Key outcomes from the Parties to Nauru Agreement’s 18th annual meeting in the Solomon Islands were the continuing achievements of PNA in 2022-23, the ongoing success of the Vessel Day Scheme, and the fact that the purse seiner fishery and the VDS revenue were stable through the Covid-19 pandemic and strong La Niña period.
According to a release from PNA, in his opening address Solomons Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare commended the eight member countries and Tokelau for “ensuring the region’s tuna stocks are managed sustainably and for providing economic and social benefits to its people since the organization’s inception.”
Highlights of the June 15-16 meeting, which was chaired by Solomons Fisheries Minister Nestor Giro, included the news that PNA observers’ pay rates are to be “substantially increased from the start of the 2024 fishing year.” The increase is the result, in part, of the increasing complexity of the observers’ work.
Another piece of good news was updated scientific advice from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, which explained that the four major tuna stocks in PNA waters continue to be reported as healthy and that none are assessed as being overfished.
The importance of PNA’s partnership with the Marine Stewardship Council was recognized at the meeting “as this continues to convey the message of the sustainability of PNA tuna fisheries to seafood consumers globally.”
In a similar vein, the representatives welcomed the development of the Pacific Islands Tuna Provision Initiative as being a “mutually beneficial approach to collaboration between Walmart and PNA tuna resource-owning countries and thanked the Marshall Islands and The Nature Conservancy for leading the initiative.”
The participants affirmed their continuing support for the work of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission for its excellent management of regional tuna fisheries, but encouraged this body to continue to strengthen the control of longline fishing in the high seas.
Prior to the annual meeting, member country representatives visited the SolTuna processing facility in Noro in the country’s Western Province. During the visit, representatives saw the impressive amount of employment and level of exports, showing that PNA members can catch, process and market their own fish and representatives noted this at the meeting.
And last, but not least, former chair of the PNA Compliance Committee, Rhea Moss-Christian, was thanked for her work as the inaugural PCC Chair and the announcement of the new Independent Chair, Eugene Pangelinan.