LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, FEBRUARY 2012: The PNA’s Commercial Manager Maurice Brownjohn has been appointed as a fishing industry ambassador to The Prince’s Charities’ International Sustainability Unit.

OPINION ARTICLE FROM Dr Transform Aqorau, PNA Director

January 2012 is historic for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and for our Pacific region. In gaining a globally recognized eco-label, that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), the PNA fulfils its aspiration of being the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery. 

The label will apply to all skipjack tuna with documentation proving is caught without using Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS) on free schools of tuna in the open ocean. 

MEDIA RELEASE FROM MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL (MSC)

The PNA Western & Central Pacific skipjack tuna fishery (PNA skipjack fishery) has had its purse seine fishing operations (see notes) targeting free schools of skipjack tuna certified as sustainable against the MSC environmental standard for sustainable and well managed fisheries. 

SOLOMON ISLANDS, NAURU, TUVALU, MONDAY 21 NOVEMBER 2011: As 2011 comes to a close, three PNA countries have taken the bold step of closing their waters to foreign fishing vessels in order to maintain sustainable tuna fishing limits, reported the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). 

The tiny atoll nation of Tuvalu was the latest to announce it was closing its fishery last week, notifying all foreign purse seine fishing vessels they are no longer permitted to fish for tuna in Tuvalu waters. 

The Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority issued a notice to the purse-seiners of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vanuatu fishing under bilateral access agreements with NFMRA, that the limit of allowable purse-seine fishing effort for 2011 in Nauru under these arrangements has been reached.

POHNEPEI, FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA, MONDAY 10 OCTOBER 2011: If the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) recent conservation measures and the current management measure on bigeye tuna by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) continues, overfishing of bigeye tuna will discontinue, scientists said.

Overfishing of bigeye tuna, a popular sashimi fish, caught by longline fishing and as bycatch in purse seine fishing, is a problem in the region, despite healthy levels of other tunas such as skipjack tuna (commonly used for canned tuna).

This is the second Quarterly Report from the PNA Office highlighting the activities of the PNA office during the quarter. The key features of the quarter were the trading of days between the Parties, progress on the establishment of the VDS Monitoring and Information Systems, development of the Business Plan, conclusion of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of a minimum bench mark fee, consultations on the scoping of the PNA Observer Agency, and establishment of the PNA Crewing Agency (Coordination Unit).

KOROR, PALAU, WEDNESDAY 7 SEPTEMBER 2011: Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) Director Dr Transform Aqorau, in a speech to the Pacific Tuna Forum 2011, told tuna industry participants to work with the PNA or risk losing access to its rich fishing grounds.  

KOROR, PALAU, TUESDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 2011: Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) members opened the Pacific Tuna Forum 2011, a major gathering of government, industry and other stakeholders interested in Pacific tuna, with calls for greater participation of Pacific Islanders in the tuna industry.

PACIFIC ISLANDS, THURSDAY 4 AUGUST 2011: The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) today launched a unique film for management and crew onboard purse seine fishing vessels. Modeled on safety demonstration videos screened to aeroplane passengers, the new PNA video, teaches crew about the five key rules of the PNA and how to comply. It will be mandatory to view the film before setting out from port, as part of the new PNA Observer Programme.