Coastal Fisheries Management challenges

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Coastal Fisheries Management challenges

• Moses J Amos, FAME, SPC

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Presentation Overview

• Coastal Fisheries management
• Major drivers
• Challenges
• Threats
• Current approach
• Key impacts of current approach
• New Song for Change
• Composition of the new Song
• Role of CROP Agencies
• Reporting and evaluation of the new Song

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Coastal fisheries management

• Unlike the industrial tuna fishery, there is no
  regional approach to coastal fisheries
  management.
• Ineffective coastal fisheries management is a
  real tragedy for the Pacific region.
• Failure of the management techniques has resulted
  in closing down of fisheries to prevent collapse
  of the resource
• Production will not expand in future.
• Production will decline and the situation will
  become worse in the future

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Major Drivers

• Population Growth

• High dependence on Fish

• Significant growth forecast in all three regions
• Highest in Melanesia
• Substantial urbanization most growth in urban
  areas
• Rural populations in Micronesia and Polynesia
  likely to decline

• Very high consumption
• Great dependence in rural areas
• Mainly subsistence
• Most fish consumed fresh
• Fish supplies most animal protein

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Challenges Food security Gap
Assume a whole snapper 25-30 cm or around
250g Plate size fish
Fish gap within 15 years
115,000 metric t of Coastal fish
460,000,000 pieces of coastal fish
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Challenges _ Livelihoods

• Very important for local incomes - provides
  around 50 of coastal households with 1st or 2nd
  source of income.

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Challenges - Patterns of Economic Development

• Many people without jobs will seek income and
  food security from harvesting of coastal
  fisheries
• Willingness to compromise tomorrows
  sustainability for todays food security and
  income

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Threat- Urbanization

• Coastal fishery resources are over-exploited,
  close to urban areas where population creates the
  greatest demand for fish

Increase population in urban areas
Higher proportion of people not having access to
sufficient fish for consumption
More coastal fish shipped in from less populous
areas
Exporting urban-type fisheries problems to rural
areas
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Threats Habitat degradation

• Coastal production depends on good habitat
• Production decline affected by habitat
  destruction or degradation
• NO HABITAT NO FISH!!

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Threat Climate Change

• Frequency of tropical cyclones
• Rising sea surface temperatures and more acidic
  oceans impacting on
• coral reefs,
• coastal habitats,
• growth and survival coastal fishery resources and
  food webs
• Changes in rainfall or sea level impacts
  migration patterns of fish affecting production
  levels

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Current Approach
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WHICH MANAGEMENT PATHWAY?
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Key Impacts of the current approach

• Limited coastal fisheries policies backed up by
  legislation to manage coastal fisheries
• Limited budget allocation to Coastal Fisheries
  management
• Limited and unfocused human resources on Coastal
  Fisheries management

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New song for Change

• A new Song for change from business as usual
  for Coastal fisheries management is urgently
  needed
• The new Song must be sang in harmony by all
  stakeholders from the same song book.

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Composition of the new Song for Change for
Coastal Fisheries Management
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The role of CROP Agencies

• Council of Regional Organisations in the Pacific
• Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS)
• Major political initiatives
• Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)
• Provide management advice on tuna fisheries and
  increasing benefits to Pacific island countries
  from tuna fishing activities
• Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment
  Programme (SPREP)
• Environmental aspects of fisheries
• University of the South Pacific (USP)
• The School of Marine Studies is involved in a
  wide range of training.
• Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)
• Most aspects of coastal fisheries and scientific
  research on tuna.

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Harmonization of CROP Agencies roles for
coastal fisheries management
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Reporting evaluation of the effectiveness of
the new Song
New SONG
FFC
HOF9
SPC CRGA
FFC MIN
PIF/POC
PIF LEADERS
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Thank youMerci beaucoup