Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems

 

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SCIENTIFIC SUPPORT

FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF

COASTAL AND OCEANIC FISHERIES

IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

Project funded by
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Duration

16 April 2010 - 3 September 2015

 

Budget

€ 9,233,765

 


  

Context                                                                             

Purpose                                                                                   

Partners

Objective

Expectedresults

Staff


Context

The fisheries resources of the Pacific ACP (African, Caribbean and Pacific) countries are central in efforts to improve the lives of their people. The oceanic resources provide around a quarter of the world’s tuna catch and support both small and large fishing enterprises; provide government revenue; and, in many countries, represent the main opportunity for economic development. Coastal fisheries contribute to food security and the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people across the region. Both oceanic and coastal resources are at risk of overfishing however. In the oceanic fishery, a rapid growth in industrial fishing effort threatens two important commercial species of tuna. In coastal fisheries, food fish resources are over-exploited around major population centres, while certain invertebrate species harvested for export are severely depleted across much of the region. Well-informed management action is needed to halt and reverse these trends.

 

The Regional Strategy Paper and the Indicative Programme agreed between the Pacific ACP (P-ACP) countries and the European Community (EC) for the period 2008–2013 identifies Sustainable Management of Natural Resources as one of two focal areas for EDF10 cooperation. The Intervention Framework for this focal area targets assisting the region in developing the economic potential of its natural resources in a sustainable way through sound science on which to base management decisions, while looking at expanding the regions export sectors in natural resources and creating an enabling environment for the benefit of regional trade arrangements.

 

SciCOFish complements the EDF-funded SciFish (Scientific support for the management of oceanic fisheries in the Pacific Islands region) Project, while following on from the Pacific Regional Oceanic and Coastal Fisheries Development Project (PROCFish) and Pacific Regional Coastal Fisheries Development Project (CoFish), which were focused on tuna and reef fishery assessment and monitoring, in fulfilling the vision of the Regional Strategy Paper and the RIP for Pacific ACP/EC cooperation in fisheries, and will broaden the growing pattern of cooperation between the Pacific ACP countries and the EC in fisheries generally.

 

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Objective

The overall objective of the SciCOFish project is the conservation and sustainable use of coastal and oceanic fisheries resources in the P-ACP region. It addresses a key aspect of the Regional Indicative Programme (RIP), namely, the development of cost-effective solutions for the sustainable management of marine and land-based resources. It directly responds to the P-ACP leaders’ Vava’u Declaration and the recent 2008 Forum meeting in Niue, which called for comprehensive fisheries conservation measures, both in EEZs and on the high seas; and the sustainable and effective management of national coastal fisheries.

 


 

Purpose

The SciCOFish purpose is to provide a reliable and improved scientific basis for management and decision making in oceanic and coastal fisheries. The project provides the P-ACP countries with the means to develop efficient management measures, the skills to monitor their effectiveness, and some important tools to combat IUU fishing on the high seas. A ‘demand-driven’ approach to implementation ensures that assistance is provided to those countries which are most likely to take up management advice.

 

 


 

Expected results

Project results are in two main areas: scientific support for oceanic fisheries management (Component 1) and monitoring and management of coastal fisheries (Component 2). These components strengthen scientific understanding of oceanic and coastal systems, respectively, and facilitate addressing cross-cutting issues such as ecosystem relationships and the impacts of climate change through linking results via databases. The oceanic activities provide scientific support for new tuna management initiatives adopted by P-ACPs at a critical time for conservation of the stocks. In particular, intensive observer training and enhancement of national fishing activity databases, in combination with the development of a monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) strategy under the proposed DevFish2 study, allow more effective identification and deterrence of IUU fishing activities. Furthermore, the proposed modelling studies respond to calls by P-ACP countries to develop tools and strategies to evaluate national impacts from management measures and mitigate the effects of climate change. The coastal activities are focused, by means of initial stakeholder consultations, on projects combining an urgent resource management issue with a strong local capability to address the issue and maintain a long-term programme.

 

Component 1:

  

Pacific ACP governments, the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) are provided with scientific data, modelling, and advice on oceanic fisheries to underpin their management decision making and strategic positioning. Project activities include:

 

1-1.  Observer training and systems

 

1-2.  Integrated tuna fisheries databases 

 

1-3.  Bioeconomic modelling and national advice 

 

1-4.  Ecosystem modelling of management and climate change 

 

1-5.  Validate key model parameters through tagging

 

Component 2:

  

Pacific ACP governments, private sector and communities are provided with technical methods and training to monitor coastal fisheries, resulting in practical scientific advice to inform management decisions, and development of in-country capacity to evaluate their effectiveness. Project activities include:

 

2-1.  Conduct stakeholder consultation

 

2-2.  Develop local capacity to implement field monitoring protocols

 

2-3.  Develop and implement secondary data collection protocols

 

2-4.  Develop management advice

 

 


Partners

Delegation of the European Union for the Pacific

 

Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency

 


 

For more information, please contact Moses Amos, Director, SPC Division of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 April 2014 10:55
 

 


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