Fisheries
Fishy Tuna Money
A Big Power Bidding War Is Raising The Stakes
The outlook for the Pacific Islands tuna fishery is decidedly fishy. It is likely to get fishier yet. Variations in how much, as a percentage of the value of reported catches, that Islands governments collect from foreign fishermen, suggest that bribery pours a lot of money into the pockets of influential politicians and civil servants. This according to fishing industry sources.
If bribery isn’t behind the setting of low official rates for catch fees, then some national fisheries departments and ministries are being taken for a ride. Variations in revenue received range from 14.8 percent of the estimated value of the reported catch for one country down to a mere .053 percent for another. Measured as a percentage of gross domestic product, variations range from 42 percent to less than one-tenth of one percent.
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While the United States pays a rate of 10 percent of the value of the catch of the tuna caught by its dwindling fleet Pacific purse seiner catchers, Japan pays only 5 percent, Taiwan 3.7 percent and Korea only 2.2. percent, according to World Bank figures.
We were told that in some Pacific countries the explanation for low license rates is that countries paying them are big aid donors. But the savings in lower fees far outweighs aid received.
An average of about 1,000 Asian and only about 30 U. S. vessels have for the past three decades been the main fishers of the Central and Western Pacific tuna stock. They are registered by the Forum Fisheries Agency, the Solomon Islands headquartered institution, through which Pacific Islands governments control fishing in their 200 miles exclusive economic zones. This vast fishery supplies about half the world’s canned tuna market and one-third of the total supply. In recent years, an average of around 1,000,000 tons of tuna a year is caught, valued at about US$2 billion at current market prices, according to the FFA.
However, the Pacific Islands benefit by only a fraction of the total price; US$70 million is a figure frequently quoted by the FFA. We are told that, while fisheries access agreements negotiated between individual Island government and foreign fishers are filed at the FFA’s headquarters, the actual financial terms are never available. They are kept shrouded in secrecy, with not even the national Parliaments informed. Details are restricted to a small number of politicians and bureaucrats.
Analysis of officially-published data, market know-how and information from other sources pointed to the scope of opportunities that exists for corruption. Fisheries scientists with the Pacific Community’s Oceanic Fisheries Program (formerly known as the Tuna and Billfish Assessment Program) are producing data that shows the big and valuable yellowfin tuna fish is now being overfished, as the smaller bigeye tuna already is.
Islands governments are talking about further conserving stocks but placing more limits on the number of big purse seine class ships operating in their EEZs and asking fishermen to use large mesh net to reduce the amount of juvenile fish caught. There are also proposals for limited fishing around fish aggregation devices.
Pressure on the Pacific’s tuna stock is expected to mount with the arrival in the Central and Western Pacific of the first units of the European fleet, which is turning to the region after badly over-fishing their Atlantic fisheries. Kiribati earlier this year renewed a one-year agreement that allows up to about a dozen Spanish vessels to fish in its big EEZ. According to our sources, the European Union has now approached Papua New Guinea, the Marshall Islands and Solomon Islands for fishing rights. EU officials have described the agreement with Kiribati as a “model” and evidence of the EU’s commitment to preserving the stock.
The EU fishermen are reported to be paying for Kiribati rights at a rate of about 7 percent of the catch value. This has aroused speculation that Asian nations paying low rates will have to offer more money if they want to retain their fishing licenses.
More Information On Pacific Fisheries
Commission for the Management and Conservation of the Highly Migratory Fish Stock in the Central and Western Pacific
To be located in Pohpei, this long-named international body is popularly known as the “tuna commission.” It has had two major preparatory conferences, one held in Papua New Guinea and the Philippines. It will play a similar role in the western Pacific as the Indian Ocean, Atlantic and Inter-American Tuna Commissions. It will regulate catches and conservation efforts of migratory fish, especially tuna, in the central and western Pacific regions. No Web site as yet.
Environmental Defense
Environmental NGO active in fishery sustainability, bycatch and other marine resource issues. www.environmentaldefense.org, click on Oceans
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN Fisheries Department
The FAO collects and disseminates worldwide fisheries data, emphasized sustainability and food security. www.fao.org/fi
Forum Fisheries Agency
Headquartered in Does research and policy implementation and encourage cooperation on fisheries issues among the Pacific Forum country members: Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. www.ffa.int
The Marine Fish Conservation Network
This U.S.-based NGO is a coalition of over 150 national and regional environmental organizations, commercial and recreational fishing groups, aquariums, and marine science groups dedicated to conserving marine fish and to promoting their long-term sustainability. www.conservefish.org
Pacific Fisheries Coalition
A Hawaii-based non-profit, a joint project of the Hawaii Audubon Society and the Fisherman’s Foundation which tries to join the concerns of conservationists and fishermen. www.westpacfisheries.net
Pelagic Fisheries Research Program
Joint Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Research
School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, University of Hawaii. http://imina.soest.hawaii.edu/PFRP
South Pacific Community
Headquartered in Noumea, New Caledonia, the SPC has oceanic and coastal fisheries programs for its members: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Pitcairn Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Wallis and Futuna. The founding metropolitan countries include: Australia, France, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. www.spc.org.nc/marine.htm
Western Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Council
A U.S.-funded regional organization monitoring fisheries issues in the U.S.-affiliated North Pacific islands and American Samoa. With the input of fishermen, the agency attempts to establish long-term plans for sustaining Pacific fisheries. www.wpcouncil.org
