Maximising the economic benefits to Pacific Island Nations from management of migratory tuna stocks

• University of Queensland, Australia
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community, New Caledonia
• Forum Fisheries Agency, Solomon Islands

Stocks of tuna migrate through the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of island nations in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean. The migratory nature of the tuna means that no nation has control over the tuna stocks. Over the last decade the proportion of Pacific tuna caught by island nations has risen substantially, and at the same time, the level of purse seining by distant water fishing nations has also risen significantly.

A bioeconomic model (developed in an earlier ACIAR project) of the Pacific tuna fishery has been used by the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to identify and analyse various concerns associated with increased purse seine catching. One of the negative impacts identified is that increased purse seining reduces catch of larger (older) and higher priced tuna caught by longliners and sold fresh. A second concern identified with the model is that the traditional method of charging the purse seine fleets of distant water fishing nations for access to the EEZs of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean is not maximising the flow of annual rents from tuna harvesting to island nations. A third issue is that excess vessel capacity has built up in the fleets that harvest the tuna, which has led to economic inefficiencies in harvesting.

The project is identifying and promoting strategies for Pacific Island Nations to maximise the economic benefits from their migratory tuna stocks.

The research component of the project is scheduled for completion within two years. An additional two years of modest funding is included to 'institutionalise' the work and to translate the results into practical policy implementation.

Research work will involve the FFA (fishery data and economic analysis), the SPC (bioeconomic modelling), the Department of Economics at the University of Queensland (UQ) (economic analysis and policy) and the Department of Economics and Finance at the La Trobe University (LTU) (economic analysis, game theory and modelling). Where necessary the project will update biological and economic parameters in the model, and extend the model with game theory approaches so that it can be used to determine optimal year-by-year changes in access charges and fleet capacities.

The model will be used to address optimal annual harvesting of stock over time, dependent on issues such as El Nino events, new harvesting technologies, the balance between harvesting by DWFN purse seiners and fresh tuna longliners, optimal systems for charging DWFNs for access to EEZs of the FFA, and optimal fleet capacity. A consultant with policy experience in the South Pacific tuna industry and a working knowledge of the model will help to apply the model results to practical decision-making, either through the FFA or directly with the countries involved.