Majuro August 18, 2014 — A newly released stock assessment that shows bigeye tuna is being over-fished underlines why the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) must take decisive action at its December annual meeting to reduce further reductions in bigeye mortality.

    Majuro, Marshall Islands: Ministers from the eight members of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) agreed Friday June 13 to far-reaching decisions that will increase their nations’ economic benefits from the tuna fishery, while expanding management and conservation measures over tuna stocks.

   The Ninth Meeting of PNA Ministers meeting in Majuro June 12-13, 2014 agreed to raise the fishing day fee from the current benchmark of US$6,000 to US$8,000 starting January 1, 2015.

  Majuro — Prices for skipjack tuna on the world market have plummeted since hitting an all-time record high of US$2,350 per metric ton in mid-2013, and now hover in the US$1,200 per metric ton range.

   The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) see skipjack prices beginning to rebound over the next few months because PNA members have agreed to reduce the number of fishing days available to the industry, and the current over-supply of fish on the market that is keeping prices low is expected to end in the near future.

   Majuro (Feb. 26, 2014) The United States government and its purse seine fishing industry have tripled what they are paying for fishing rights in waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The PNA’s “vessel day scheme” (VDS) now enforces a minimum payment of US$6,000 per fishing day, providing ever-greater financial benefits to island members. And at the end of 2013, PNA began successfully marketing internationally certified sustainably caught skipjack in Europe, generating a premium price for the product.

Majuro (Feb. 26, 2014) The United States government and its purse seine fishing industry have tripled what they are paying for fishing rights in waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The PNA’s “vessel day scheme” (VDS) now enforces a minimum payment of US$6,000 per fishing day, providing ever-greater financial benefits to island members. And at the end of 2013, PNA began successfully marketing internationally certified sustainably caught skipjack in Europe, generating a premium price for the product.

   The United States government and its purse seine fishing industry have tripled what they are paying for fishing rights in waters of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). THE PNA’s “vessel day scheme” (VDS) now enforces a minimum payment of US$6,000 per fishing day, providing ever-greater financial benefits to island members. And at the end of 2013, PNA began successfully marketing internationally certified sustainably caught skipjack in Europe, generating a premium price for the product.

MAJURO, MARSHALL ISLANDS, 2 MAY 2016: The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) today announced the winners of the PNA World Tuna Day Art and Talent Quest.

Jasmine Mendiola from Federated States of Micronesia won the First Prize and $USD3000 for her poem entitled “Teach Your Children” which tells of each generation learning about the need to conserve tuna.

MONDAY 2 DECEMBER 2013: As the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) opened today, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) said foreign fishing nations need to take responsibility for overfishing of bigeye tuna.

“PNA wants foreign fishing nations to cut their longline fishing and share the burden of conservation at this week’s meeting in Cairns,” said PNA CEO Dr Transform Aqorau

A proposal by Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) member Marshall Islands, backed by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), would require the Tuna Commission members to account for the impact of their actions on Small Island Developing States.

The proposal will be discussed at the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in Cairns this week.

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) said that overfishing of sashimi fish bigeye tuna would continue because of the opposition of some foreign fishing nations to purse seine fishing cuts on the high seas, as the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) meeting closed late today.