By Pita Ligaiula in Manila, Philippines
The Chair of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission(WCPFC), Dr Josie Tamate, says the world’s largest tuna fishery cannot afford hesitation this week, warning that the Commission must lock in the long-delayed South Pacific albacore management procedure to safeguard stocks that supply over half of the global tuna market.
Speaking at the opening media briefing of WCPFC22 in Manila Monday, Dr Tamate highlighted the scale of the Commission’s responsibility and the urgency behind the decisions Pacific nations expect this week.
“We have the key tuna stocks that is under the responsibility of the commission remains at a sustainable level. More than 50 percent of the tuna catch that was landed from the WCPO supply the Global Tuna Supply,” she said.
“So, its in terms of that magnesium, how big it is and how important it is, I leave it to you to think about more than 50 percent of the global tuna is sourced from the WCPO.”
Dr Tamate reminded delegates that the Commission’s membership is dominated by Small Island Developing States (SIDS), whose economies rely heavily on tuna revenues.
“The WCPO and also the members of the commission, majority of them are small island states and also developing states like the Philippines. So, it is an important forum for making sure that there are rules in terms of conditions, mining rules that governs or manage the fishery to ensure sustainability,” she said.
She stressed that the Tuna Commission would be relying heavily on the work of its subsidiary bodies this week.
“The commission has a number of subsidiary bodies, and these subsidiary bodies are important in terms of providing the recommendations for the commission. The commission this week will take on those recommendations from the subsidiary bodies and also the sport working group that has been ongoing throughout the year and this will be the body that we will make some decisions that to ensure the sustainability of our tuna stocks.”
Despite the pressure, Dr Tamate signalled confidence in current stock health and in the Commission’s ability to act. “At the moment the WCPFC stocks are at the healthy status, and we want to maintain that at that level. So, for us its important,” she said.
But she was blunt about the top priority in adopting the long-awaited management procedure for South Pacific albacore — an issue that has stalled for years but now sits at the centre of economic risk for Pacific fleets.
“The top priority for the commission this week, my top priority is to make sure that we adopt a South Pacific upper core management procedure,” she said.
“And as mentioned by the executive director, the work on the harvest strategy for South Pacific upper core started in 2017. We come full circle to Manila and I'm looking forward to working with the members this week to adopt a management procedure for South Pacific Albacore,” she said.
