Scalar politics in transboundary fisheries management: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission as an eco-scalar fix for South Pacific albacore tuna management

Abolhassani, Angela

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2023.105583

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…This link is especially vital in the WCPO context, where the WCPFC acts as the primary authority overseeing tuna management within the region encompassing Tonga [17]. Moreover, the presence of two sub-regional groups-the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and the Smaller Pacific Island States and Territories (SPG)-adds complexity to the management landscape, as their differing interests often result in divergent views [18]. From a broader regional fishery perspective, the involvement of the WCPFC is essential due to the transboundary nature of tuna stocks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

Vaihola,

Kininmonth

2023

Diversity

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Despite the crucial role played by international and regional tuna fisheries in facilitating the successful implementation of the ecosystem approach to fisheries management, there exist disparities in viewpoints among these stakeholders, resulting in gaps between regional fisheries management and local communities. Nevertheless, the Tongan government, under the Ministry of Fisheries, is dedicated to the efficient management of its tuna resources, aiming to establish it as the preferred and optimal approach for ensuring the long-term sustainability of its tuna fisheries and the ecosystem services they provide to the community. Recognizing that an appropriate legal, policy and institutional framework is in place for sustainable management of tuna, the first part of this paper presents a review of current Tonga fisheries laws and policies for its tuna fisheries. This review reflects the implementation of an information-based management framework, namely the Tonga National Tuna Fishery Management and Development Plan. The tuna fisheries in Tonga mainly catch albacore (Thunnus alalunga), bigeye (Thunnus obesus), skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), and yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) tuna. These tuna species are caught within Tonga’s exclusive economic zones and play a crucial role in the country’s economy; hence, it is crucial to examine the spatio-temporal distributions of their catch in relation to their environmental conditions. In pursuit of this goal, the tasks of mapping (i) the spatio-temporal distribution of catch landed at ports and (ii) the spatio-temporal of environmental conditions were performed. The study utilizes longline catch per unit effort data spanning from 2002 to 2018 for albacore, bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tuna. It also incorporates data on environmental conditions, including sea surface temperature, sea surface chlorophyll, sea surface current, and sea surface salinity. Additionally, the El Nino Southern Oscillation Index is mapped in relation to catch data to examine the potential effects of climate change on the tuna catch. Results show that bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin CPUE show a central–northernmost distribution and are primarily caught between latitudes 14° S–22° S, while albacore, shows a central–southern distribution. The highest CPUE for all species are in latitudes 15.5° S–22.5° S and longitudes 172.5° W–176.5° W. The data indicate that sea surface current velocities range from −0.03 to 0.04 ms−1, sea surface salinity ranges from 34.8 to 35.6 PSU, sea surface chlorophyll concentration varies from 0.03 to 0.1 mg m−3, and sea surface temperature fluctuates seasonally, ranging from 18 °C to 30 °C. Mapping also reveals that times of reduced catches in Tonga coincide with periods of moderate to strong El Nino events from 2002 to 2018.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

Vaihola,

Kininmonth

2023

Diversity

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Advancing tuna catch allocation negotiations: an analysis of sovereign rights and fisheries access arrangements

Andriamahefazafy,

Haas,

Campling

et al. 2024

npj Ocean Sustain

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Regional fisheries management organisations (RFMOs) determine conservation measures for transboundary fisheries resources. They are also a forum for collective action toward the management of marine resources. One of the most complex and controversial aspects of this process is the allocation of catches between RFMO members. There are a variety of processes that can be used for catch allocation. In recent years, there has been a trend in some RFMOs towards establishing a system of criteria or indicators to determine the volume or percentage of catch that should be allocated to each RFMO member. Establishing such a system is challenging and the position of countries negotiating at RFMOs is also shaped by fisheries access arrangements. The debate on allocation has been ongoing at the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission for more than a decade, where one key point of disagreement is the treatment of historical catch taken in the waters of a coastal State. On the one hand, coastal states claim that catches historically taken in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ) should be attributed to them based on their sovereign rights over living resources. On the other, some fishing countries from outside the region claim catch history based on fishing conducted in the coastal State’s waters pursuant to access agreements. We analysed UNCLOS articles, publicly available fisheries access agreements, and national legislation to unpack the linkage between fisheries access arrangements and catch allocation discussions, and we also explored examples from other regions and RFMOs. We point out that the sovereign rights of coastal states over their EEZ provide a strong basis for allocation negotiations. In the absence of specific agreements to the contrary, any catch history that arises from foreign vessels fishing inside the EEZ should be attributed to the coastal State. We also argue that it is time for members of RFMOs—and especially of the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission—to move beyond the historical catch debate. They need to resolve their differences or consider other ways to allocate participatory rights in shared fisheries.

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Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

VAIHOLA,

KININMONTH

2023

Preprint

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Tuna species are an important resource to the people of the Pacific, particularly small island countries like Tonga, that have few alternative natural resources. These countries are dependent on this fishery for their nutrition, recreation, government revenue, employment, welfare and culture. Threatening these benefits, however, are global warming and climate uncertainties that affect the presence and distribution of tuna in the Pacific islands countries and territories. There-fore, one of the most important development goals for Tonga involves managing its tuna fish-eries in order to optimize these benefits within the context of climatic impacts. This paper has two main goals. Firstly, we discuss Tonga’s commitment to implement the existing tuna man-agement policies. This commitment permeates through a range of activities to monitoring catch regulations and regulate locally based foreign vessels to fish in the Economic Exclusive Zone of Tonga. This reflects the implementation of an information-based management framework namely, the Tonga National Tuna Fishery Management and Development Plan that is revised every five years. Secondly, the paper identifies key scientific research programs, which form the basis to design more informed future policies towards tuna management. These researches include : i) examining of the bathymetric features of the island nation’s fishing ground, ii) model-ling the spatio-temporal distribution of tuna and, iii) characterizing tuna habitats within an oceanic environment using biophysical oceanographic data within Geographic Information Sys-tem, and iv) impacts of climate change on tuna

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Scalar politics in transboundary fisheries management: The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission as an eco-scalar fix for South Pacific albacore tuna management

Cited by 3 publications

References 50 publications

Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

Advancing tuna catch allocation negotiations: an analysis of sovereign rights and fisheries access arrangements

Ecosystem Management Policy Implications Based on Tonga Main Tuna Species Catch Data 2002–2018

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