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Number 144 (May–August 2014)

Produced by the Information Section, Division of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems, SPC, B.P. D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia. Fax: (687) 263818.

Produced with financial assistance from France, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union.

Editorial

The table of contents for this issue reveals a theme that is very common to fisheries: a mix of hope and worry. Most articles fall into the hope category, and are related to development, with titles including words such as “new”, “improved”, “successful”, “creating”, “promising” and “project”. But other article titles make use of words such as “burning”, “yellow card”, “microplastics” and “hot issues”, a reminder that fisheries stories are not all good news.

These articles reflect a challenge that government bodies and agencies involved in fisheries constantly face: finding the right balance between development and management efforts.

In the Pacific Islands region, all of the major fisheries have already been developed, several of them “overdeveloped”. There is scope for the limited development of a few minor fisheries (e.g. aquarium fish, coastal pelagic fish and giant squid), and aquaculture certainly has potential. But, these will not produce enough to replace coastal fisheries if these are not properly managed. In other words, if the main focus is not on management, these development efforts may be just a little more useful than a band-aid on a wooden leg.

In his article on page 53, Robert Gillett writes: “In fisheries management, the hardest task is often the placing of controls on fishers to prevent resource degradation”. He notes that alternative development schemes are often used as ways to avoid necessary restrictive management. Interestingly, he names it “management distractions” and cites it as one of the hot issues on Pacific Island coastal fisheries.

Development or management, development and management... Pacific Island fisheries require that development become no more than a fully integrated part of management.

Aymeric Desurmont
Fisheries Information Specialist

 

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Throw net fishing on New Caledonia east coast
(image: Céline Barré).

In this issue

SPC ACTIVITIES

  • Integration of fisheries and protected areas management for Palau’s northern reefs (pdf: )

  • New assessments for WCPFC to ponder (pdf: )

  • Tuna tissue bank for ecosystem management in the Pacific (pdf: )

  • Creating an aquaculture industry for a new type of freshwater prawn in Papua New Guinea (pdf: )

  • Improved cottonii (Kappaphycus alvarezii) seaweed variety transferred to Kiribati and Fiji (pdf: )

  • New aquaculture project that targets communities (pdf: )

  • Successful diamondback squid fishing trials in Fiji (pdf: )

NEWS FROM IN AND AROUND THE REGION

  • Promising results for sandfish and white shrimp farming in Fiji (pdf: )

  • Over USD 1.3 million in 48 days of harvest - Palau shares lessons on sea cucumber management (pdf: )

  • Community-based fisheries management project in Kiribati: First steps (pdf: )

  • We are “burning both ends of the candle” (pdf: )

  • Assisting Papua New Guinea with the European Union “yellow card” for IUU fishing (pdf: )

FEATURE ARTICLES

  • In a nutshell: Microplastics and fisheries
    by Ana Markic and Simon Nicol (pdf: )

  • Shark-watching ecotourism in the Pacific islands: A move towards “payments for ecosystem services”?
    by Eric Clua and Nicolas Pascal (pdf: )

  • Presenting a new direction for small-scale marine protected area design
    by Abigail Golden (pdf: )

  • New FAD development approach strengthens community-based fisheries management in Vanuatu
    by George Amos et al. (pdf: )

  • Diamondback squid and egg mass record in Vanuatu
    by Graham Nimoho et al. (pdf: )

  • Hot issues on Pacific Island coastal fisheries
    by Robert E. Gillett (pdf: )



pdfDownload the complete publication:

Fisheries Newsletter #144 (pdf: )

 


 

 
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