By Pita Ligaiula in Manila, Philippines
French Pacific territories at WCPFC22 in Manila are rejecting proposals they say would cripple domestic albacore fisheries and breach the Convention’s obligations to protect Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
French Polynesia led the pushback, telling the Commission its communities cannot absorb the economic shock built into one of the proposed harvest control rules.
“Our fleets operate exclusively within our EEZ and South Pacific albacore is sustaining not only fisheries but an entire value chain. Vessel maintenance and ship building, processing and distribution of fish products and thousands of the households depend on these jobs and local economy,” the delegation said.
Invoking Article 5 of the Convention, French Polynesia warned that any measure that “destabilise our vulnerable economic balance fail to meet the conventions requirements.”
“RCO 10 as projected undermines the viability of our domestic albacore fishery, our economy and our livelihood. For these reasons RCO 10 cannot be considered consistent with the convention and should not be considered under these RCO choices.”
RCO 10 refers to one of the tested Harvest Control Rule (HCR) options for the South Pacific albacore Management Procedure (MP) being considered at WCPFC22.
France backed its territories, stressing the stock’s importance to all three Pacific collectivities.
“French Polynesia and New Caledonia are highly dependent on the South Pacific Albacore (SPA) which directly supports their food self-sufficiency… France overseas territory supports the adoption of a management procedure based on long-term capacity either on Harvest Control Rule (HCR) 13 or on HCR 7. Like New Caledonia said, HCR 7 seems to be the best compromise for everyone.”
The Commission Chair confirmed that the scientific work leaves no room for inventing a new option mid-negotiation.
“These are the three main MPs that have been put forward… What we dont have there is a Management Procedure (MP) that falls between HCR 10 and HCR 7. We would be stepping outside the bounds of the work we’ve done to date and putting ourselves in quite a risky position to suggest adopting a management procedure that hasnt been tested.”
The Chair also noted “very strong views in support of adoption of HCR 7,” including from delegations that preferred HCR 13 but see HCR 7 as the only viable compromise.
New Caledonia agreed the science has already done the heavy lifting.
“I fully agree with you, especially if you consider that a lot of work was done… We had a lot of time in the South Pacific Albacore Working Group to discuss the different scenarios. I think it's not time to make new estimations. We have three HCRs, we have to choose one.”
New Caledonia also warned that “if HCR 10 is the result, which will introduce a disproportionate burden for SIDS and participating territories in application of Article 13.”
With stakes high for domestic fleets, processors, workers and local economies across the region, pressure is building for WCPFC22 to land a decision that protects both the stock and the communities that depend on it.
