Delivery of studies that prepare for and support the GCF project "Adapting tuna-dependent Pacific Island communities and economies to climate change”

The GCF-funded ‘project preparation facility’ project supports 10 separate studies to be led by SPC whose outputs will contribute to the feasibility study for the larger GCF project. These range from options for increasing the supply of protein to growing Pacific Island populations, a feasibility study for scaling-up national FAD programmes, and an analysis of disaster risk reduction and management for small-scale fisheries, to the identification of financing mechanisms and supporting policies to sustain the benefits achieved through the larger GCF project.

Addressing information gaps on the effects of climate change on tuna fisheries and improving coordination between international and domestic climate change processes

The project will address known information gaps on the effects of climate change on tuna fisheries, including updating the oceanic component of the ‘Vulnerability of tropical Pacific fisheries and aquaculture to climate change’ synthesis; evaluating climate indicators; preparing WCPO and national climate report cards and ‘dashboards’; and enhancing collaboration between relevant regional and national agencies to contribute to the International Panel on Climate Change processes.

Gathering information on the growth, movements, natural mortality and fishing mortality of tuna to support conservation and management

The PTTP is a joint research project, implemented by the Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP) of the Pacific
Community (SPC). The goal of the Pacific Tuna Tagging Programme is to provide data and knowledge for stock assessment and management of skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna in the Pacific Ocean. The objectives of the PTTP are:

1. to obtain data that will contribute to, and reduce uncertainty in, WCPO tuna stock assessments including estimation of overall and local exploitation rates, extent of mixing and appropriate spatial strata for use in assessments;
2. to obtain information to better understand the interactions between tropical tuna species and major fishing gears to support development of mitigation measures (where appropriate) and better interpret fisheries data (e.g., CPUE).
Under these objectives, information collected includes age‐specific rates of movement and mixing, movement between this region and other adjacent regions of the Pacific basin, species‐specific vertical habitat utilisation by tunas, and the impacts of FADs on behaviour.

Under these objectives, information collected includes age‐specific rates of movement and mixing, movement between this region and other adjacent regions of the Pacific basin, species‐specific vertical habitat utilisation by tunas, and the impacts of FADs on behaviour.

Technical and capacity building support for tuna harvest strategy development

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is committed to implementing harvest strategies for the major tuna fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO): skipjack, bigeye, yellowfin and South Pacific albacore. SPC’s Oceanic Fisheries Programme, supported by funding from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, is providing the essential technical and capacity building support to underpin the development of the harvest strategies. The work involves developing and testing candidate management procedures using MSE (management strategy evaluation) modelling frameworks, conducting capacity building activities for member countries, and providing decision support tools to assist fisheries managers in choosing among alternative management procedures.  

Strengthening the leadership capabilities and capacities of Pacific Islands’ national and regional fisheries officials to improve the performance of national fisheries agencies and enable increased economic and food security benefits from well-managed and sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in the Pacific.

The Pacific Fisheries Leadership Programme (PFLP) is funded by the New Zealand Government and implemented by a consortium led by the Pacific Community (SPC) with the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), University of Queensland (UQ), and the Centre for Adaptive Leadership (CLA). The Pacific Fisheries Leadership Programme is an innovative and applied learning programme offering advanced leadership development and accreditation opportunities to mid-career and senior managers to address the issues facing Pacific Fisheries. Drawing on the expertise and experience of consortium members, PFLP offers an integrated, academically rigorous, and experiential learning approach to strengthen participants’ effectiveness in their roles.