and projects• EU-funded SciCOFish project, oceanic

component• EU-funded DEVFISH II project, oceanic

component• Australian-funded Fisheries and Food

Security projects• GIZ-funded climate change project• NZ-funded observer support project• Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme

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Critical Partnerships

• Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC)

• Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)• Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA)• Potentially sub-regional arrangements, e.g. Te

Vaka Moana (TVM), Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG)

• Member fisheries administrations

2011 HighlightsStock Assessment & Modelling

• Regional assessments completed for skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye, South Pacific albacore (WCPFC funding)

2011 HighlightsStock Assessment & Modelling

• National Tuna Fishery Status reports completed for RMI, Samoa, Tokelau, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Cook Islands

• Enhanced national web pages (NZ services 2012, Japan Trust Fund, French Pacific Fund)

2011 HighlightsFishery Monitoring

• 100 new fisheries observers certified, and increased support to observer debriefing and trainer certification (NZ Aid Programme, EU-SciCOFish funding)

2011 HighlightsFishery Monitoring

• Development and testing of on-board sampling protocols (spill sampling) for purse seine observers (NZ Aid Programme, EU-SciCOFish, WCPFC funding)

• Commenced the Noro project, in association with NFD of the Solomon Islands, to compare observer data to port samples of landing categories

2011 HighlightsData Management

• Sixth Tuna Data Workshop, with participations from most SPC members (EU-SciCOFish funding)

2011 HighlightsData Management

• Tuna data processing and management software “TUFMAN” now operational in most SPC member fishery administrations.

• Working with countries to integrate with national Information Management Systems. (NZ 2012, AusAID, EU-SciCOFish)

• Version 6.20 includes VMS-logsheet data reconciliation and PNA VDS management tools

2011 HighlightsData Management

• Data acquisition and processing (Programme, AusAID, WCPFC, NC funding)– 191,663 fishing

operations recorded on logsheets

– 156,773 fishing events recorded by observers

– 1,723,996 individual fish measurements recorded by observers and port samplers

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2011 HighlightsEcosystem Monitoring & Analysis

• Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme – 357,000 releases, approaching 52,000 recaptures (NZ Aid Programme, Korea, EU-SciCOFish, PNG funding)

Bigeye Tuna Movements

2011 HighlightsEcosystem Monitoring & Analysis

• SEAPODYM model development – progress with high resolution skipjack model

2011 Highlights

• Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the PNA purse seine free-school skipjack fishery

2012 Priorities

• In 2012, OFP will continue with key priorities of stock assessment and management advice, data management, fishery monitoring and ecosystem research

• Capacity building continues to be a key cross-cutting theme. To name a few:– Annual stock assessment training workshops– Regional and national tuna data workshops– National tuna data systems support– Observer training and other support

2012 – New Initiatives

• Bioeconomic modelling of tuna fisheries (SciCOFish)– Collaborative with FFA– Quantify the value of and distribution of economic

benefits from tuna fisheries– Understand the economic trade-offs of purse

seine fishing on FADs versus free-school setting– Analyses of national longline fisheries to

determine optimal levels of fishing

2012 – New Initiatives

• Modelling the impacts of climate change (GIZ project)– Developing higher resolution models of tuna

abundance and distribution– Using tagging data to better estimate relationships

between tuna and environment– Running tuna simulations under a ‘plausible

ensemble’ of climate change scenarios

2012 – New Initiatives

• Monitoring of artisanal tuna fisheries in SPC members– New AusAID funded project– Developing and

implementing data collection and management protocols

– Monitoring of fisheries utilising coastal FADs

– Series of national and regional workshops to provide training

2012 – New Initiatives• Stock assessments of

deepwater snapper– AusAID funded project (with

complementary FPF funding for French Territories)

– Data collection systems developed

– Data management system developed and implemented

– Key biological and habitat parameters estimated

– Capacity building – support for Pacific Island graduate students to undertake MSc or PhD projects

Thank you for the support

WCPFC

MIFAFF

N. Caledonie

PNG NFAEuropean Union

Challenges for 2012• Delivery of advice to inform fisheries

management at the national level (Oceanic and Coastal);

• Responding to needs of Territory members who are excluded from much project funding;

• Maintaining continuity of services and building on successful work with projects coming to an end.

Recommendations

• Note the activities undertaken in 2011 and provide feedback on the work undertaken

• Note the new initiatives and the planned activities in these new work areas

• Discuss and provide comment on the proposed activities planned for 2012