SPC Fisheries Newsletter #108 - January/March 2004 SPC ACTIVITIES
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Number 108 (January — March 2004) ISSN 0248-076X Accidental longline catches of endangered species or protected ones like turtles carry major economic risks: many markets could be lost if action is not taken by fishers to conserve endangered species and thus protect the biodiversity of the ocean. During the Pacific Island Maritime Training Institutions and Maritime Authorities (APIMTIMA) meeting in Fiji in May 2004, the SPC Marine Resources Division Training Section presented a training manual on Protected marine SPC activities Page 2 species and the tuna longline fishery in the Pacific Islands . This manual addresses the bycatch issue in the longline tuna fishery and hopefully will raise awareness of Pacific Island fishermen on News from in and this issue, for their benefit and that of protected marine species. around the region Page 17 At a meeting in February 2004, fisheries experts and managers reviewed the topic of safety-at-sea, and agreed that it was essential that awareness work be continued, but especially that strong political Aquaculture updates: Samoa support and national involvement from Pacific Island countries was needed so that appropriate regulations could be introduced. The by Ben Ponia and Satya Nandlal Page 24 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the SPC have been collaborating on this issue for a number of years now. In News from in and around the Pacific , Bob Gillett, a consultant who Regional assessment of the commercial has over 25 years of experience in the region and who is well known viability for marine ornamental to our readers, revisits safety-at-sea, with particular reference to small fishing vessels. aquaculture within the Pacific Islands by S.R. Lindsay, E. Ledua and J. Stanley Jean-Paul Gaudechoux Fisheries Information Adviser Page 27 [email protected] Community-based Fisheries Management Plans for Tokelau by Aliti Vunisea Page 30 The training manual was written by marine biologist Dr Mike King and is intended for all persons involved of interested in the fisheries sector in the Pacific Islands region. SPC ACTIVITIES TRAINING SECTION A manual aimed at raising awareness on the bycatch issue The bycatch issue in the longline ed card, sticker) and produced The manual, “Protected marine tuna fishery — the accidental pocket-size identification cards species and the tuna longline catching on longlines of endan- for the seven species of marine fishery in the Pacific Islands”, gered and protected species, turtles. which was written by marine particularly turtles — is one that biologist Dr Mike King, is more could eventually result in the While the quality of the above than just a resource for trainers. loss of important markets for materials is non-questionable, it It provides information on tuna from Pacific Island coun- was felt their use could be great- many facets of the bycatch tries. The protection of threat- ly facilitated if fisheries training issue, which will be of interest ened species and the Pacific institutions in the region could to all persons involved or inter- Island longline fishery require introduce a module on the ested in the fisheries sector in both awareness and cooperation bycatch issue as part of their the Pacific Islands region. In actions on bycatch. Mindful that ongoing courses for vessel crew addition to the manual, training a proactive approach was and skippers. This concept was institutions will receive a CD- required, SPC’s Coastal Fish- presented to participants of the ROM containing illustrations to eries Programme has developed 2003 meeting of the Association be printed (for hand-outs or a series of resource materials of Pacific Island Maritime transparencies) or used as slides targeting fisheries managers, Training Institutions and during classroom projections. longline vessel operators and Maritime Authorities (APIMTI- crew members. Following the MA) and it received strong sup- It is hoped the manual, together production and wide distribu- port. Subsequently, a funding with the other materials previ- tion of an informative leaflet proposal for the production and ously released, will contribute (Tuna longlining – The bycatch distribution of a training manu- to raising the awareness of issue) by the Fisheries Devel- al was submitted to NZAID’s Pacific Island fishermen on the opment Section in 2002, the Pacific Initiative for the bycatch issue, for their benefit Training Section has promoted Environment. The proposal was and that of protected marine some guidelines for releasing finally approved in September species. hooked turtles (poster, laminat- last year. SPC and the Nelson New Zealand School of Fisheries (NM IT) launch new course At the end of last year SPC Fisheries in the Pacific have The new fisheries officer train- advertised a fisheries officer undergone a number of major ing course welcomes again the training course that has been changes over the last two participation of the Government modified to take into account decades as development of sub- of New Caledonia in the fund- the review findings and recom- sistence, artisanal and industrial ing of this most popular fish- mendations made at the Third sectors has occurred. This new eries training programme. SPC Heads of Fisheries meeting in course will aim to enable fish- also acknowledges financial Noumea. Certain aspects of the eries officers to maximise their support from the Government course (notably its syllabus) are abilities to face these changes. of New Zealand and the quite different from the training Commonwealth Secretariat. programme that had been run This year’s course started on up until 2002. Monday, 26 January at Nelson, For more information contact when the 10 participants (from the Fisheries Training Section, The new course specifically tar- Solomon Islands, Samoa, Kiribati, [email protected] gets government fisheries offi- Niue, Tonga, American Samoa, New cers, with a main objective of Caledonia, Papua New Guinea and providing broad-ranging train- Fiji Islands) were given a tour of ing to enable them to assist fish- the New Zealand School of Fish- ing communities and fishing eries. Students will first follow enterprises in developing sus- an 18-week training programme tainable and profitable fishing in Nelson before flying to New operations. Caledonia for a 6-week field com- ponent in Noumea and Koumac. 2 SPC Fisheries Newsletter #108 - January/March 2004 SPC ACTIVITIES Tuna handling workshops in Rarotonga and Aitutaki In March, SPC’s Fisheries process was demonstrated on a (MMR). The workshop focused Training Adviser travelled to the medium-size yellowfin tuna. on proper onboard handling Cook Islands following a request procedures, including practical from the Ministry of Marine Second workshop demonstrations. Resources (MMR). The purpose (Wednesday 3 March) of the visit was to train new Third workshop recruits in the onboard handling This workshop was attended by (Wednesday 10 March) of sashimi-grade tunas. A series 20 longline vessel crew, 3 boat of similar workshops had been owners and 3 staff of the This additional workshop was organised in August 2002, at the Ministry of Marine Resources requested by the Ministry to target beginning of the tuna longline development in the Cooks. The initial request was for work- shops on tuna handling for ves- sel crew as well as hands-on training for local tuna graders. Due to present poor catches it was decided to postpone the lat- ter and organise a visit by a pro- fessional grader from Fiji Islands at a later stage, when supply of tunas required for the practical grading demonstrations is more steady. In March, fishing was so poor that most longliners were tied up to wharves. This poor fishing period, on the other hand, was a good time for train- ing vessel crew, as most if not all of them were available to attend the workshops. Three workshops have been run in Rarotonga at the School of Maritime and Fisheries. This was a good venue with all the necessary equipment and audio visual aids (TV/VCR, overhead projector, white board, slide pro- jector). First workshop (Tuesday 2 March) This was an introduction to grading for 13 staff of local pro- cessing plants (Blue Pacific and Cook Island Fish Export). The same persons are earmarked to attend the tuna grading demon- strations by a professional grad- er from Fiji Islands, later in the year. This introductory workshop included a presentation of tuna marketing in Japan, onboard han- dling procedures and the key Top: Tuna longliner in Avatiu (Rarotonga) grading factors. The handling Bottom: A good catch by MMR staff SPC Fisheries Newsletter #108 - January/March 2004 3 SPC ACTIVITIES small-scale fishermen and thus poti-marara vessels). According Aitutaki workshop keep this important sector as to MMR, the quality of fish (Monday 8 March) part of current developments. landed varies greatly and is often The workshop was attended by poor (no ice carried onboard). It This workshop targeted local nine participants, including the is hoped that having both the small-scale FAD fishermen as most active poti-marara opera- fishermen and their main buyer well as the crew of the sole com- tors of the Aravua area, as well at the training will have an mercial longliner operating from as the owner/operator of a impact on the quality of fish the island: in all, 16 trainees. Two small take-away shop (in fact, supplied by the former. large yellowfin tunas were used the main buyer of fish caught by for the hands-on demonstration. The turn-out for the workshops (64 trainees) was excellent and has exceeded everyone’s expec- tations (in fact four sessions have been run instead of the two initially planned). It is hoped this training will have an impact on the quality of tunas landed in the Cook Islands. Top: Aitutaki fisherman “spiking a tuna through its soft spot Right: Participants watching a video during Aitutaki workshop Sea safety posters for Papua New Guinea, Kiribati and Niue The Fisheries Training Section In line with Mike McCoy’s 1991 regional awareness campaign recommendation that “educa- on sea safety is getting its sec- tion through publicity cam- ond wind.