http://www.spc.int/oceanfish Secretariat of the Pacific Community - Oceanic Fisheries Programme - Latest news, announcements, and additions to the web site Tue, 24 Jan 2006 21:43:59 GMT FeedEdit http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/html/TAG/RTTP2/pdf/cruise2_summary_report.pdf Report from cruise 2 of the PNG tagging project available here 11 Jul 2007 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/html/TAG/RTTP2/pdf/cruise1_summary_report.pdf Report from cruise 1 of the PNG tagging project available here 30 Jan 2007 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/html/TAG/RTTP2/posters.htm Tagging posters and reward posters available here 30 Jan 2007 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/html/statistics/country/gmaps.htm A Google map web page has recently been integrated into the OFP country web site to allow the SPC member countries a direct satellite view of each of the Pacific islands 19 Jun 2006 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/html/misc/OFP_Principal_Fisheries_Scientist.pdf The SPC's Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) carries out scientific research and monitoring of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific region. A Principal Fisheries Scientist is being sought to lead the Tuna Ecology & Biology Section of the OFP. Appointment will be for three years in the first instance. The position: This is a senior scientific position in the OFP. Its main responsibilities are to lead a small team of scientists who are: • undertaking research on the pelagic ecosystem of the western tropical Pacific, with emphasis on trophic ecology, seamount ecology, tuna movement and aggregation dynamics, and modelling the effects oceanographic variability on tuna stocks, fisheries and the ecosystem; and • providing scientific advice on oceanic fisheries management issues to countries and territories of the Pacific Community. [...] Oceanic Fisheries 24 Apr 2006 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Docs/Technical/ALB_technical_report.pdf The purpose of this report is to provide a summary of recent studies on South Pacific albacore and highlight the key issues for PICTs to consider in the management of their domestic longline fisheries. The current (2005) stock assessment for South Pacific albacore concluded that there are no sustainability concerns regarding the overall stock and substantially higher yields could be taken from the fishery. However, this conclusion does not adequately address the management issues faced by the domestic longline fleets in PICTs. The PICT fisheries principally catch larger, older (7–12 years) albacore. These age classes represent a relatively small proportion (about 30%) of the total adult biomass of albacore. Recent levels of fishing effort from all fisheries combined have reduced the level of biomass available to the PICT domestic longline fisheries by approximately 30% compared to unexploited levels. At a regional level, increases in fishing effort in the PICT domestic longline fisheries will result in declines in CPUE due to a decline in exploitable biomass. These impacts are likely to be considerably greater than the impact of large increases in the level of fishing effort by the distant-water fleet in the south-eastern area of the fishery. Catch rates in domestic longline fisheries exhibit strong seasonal trends. For the longline fisheries in Fiji and French Polynesia, these trends appear directly related to seasonal fluctuations in the oceanographic conditions. Seasonal trends in fisheries in adjacent waters are likely to be influenced by similar variations in oceanographic conditions. Inter-annual variation in albacore catch rates is also evident in most of the PICT fisheries. The sustained period of low catch rates that commenced in late 2002 appears to be attributable to inter-annual variation in oceanographic conditions. At a local scale, very high levels of fishing effort appear to be capable of causing localised depletion of albacore tuna. This is principally an issue for domestic longline fleets where fishing effort is concentrated in a relatively small area, largely due to operational constraints of the fleet. The scale of the local depletion effect is likely to vary seasonally and inter-annually as the rate of exchange of fish with adjacent waters varies. Indications from the Fiji longline fishery is that, on average, catch rates may be reduced by about 20% at high levels of fishing effort. Management objectives of the PICT domestic fisheries need to balance levels of fishing effort with the availability of fish to the fishery to ensure economic sustainability of the fleet. Adam Langley - OFP - Secretariat of the Pacific Community 9 april 2006 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/oceanfish_news.htm The news, latest web site additions and announcements from the Oceanic Fisheries Programme have been made available through RSS newsfeed, making it also available to news aggregators users - RSS: http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/oceanfish_newsfeed.xml 25 Jan 2006 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Html/Statistics/Yearbook/index.htm Editions of the SPC Tuna Fishery Yearbook for 1992–1997 presented catch statistics for the SPC Statistical Area, which encompasses the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of SPC member countries and territories and the adjacent high seas. Starting with the edition of the Yearbook for 1998, the tables were modified to present catch statistics for the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO). The WCPO Area (Figure 1) was established for statistical purposes at the Twelfth Meeting of the Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish, 16–23 June 1999, Tahiti, French Polynesia (Anon. 1999). [...] 09 Nov 2005 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Html/Statistics/DataCat/DATACAT.htm The Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is responsible for compiling regional tuna fisheries data. The main database maintained by the OFP comprises all catch and effort data received and processed by the Statistics Section. Extensive holdings of length frequency data, unloadings data, data from tagging programmes and data collected during observer trips are also maintained. [...] 05 Sep 2005 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Html/SCTB/Data/index.asp At the Eleventh Meeting of the Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish (SCTB), 28 May - 6 June 1998, Honolulu, SCTB established that catch and effort data grouped by time period and geographic area, for all fishing nations combined, are considered to be in the public domain. To download public domain catch and effort data for driftnet, longline, pole-and-line and purse seine, click on the links below. Each self-extracting zip EXE file contains two files: (1) a Microsoft Visual FoxPro 2.0 DBF file containing the data; (2) a text file containing the field names and formats for the DBF file, and notes on the sources, coverage and quality of the data. [...] 02 Sep 2005 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Html/WCPFC/SC1/scientific_committee.htm Report and documents from the WCPFC-SC1 meeting 22 Aug 2005 http://www.spc.int/oceanfish/Docs/Research/wcptf03.htm The tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO, west of 150°W) is diverse, ranging from small-scale, artisanal operations in the coastal waters of Pacific states, to large-scale, industrial purse-seine, pole-and-line and longline operations both in the exclusive economic zones of Pacific states and in international waters (high seas). The main species targeted by these fisheries are skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis), yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (T. obesus) and albacore tuna (T. alalunga). [...] 02 May 2005