nearshore fisheries development and …coastfish.spc.int/news/fish_news/119/nearshore_119.pdf ·...

NEARSHORE FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING SECTION

19SPC Fisheries Newsletter #119 – October/December 2006

SPC ACTIVITIES

Third Sea Safety bulletin published

The third edition of the SPC SeaSafety Special Interest Group bul-letin was published and distrib-uted in October 2006. This bul-letin is prepared by theNearshore FisheriesDevelopment andTraining Section andproduced with finan-cial assistance fromFrance through theFrench Pacific Fund.

There is some excel-lent material in thisbulletin, and we drawyour attention to thelead article in theSafety Feature sectionregarding the ratifica-tion of the Torremoli-nos Protocol and theSTCW-F Convention.As noted in the arti-cle, there is a real pos-sibility for PacificIsland countries(PICs) to act collec-tively in the ratifica-tion and adoption ofthese important docu-ments, in the interestsof promoting com-mon safety standards,saving lives and pre-venting accidents. This requiresthe development of politicalwill to take responsible steps,within an international frame-work, with respect to safety

issues: this is a task for all withan interest in preventing acci-dents and loss of life at sea.

Readers will also enjoy the con-tribution from Simon Reid onthe New Zealand FishSAFE ini-tiative, which has been a multi-agency commitment to address-

ing work safety issues at anindividual boat level. This is anexcellent initiative that is prov-ing very successful and which

could be appliedmore widely in theregion. Thanks aredue to John Swamyfor his summary ofthe EU-funded seasafety programmefor increasing safetyawareness amongartisanal fishermenin the tsunami-affected districts ofNagapattinam andCuddalore, TamilNadu, India.

This edition of thebulletin also exam-ines some importantaspects of marinecommunica t ions ,with a summary ofthe new GPIRB anda discussion of thepros and cons ofmobile phones.

The group coordina-tor and bulletin edi-tor, Hugh Walton,encourages group

members and readers to sharp-en their pencils or sit down attheir keyboard and send in safe-ty-related stories and articles.

Third regional course for fishing vessel skippers held in Nelson

As part of SPC’s efforts to pro-mote economically viable PacificIsland fishing enterprises withina sustainable ecosystem context,the Nearshore FisheriesDevelopment and TrainingSection has recently coordinatedthe third regional course forcommercial fishing skippers inNelson, New Zealand.

From 9–20 October 2006, 11 fishingvessel skippers were trained onvessel operation management andelectronic aids at the New ZealandSchool of Fisheries of the NelsonMarlborough Institute of Techno-logy (NMIT). The course wasfunded by SPC and the EU-DEV-FISH Project (see section below“2006 Tuna Skippers Course inNelson” for more detail).

During the first week of thecourse, SPC Fisheries Develop-ment Officer, William Sokimi,was in Nelson to act as aresource person, network withcourse participants, and pro-vide input into course delivery.His extensive background intuna longlining in the Pacificregion significantly helped toenhance the group cohesion.

20 SPC Fisheries Newsletter #119 – October/December 2006

SPC ACTIVITIES

William was replaced by SPCFisheries Training Adviser, TeriiLuciani, for the second week ofthe course.

COURSE CONTENT ANDTRAINING METHODOLOGY

The course programme wasdeveloped around two generalthemes, “Fishing Vessel Manage-ment” and “Electronic Aids forFishing Operations”.

Fishing Vessel Managementcovered four subject areas:

• Introduction to Computers(computer keyboard, gettingstarted with Word forWindows, using email andthe Internet),

• Vessel Economics (factorsaffecting vessel profitability),

• Organisation and Planning(vessel turn-around and in-

port efficiencies, port infra-structure and vessel mainte-nance, crew management andtraining, seafood handlingand quality, access to satelliteinformation for fishing), and

• Compliance and Protocols(International maritime law,MARPOL and SOLAS, vesselinsurance, skipper’s respon-sibilities, introduction toHACCP principles, vesselsafety management systems).

Under the theme Electronic Aidsfor Fishing, a range of equip-ment was introduced and practi-cal training was given in theiruse, based on participants' needsand the time available (ARPARadar, GPS/Plotter, weather faxand Sea Surface Temperatures,Inmarsat C, EPIRBs, VesselMonitoring Systems, echosounders, sonar, etc.).

The course was designed tobuild on participants’ existingskills and assist with areas whereindividual participants lackexpertise. Because participantswere from differing back-grounds and had different levelsof knowledge and experiences,the course was operated in a par-ticipatory manner and formallecturing was kept to a mini-mum. Where appropriate, learn-ing was achieved by sharingexperiences and small-groupdiscussions. Some sessions werealso conducted by carefullyselected guest speakers.

On the last day of the course,trainees were asked to under-take a formal evaluation of thecourse. Overall, the third region-al course was a success. In addi-tion to developing useful profes-sional networks in the NewZealand fishing industry, partic-ipants gained many new ideasand knowledge that will helpthem better manage their fishingvessels and, hopefully, improvetheir financial profitability.Top: Tour of the F/V Daniel Solander

Bottom: Geared up for the factory tour


SPC ACTIVITIES

2006 tuna skippers course in Nelson, New Zealand

The third regional course onVessel Operation Managementand Electronic Aids for Commer-cial Fishing Skippers began witha powhiri, or welcome, at Wakatumarae. The day continued withan orientation tour and an intro-duction to the computers in theseminar room. William Sokimi(SPC) and Mike Wells, a NewZealand longline skipper withconsiderable fishing experiencein the Pacific, were introducedto the group, comprising tenskippers from eight PacificIsland countries. Luckily theweather held out for the eveningwelcome barbeque where skip-pers met the staff from theSchool of Fisheries.

It was immediately apparentthat there was a wide variationin people’s familiarity with com-puters. So, for the remainder ofthe course, and where applica-ble, considerable emphasis wasplaced on the benefits of usingthis technology to improve fish-ing performance. Initially thisrevolved around exercises usingthe Fishing Profitability soft-ware developed by SPC.Tuesday finished with an after-noon discussion led by Williamand Mike on “Fishing Technolo-gy: Challenges and Perspec-tives”, where the experience ofthese two presenters quicklysharpened people’s mindsregarding the real issues facingPacific Island tuna fishermen.Cutting costs through efficien-cies and improving quality wereestablished as key goals.

John Cleal, Managing Directorof Fishing Vessel ManagementServices led the Wednesdaymorning discussion on vesselmanagement. William and Mikelater expanded on this, leadingthe group in a workshop on“What makes a good skipper?”.The afternoon saw a completechange of pace and it was downto the fire station and theBreathing Apparatus Training

building for an afternoonrefresher on fire prevention andcontrol with Mike Evans. Herethe emphasis was on crew famil-iarity and drills, and the role ofthe skipper in ensuring crew areready and capable should a firebreak out on board.

No matter how good a fisher-man is at catching fish, the jobisn’t over until the fish is soldfor the best price possible onthat day. In terms of quality, it’sall down hill after the fishcomes on board unless every-one involved understands theimportance of personal and ves-sel hygiene, and correct fishhandling, processing and careof the catch. Cushla Hogarthtook the group through HACCPprocedures and the need fordocumented quality systems.William discussed tuna loiningand the challenges involved,and Grant MacDonald talkedabout freezing and refrigera-tion. Once again, MacCureSeafoods welcomed the groupto their plant where the groupwas able to see how this compa-ny puts into practice the pointsthat had been covered byCushla earlier in the day.

John Cleal has had a closeinvolvement with getting theNZ fishing industry owner-operators to adopt FishSafe sohe was chosen to lead Friday’sdiscussion on vessel safetymanagement systems. In thefollowing workshop, the skip-pers that were present were ledthrough the process of putting ahazard identification plan intoaction on their own vessels.Friday came to a very pleasantclose at Solander Fisherieswhere Paul and James Huffletthosted lunch. The group theninspected a shipment of chilledmahimahi which had arrivedfrom Fiji earlier that day, beforegoing to the wharf and closelyinspecting the longline vesselF/V Daniel Solander.

After such a busy week it wastime to get on the water andrelax with Martin Holmes on hischarter vessel Marie Antoinetta.Unfortunately, the scallops werefew and far between so after get-ting enough for a taste, wereturned to Nelson whereViliami Langi and the localPacific Island community hadorganised a barbeque.

The final week concentrated onvessel electronics, and partici-pants started off with a look atSky Eye, a satellite-basedweather information system.Tutors Phil Pinniger and RogerWincer led several familiarisa-tion sessions on standardwheelhouse electronics, with aspecial emphasis on trou-bleshooting. On Tuesday morn-ing, we met John Cleal at theport for a practical session onimplementing a hazard identifi-cation programme. Three localfishermen had made their long-line vessels available so that thegroup was able to look overthese boats and put their knowl-edge into practice.

The next day, Mike Wells andPaul Hufflett introduced theOrb Image software and Paulexplained how Solander uses itto manage their fleet of longlin-ers based in Suva. Mike pointedout some of the finer points —from the fisherman’s point ofview — and by the end of thesession, all had learned a littlemore about how satellite-basedinformation systems could helpimprove fishing efficiency andreduce fuel costs.

With the week drawing to aclose it was time to head toMotueka to visit Talley’s fish-eries processing facility. Afterthe return to Nelson and lunch,tutor Joost Besier talked to thegroup about Bridge ResourceManagement from a fishingskipper’s point of view. The daywas rounded off with the


SPC ACTIVITIES

evening farewell function andpresentation of certificates byPaul Hufflett.

On Friday morning, BrianFossett took the group for a seasafety and survival session thatincluded a flare demonstrationand discussion on the impor-

tance of crew drills before thecourse wrapup in the afternoon.All the participants felt that thecourse had been worthwhile,with something for everyoneand a good mix of refreshertraining and new material. Itprovided an excellent opportu-nity for companies to showcase

some new products and it gavetutors at the School of Fisheriesa greater appreciation of someof the issues currently facingfishermen in the Pacific.

DEVFISH project activity

Development of Tuna Fisheries inthe Pacific-ACP States Project(DEVFISH), which is jointlyimplemented by the Forum Fish-eries Agency and SPC, continuedto undertake activities in its sec-ond-year work programme. Theperiod October–December 2006accounts for the second quarter ofthe second-year work programme.

3RD SUB-REGIONAL INDUSTRYWORKSHOP, MAJURO,MARSHALL ISLANDS

One regionally focused activityof the project was facilitatingprivate sector exchanges andinteractions. The approach con-vened countries in sub-regionalgroupings that reflected theirlocations and similarities inscopes and types of tuna indus-try operation in countries.

The first sub-regional workshopwas for the Polynesian countriesand was held in Apia, Samoa inApril 2006. The second work-shop was for the Melanesiancountries, and was held in Suva,Fiji in September 2006.

The last sub-regional meetingwas held in Majuro, Republic ofMarshall Islands from 7–9November 2006. The meetingbrought together representativesof the fishing industry, fisher-men’s associations, managers ofleading tuna fishing companies,as well as government officialsinvolved in tuna fisheries man-agement and development fromthe Federated States of Micro-nesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands,

Nauru, Palau and Tuvalu. Thefocus of this meeting was on thetuna fisheries of the Micronesiancountries and Tuvalu.

Participants discussed a rangeof issues relating to the manage-ment of the region’s tuna stocks,and development issues affect-ing domestic tuna fishingindustries in their countries.

Participants expressed concernover the status of the region’stuna stocks, noting that bigeyeand yellowfin tuna are at risk ofbecoming overfished in theregion, mainly due to large-scale foreign fishing efforts.They further stressed the needfor the fishery to be managed soas to maximize economic bene-fits to Pacific Island countries,

while ensuring long-term sus-tainability of the resource. Theneed for up-to-date nationalstock assessments to comple-ment the region-wide picturewas emphasised, and partici-pants also noted the need for aclearer understanding of thestock assessment models usedand the limitations of data.

Participants discussed a rangeof policy issues affecting thetuna industry and highlightedthe need to address issues suchas fuel costs, airfreight, invest-ment policies, and tax, reformnoting that some of these couldbe handled on a sub-regionalbasis. The importance of fullconsultation with all stakehold-ers was emphasised and it wasnoted that there may be a need

Visit to the Marshall Islands Fishing Venture (MIFV)


SPC ACTIVITIES

to restructure government fish-eries administrations to be moreresponsive to developmentneeds. Participants also notedthe need for short-term meas-ures to assist the industry toovercome difficulties associatedwith low fish prices andincreased operating costs, par-ticularly costs arising fromincreasing fuel prices.

Participants noted the impor-tance of market access andrequested that more detailedinformation on specific marketopportunities be gathered anddisseminated by the ForumFisheries Agency (FFA). It wasagreed that a study on recentdevelopments in the Japanesetuna food products marketwould be of benefit.

The meeting emphasised thekey role for FFA in helpingmember countries to meet obli-gations under the Western andCentral Pacific FisheriesConvention, and stressed theneed for industry participationin meetings and discussions ofnational positions. The impor-tance of forthcoming discus-sions on allocation was high-lighted and the need for PacificIsland countries to be preparedto defend the interests of localand locally based fisheries wasemphasised.

Participants discussed the pro-posed Fisheries PartnershipAgreement with the EuropeanUnion and, while acknowledg-ing its potential to assist indus-try development, noted the

need for greater consultationwith local industry personnel.

Participants identified a num-ber of priorities for action byregional organisations to facili-tate the development of domes-tic fishing industries. DEVFISHwill take the lead in followingup and implementing some ofthe meeting recommendations.

Detailed updates and reports ofall project activities can beviewed at:

www.ffa.int/DEVFISH

Fisheries Development Officer, Steve Beverly, visits Port Moresby,Papua New Guinea to deploy FADs

Fisheries Development Officer(FDO), Steve Beverly, spentOctober to December 2006 inPNG, providing technical assis-tance to the domestic tuna long-line industry and coordinatingthe rigging and deployment ofsix FADs for local artisanal andsports fishermen.

THE FAD PROJECT

The FAD project in Papua NewGuinea's (PNG's) CentralProvince came about as a resultof talks between SPC, WorldBank, PNG National FisheriesAuthority (NFA), the EuropeanUnion Rural Coastal FisheriesDevelopment Project (RCFDP),PNG Central ProvincialFisheries, and the Port MoresbyGame Fishing Club (PMGFC).SPC had previously deployed aFAD at one of the sites usedduring the current project1. TheFAD had been deployed south-west of Daugo Island for the

artisanal fishermen living onthe island. The FAD proved tobe very successful, havingstayed on station for threeyears. The same site was re-sur-veyed during the current proj-ect, as it proved to be a popularsite for both artisanal and sportfishermen. Steve Beverlyworked with Peter Cusack, aFisheries Development Adviserat SPC during the 1992 FADproject. Mr Cusack initiatedtalks between all interested par-ties and SPC to organise the cur-rent project.

FAD materials were providedby the Port Moresby GameFishing Club and the EuropeanUnion. Some of the materials(ropes) were on hand from aprevious FAD project carriedout by the PMGFC. Floats forthe Indian Ocean rafts wereordered from New Zealand andTaiwan, while some of the othermaterial was sourced in Port

Moresby, including stainlesssteel cable, cable grips, ferrulesfor crimping cables, plasticsheathing for the cables, and theforklift counter weights.Wooden boxes were fabricatedin Port Moresby for storage anddeployment of the FAD moor-ing ropes.

FAD SITE SURVEYS

After discussions with PMGFC,RCFDP, and Central ProvincialFisheries, it was decided that sixFADs would be deployed at dif-ferent sites. The sites to be sur-veyed — going from southeastof Port Moresby to northwest —included Round Hill Passage,Gabagaba (aka Kapakapa),Pyramid Point Passage, south ofDaugo Island (Daugo B), south-west of Daugo Island (DaugoA), and Idihi Light. The chartused for reference was Aus 505Port Moresby to Hood Point.

1 Beverly S. and Cusack P. 1993. Report of a pilot fish aggregation device (FAD) deployment off Port Moresby, Papua NewGuinea, 27 June–8 August 1992. Secretariat of the Pacific Community.


SPC ACTIVITIES

The FAD survey boats were allsports fishing boats belonging toPMGFC members. The time onthe boats was donated, one cap-tain (PMGFC member) camealong on most surveys, and fuelwas provided by PMGFC. SPCprovided a Furuno GP-1610CFGPS with plotter and a FurunoFCV-1100L colour echo sounderfor the surveys. The echosounder transducer was mount-ed in a portable aluminiumhousing that was bolted to apiece of re-enforcing timber (Fig.1) that was in turn lashed to thevessel’s starboard side. Themonitors for the GPS and echosounder were mounted on apiece of plywood that was thenmounted in the boat’s cabin. Theecho sounder had a 28 kHztransducer and 3 kilowatts ofpower, enabling it to reachdepths in excess of 3000 m, farbelow the depths sought duringthe surveys. Surveys were car-ried out following guidelines inSPC’s FAD manual2. On all of thesurveys, National FisheriesCollege (NFC) Master Fisherman,Samol Kaniwa, steered the boat,following lines of latitude andtravelling either east or west at0.25-nm intervals, while the SPCFisheries Development Officerobserved the lines of longitudeon the GPS and recorded depthsfrom the echo sounder at 0.25-nm intervals. Surveys were con-ducted in roughly 2 x 3 nm rec-tangular areas. Afterwards, thedata were plotted on plottingsheets, contour lines were drawnat 100-m intervals, and the bestFAD sites were selected.

FAD RIGGING

After the surveys were complet-ed, six FADs were rigged. All ofthe FAD rafts were rigged asIndian Ocean FADs followingthe most current design, andconsisted of strings of alternat-ing hard plastic and soft foamfloats (Fig. 2). The upper moor-

ing consisted of 250 m of 8 mm7 x 19 stainless steel flex wire(following the design used inNew Caledonia by MarineMarchande – Philippe Simonipers. comm.). The wire wasclosed at either end by aFlemish eye sealed with two fer-rules and three stainless steelcable grips. The portion of cablethreaded through the floats wassheathed in PVC tubing.

The moorings were rigged sothat the entire length — cable,rope, and chain — would beapproximately 120% of the sitedepth. Four of the sites were inthe 1000 to 1100 m range sothese moorings were made withfive coils of polypropylene (1100m), 250 m of cable, and 10 m ofchain. Total length was 1360 m,or about 123% of the site depthsof 1100 m. Two of the sites were750 m deep. The moorings for

2 Chapman L.B., Bertram I., Beverly S. and Sokimi W. 2005. Manual on fish aggregating devices (FADs): Lower-costmoorings and programme management. Secretariat of the Pacific Community.

Figure 1 (top): Echo sounder transducer in portable housing

Figure 2 (bottom): Six Indian Ocean FAD rafts riggedand ready to deploy


SPC ACTIVITIES

these sites were made withthree coils of polypropylene(660 m), 250 m of cable, and 10m of chain. Total length was 920m, or 122% of the site depth.

The coils of rope were uncoiledusing a turntable made from anold office chair (Fig. 3). Theywere flaked out directly intowooden boxes made especiallyfor the moorings. After the coilswere spliced together using dou-

ble splices, eyes were spliced intoeach end. The eye splices werewhipped using 3 mm three-strand nylon. Nylite rope con-nectors were attached to the twoends of each rope for connectionsto swivels. All hardware at thetop end was stainless steel whileall hardware at the bottom endwas galvanised low carbon steel.

The anchors for the six FADs allconsisted of discarded counter-

weights from forklifts (Fig. 4).This is the same type of anchorthat was used in the 1992 FADdeployment off Daugo Islandand might have had somethingto do with the longevity of thatparticular FAD. Forklift counter-weights are virtually indestruc-tible and they weigh in excess of1.5 t. The anchor chains werethreaded through holes in thecounter weights and shackledback onto themselves.

In lieu of flagpoles, old discard-ed longline radio buoys wereused as markers. These wereattached directly to the cablesvia a Flemish eye. The radioswere removed and the compart-ments and the antennas weresealed and glued in place toavoid pilferage. Flags were fab-ricated from orange plasticsheets and attached to the radiobuoy antennas with plasticcable ties. All shackles and cablegrips on the upper mooringwere tack-welded with stainlesssteel rod. To avoid chaffing ofthe rope portion of the mooringon the bottom, two pressurefloats were spliced onto therope several hundred metresabove the anchor chain. Thisgave the floating rope enoughadditional floatation to lift sev-eral metres of chain off the bot-tom and to prevent the ropefrom touching the bottom.Figure 5 shows the basic config-uration of the six FADs.

DEPLOYMENTS

The vessel used for deployingthe six FADs was the coastalcargo barge, M/V Agutoi Chief(Fig. 6). Prior to departure, allmaterials were loaded in a par-tially assembled state. For safe-ty, final connections were madeafter the materials were loadedonto the vessel. The FAD raftswere connected to the upperends of the mooring ropes withstainless steel shackles andswivels, the galvanised anchorchains were connected to theforklift counterweights with

Figure 3 (top): Samol’s rope turntablemade from an old office chair

Figure 4 (bottom): Forklift counterweightsused for FAD anchors


SPC ACTIVITIES

Figure 5 (top right): Basicconfiguration of the six FADs

Figure 6 (middle left): M/VAgutoi Chief just after

deploying a FAD

Figure 7 (bottom right): All sixFAD moorings laid out ondeck ready to be deployed

galvanised shackles, and theanchor chains were connectedto the lower ends of the FADmooring ropes with galvanisedshackles and swivels. All shack-les were safety wired with stain-less steel wire. All shackles andcable grips on the upper ends ofthe moorings were tack welded.The FADs were laid out in orderof deployment, with theanchors sitting just behind theboxes containing the FADmooring ropes, and the upperFAD moorings sitting just infront of the rope boxes (Fig. 7)

All six FADs were deployedusing the raft method as out-lined in the SPC FAD manual3.Plots were drawn with way-points east and west of theintended sites and on theintended sites. As the vessel

approached the FAD surveyarea it slowed to about 3 kt. Thevessel then steamed in an easter-ly direction going into the windand current on the west side ofthe intended FAD site. The FADraft was then deployed at a dis-tance equal to two-thirds of thetotal length of the FAD mooringaway from the intended FADsite. This was the first waypoint.The second waypoint was theintended site. The third way-point was at a distance equal toone-third the length of themooring away from the intend-ed site. This is where the FADanchor was to be deployed. Foreach FAD site these waypointswere entered into the plotter asmarks. The vessel captain wasdirected to steer along a west-east line along these marks onthe GPS plotter. As the first way-

point was reached the FisheriesDevelopment Officer instructedthe deck crew to deploy the raft.The vessel continued steamingand the upper cable and moor-ing rope were paid out. When allof the mooring was paid out thevessel had crossed over the sec-ond waypoint and wasapproaching the third. The FAD

3 Chapman L., Pasisi B., Bertram I., Beverly S. and Sokimi W. 2005. Manual on fish aggregating devices (FADs): lower-cost moorings and programme management. Secretariat of the Pacific Community.


SPC ACTIVITIES

anchor was deployed close tothe third waypoint. The vesselstopped for the anchor deploy-ment. The anchor was liftedusing the ship’s boom, andswung out over the rail. A crew-man armed with a machete thencut a sacrificial rope allowingthe anchor to fall freely (Fig. 8).With a bit of luck the anchorsshould have landed near theintended sites. Position checksjust after deployments indicatedthat all six FADs were on themark.

Positions of the six FADs were:

Round Hill FAD: 09º58.75’S and147º27.00’E in 750 m;

Gabagaba FAD: 09º49.75’S and147º22.00’E in 750 m;

Pyramid FAD: 09º37.00’S and147º13.00’E in 1100 m;

Daugo B FAD: 09º34.25’S and147º01.00’E in 1100 m;

Daugo A FAD: 09º32.50’S and146º57.75’E in 1100 m; and

Idihi Light FAD: 09º29.75’S and146º46.00’E in 1100 m.

Figure 9 shows one of the sixFADs just after deployment.

This FAD project was not a sim-ple SPC field project. It was acooperative endeavour thatcould not have happened with-out the contributions of variouspeople and organisations. TheWorld Bank provided expertise.PMGFC and the EU’s RCFDPprovided funding for all FADmaterials and assistance duringthe deployments. NFA providedaccommodation for the Fish-eries Development Officer forhis entire stay in Port Moresby.PMGFC provided a vehicle andfuel to the Fisheries Develop-ment Officer for his entire timein Port Moresby. PMGFC alsoprovided the use of the threeFAD survey vessels, fuel for thesurveys, meals for the surveys

Figure 8 (top): Cutting the anchor free

Figure 9 (bottom): One of the PNG FADs just after deployment

and deployments and manyman hours of help during thesurveys and deployments. SBSElectrical provided materialsand logistical support. MoorePrinting provided a warehousefor rigging and storing the FADmoorings. The Bump Shop fab-ricated the six wood boxes usedfor storing and deploying theFAD ropes, and they fabricatedSamol’s rope turntable. TheBump Shop also recovered anddelivered all of the forkliftcounter-weights. Steamship’s

Shipping provided the use ofthe deployment vessel, M/VAgutoi Chief. And finally, NFCprovided the services of SamolKaniwa, and Kaius Mai, whoboth worked hard during theproject and helped to make it asuccess.

All six FAD deployments weresuccessful and without mishap.The deployments were carriedout on 13 and 14 December2006. Unfortunately, it wasreported by members of the


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PMGFC that some of the FADshad been vandalised soon afterdeployment. This sad notespoiled what was otherwise amodel FAD project. This hap-pened in spite of a publicawareness programme that wascarried out by the RCFDP thatincluded a live radio broadcastthe day after the last threedeployments. For any future

FAD deployments in theCentral Province it may be bet-ter to rig and deploy a FAD sim-ilar to the FAD deployed in1992. This FAD was a spar buoyFAD with a heavy duty chainfor the upper mooring andheavy duty double sheathed 32mm rope (Samson Braid) for therope portion of the mooring.This may have accounted for

the longevity of this FAD. Itstayed on station three yearsand produced noticeable bene-fits for the fishing community,including artisanal fishermenand sports fisherman alike.Another option to consider inthe future would be the deploy-ment of sub-surface FADs.

In Brief

• As part of a two-monthassignment in Papua NewGuinea (PNG), FisheriesDevelopment Officer (FDO),Steve Beverly, looked at thedomestic longline fishery inorder to advise on improve-ments to increase profitabili-ty and sustainability. Threelongline companies wereexamined, Sanko BussanPNG, Fare well Investments,and Latitude 8. Betweenthem they operate a fleet ofaround 30 tuna longliners.These three companies hadbeen experiencing losses andwere having difficultiesoperating profitably due to anumber of factors, includingrising fuel and airfreightcosts, decreasing marketvalue for export fish, anddecreasing catch rates.Several boats were looked atin this brief study, includingboats from each company.Off-loading and processingwas also viewed from allthree companies. The Fish-eries Development Officer,however, only went on onefishing trip. A number ofproblems were identifiedwith the vessel and thisinformation has been passedon to the National FisheriesAuthority in a formal report.Airfreight availability andcost have always been aproblem for PNG longlinefisheries. The cost of airfreighting fresh tuna to for-eign markets is often equal to

half the total revenue fromfish sales, and cargo space isoften hard to find. One wayto avoid the dependency onairfreight is to producefrozen value-added productsthat can be exported by seafreight. One option to be con-sidered is producing value-added products on boardvessels. In order to do this,however, new vessels wouldbe needed for the fishery.

• In November 2006, FisheriesDevelopment and TrainingAdviser, Michel Blanc, tookpart in a joint mission toTokelau with representativesof SPC and other Council ofRegional Organisations inthe Pacific (CROP) and UNagencies. The purpose of thatvisit — a first in the region —was to receive first-handexposure to the challengesfaced by Tokelauan commu-nities. Visits were made tothe three atolls of Atafu,Nukunonu and Fakaofo, andto prepare the developmentof a CROP/UN Joint Strategyof Support for Tokelau forthe period 2007–2009. In thearea of marine resources,such integrated assistancemay cover a number of areasincluding the managementof inshore resources (stockassessments and manage-ment advice to follow up onthe study undertaken by thePacific Regional EnvironmentProgramme SPREP in 2003),

the provision of alternativesto reduce the fishing pres-sure on inshore resourcesand the development of asmall-scale commercial tunafisheries sector (establish-ment of FAD programme,sea safety training and localvalue-adding). As anotherfollow up to the Novembermission, it is expected thatSPC and the Forum FisheriesAgency (FFA) will jointlyundertake in March 2007 afeasibility study of commer-cial tuna longlining. TheJoint Strategy of Support forTokelau should be presentedto the Tokelauan governmentby April 2007.

• In keeping with the spirit ofthe Ecosystem Approach toFisheries, several sectionswithin SPC's Coastal Fish-eries Programme are imple-menting, in close collabora-tion with the Nauru Fish-eries and Marine ResourcesAuthority, an interestingproject that may improve thewell-being of communitiesin Nauru. Starting in March2007 with a four-week canoebuilding workshop for theNauru Fisheries and MarineResources Authority (NFMRA)staff and prospective boatbuilders, the project willdeploy a number of inshorefish aggregating devices(FADs) — several innovativedesigns will be experiment-ed with — and a series of


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workshops on safe canoehandling and FAD-associat-ed fishing methods. A pro-fessional boat builder willsupervise the canoe buildingworkshop (four one-manKIR-7 canoes will be con-structed), while SPC Fish-eries Development Officer,William Sokimi, will assistNFMRA staff with FADdeployments and follow upFAD fishing skills work-shops. Two communitieshave been identified byNFMRA and the SPC CoastalFisheries Management Sectionwill be involved in the proj-ect as part of their communi-ty-based fisheries manage-ment plan. NFMRA willmonitor the use of the proj-ect canoes and inshore-FADsin collaboration with theconcerned communities. Ifsuccessful, the canoe/inshoreFAD concept will be export-ed to other coastal communi-ties in Nauru. This project isfunded by the governmentof Taiwan/ROC, the DEV-FISH project, and the Near-shore Fisheries Developmentand Training Section.

• The Nearshore FisheriesDevelopment and TrainingSection, the Service de laMarine Marchande et desPêches Maritimes of NewCaledonia and turtle expertMike McCoy will soon beimplementing a turtlebycatch mitigation project inNew Caledonia. The objec-tives of the project are to 1)heighten awareness of seaturtle interactions with fish-ing gear by familiarizingcommercial fishing opera-tors in New Caledonia andfishery observers and staff ofthe government Service de laMarine Marchande et desPêches Maritimes with tech-niques of handling sea tur-tles caught incidentally tofishing operations, 2) pro-vide appropriate equipmentand instructions to the fish-

ing industry on how toaddress specific sea turtleinteractions with commer-cial fishing gear, 3) collectbaseline data on interactionsbetween sea turtles and tunafishing vessels in New Cale-donia, 4) integrate appropri-ate topics in sea turtle inter-action with commercial fish-ing into the ongoing workprogrammes of MarineMarchande, the École desMétiers de la Mer (local fish-eries training institution)and SPC, and 5) enhancecooperation among the dif-ferent government and non-governmental organisationsinvolved in fisheries man-agement and turtle conser-vation, locally and regional-ly. The project will consist ofa series of training work-shops and meetings in thetwo ports from which thetuna longline industry oper-ates in New Caledonia:Noumea, in the SouthernProvince, and Koumac, inthe Northern Province. Eachworkshop will be conductedby the outside consultant,with assistance from SPCpersonnel. Presentations onthe importance of reducingsea turtle interactions andmortality from the stand-point of the commercial fish-ing industry will be made,and mortality mitigationpractices and devicesexplained. Individual infor-mational meetings will alsobe held with the staff ofMarine Marchande and sen-ior management at the vari-ous firms engaged in tunalongline fishing in NewCaledonia. A separate work-shop will be held for MarineMarchande staff and onboardfishery observers. Observerswill be trained in mortalitymitigation techniques,record-keeping, and aspectsof fishery management andsea turtle conservation rele-vant to the topic of sea turtlebycatch. A training syllabus

to be used in this and futuretraining in New Caledoniawill be produced with assis-tance from the outside con-sultant. The project, which isfunded by the US NationalOceanic and AtmosphericAdministration Fisheries’Pacific Islands RegionalOffice (PIRO), will run fromMarch to April 2007.

• In addition to the above proj-ect on turtle bycatch mitiga-tion, the Section’s inputs intothe New Caledonian fish-eries sector also include tech-nical assistance to thedomestic tuna longlineindustry. Early in 2007, Fish-eries Development OfficerSteve Beverly will make atrip on each vessel owned byNavimon to observe fishingand fish handling practices,provide on-the-job trainingto vessel skippers, andadvise on ways to improvethe profitability of the vessel.It is envisaged that theFisheries Development Offi-cer will undertake a total offive to six two-week-longfishing trips from Februaryto May 2007. Vessel-specific

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findings will be presented toNavimon’s senior manage-ment staff immediately aftereach trip, while the moregeneral recommendationswill be included in the end-of-project report. The gov-ernment of New Caledoniahas requested the NearshoreFisheries Development andTraining Section to conduct a

training workshop on mid-water fishing methodsaround FADs for staff of localfisheries institutions. Theworkshop will be held inLifou (Loyalty Islands) and istentatively scheduled inOctober 2007. Meanwhile,Section staff will assist localauthorities with the orderingof fishing gear and bait for

the fishing workshop and tri-als. It is expected that, afterthe initial workshop, a num-ber of commercial fishermenwill continue using the FADfishing methods (mainly ver-tical longlining), with theirfishing activities and catchesmonitored by the provincialfisheries administration.

National workshop on the Community-based Fisheries Management Programme

A five-day workshop was con-ducted 26–30 June 2006 inNauru. The aim of the work-shop was to train participants infacilitating community meet-ings regarding the developmentof community fisheries manage-ment plans, and to raise aware-ness among district representa-tives on coastal fisheries man-agement initiatives.

The workshop was opened bythe Acting Chairman of theNFMRA, Mr Cyril Buramen. Inhis opening remarks, MrBuramen highlighted theimportance of inshore fisheriesresources for food security, andhe appealled to communities tobecome involved in manage-ment and conservation. In con-clusion, Mr Buramen highlight-ed the need for Nauruans toincrease their use of marineresources, especially inshoreresources, for food security andfamily incomes.

The workshop attracted 41 par-ticipants, of which, 29 were rep-resentatives from the 14 districtsin Nauru, and 12 from NFMRA.

DEVELOPING MENENG’S COASTALFISHERIES MANAGEMENT PLAN

Nauru's Meneng community —through their representative atthe national workshop —requested NFMRA to establish acommunity-based fisheries

management programme intheir district. Consultationswith the district executive com-mittees and the district commu-nities began in August 2006. InSeptember, the first draft of theFisheries Management Plan wasproduced.

FISHERIES LEGISLATION REVIEW

In addition to establishing acoastal fisheries managementprogramme that involves localcommunities, the CoastalFisheries Management Sectionwas also requested by NFMRAto assist with the review of thefisheries legislation. The call fora review was viewed byNFMRA as an essential compo-nent of its efforts to manage thecountry's coastal fisheriesresources.

In September 2006, the CoastalFisheries Management Adviserand a Nauruan legal consultantbegan initial consultations toreview and develop Nauru’sfisheries legislation. The decisionto select a local lawyer was sothat the team had someoneonboard who was familiar withthe issues and local situation. MrLeo Keke was selected as part ofthe SPC team to develop Nauru’scoastal fisheries legislation.

Extensive consultations withstakeholders, including govern-ment departments, corpora-

tions, NGOs and local commu-nities were carried out by theteam in order to gather informa-tion and gain wider perceptionin developing a legal frame-work for coastal fisheries man-agement. A meeting with repre-sentatives from the 14 districtswas also called to advise themof the coastal fishery legislationand to seek their advice. Quite anumber of the community rep-resentatives that had attendedthe national workshop alsoattended the meeting. Severalfew questions were asked aboutempowering local communitieswith manageing their respectivefishing areas.

THE DRAFT COASTAL FISHERIESMANAGEMENT BILL

The assignment concluded withthe team producing a draft billwith provisions, including pro-posed regulations and fisheriesby-laws that are now goingthrough more reviews andrefinements before submissionto NFMRA for considerationand presentation to the neces-sary authorities for approval.

nearshore fisheries development and …coastfish.spc.int/news/fish_news/119/nearshore_119.pdf ·...

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