Fishy business. The Social Impact of SST.pdf - Act Now!

Tuna fisheriesThe management system for the tuna fisheries is articulated in the National TunaFishery Management Plan. This plan was gazetted and brought into force in March1999.The plan states that it covers “all tuna species, and all other non-target, associatedor dependent species taken in the course of fishing for tuna”. The plan also indicatesthat the tuna species of principal interest in the PNG fisheries zone are the offshoretunas, which include skipjack Katsuwonus pelamis, yellowfin Thunnus albacares,bigeye tuna Thunnus obesus, and albacore Thunnus alalunga.Tuna are also covered under several regional management arrangements and soonto be covered under one international management arrangement. The regionalmanagement arrangements are:• the Harmonized Minimum Terms and Conditions for Foreign Fishing VesselAccess;• the Wellington Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets inthe South Pacific;• the Niue Treaty on Cooperation in Fisheries Surveillance and Law Enforcementin the South Pacific Region;• the Nauru Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Management of Fisheriesof Common Concern;• the Palau Arrangement for the Management of the Western Pacific PurseSeine Fishery; and• the FSM Arrangement for Regional Fisheries Access.PNG is a signatory to the Convention on the Conservation and Management of HighlyMigratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, but the convention isnot yet in force, nor have the details of management mechanisms been articulated.The objective of the National Tuna Fishery Management Plan is to give effect to thefisheries management objectives and principles contained in the FisheriesManagement Act 1998, and specifically to:• Maximise benefits to Papua New Guinea from sustainable use of its tunaresource;• Satisfy Papua New Guinea's regional and international obligations in regard tothe management and conservation of tuna resources, while holding thecountry's national interests paramount;209