FFC MINISTERIAL SEVENTH SESSION
APIA – SAMOA
20-21 JULY 2011

PRESS RELEASE

Fisheries Ministers from the 17 Pacific nations will meet at the  7th Session of the Forum Fisheries Committee Meeting in Apia from the 20th to the 21st July 2011. These countries consists of:

Australia, Cook Is, Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Marshall Is, Nauru, NZ, Niue, Palau, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Is, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu

The Meeting is chaired by Hon. Le Mamea Ropati, Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries of Samoa taking over the chairmanship from Papua New Guinea.

The FFC Ministerial session, is the highest decision-making body for the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency, will over the course of this session be considering, noting and approving the outcomes of the earlier Officials Forum Fisheries Committee meeting for onward transmittal/reporting to the next Forum Leaders meeting in September.

The implementing agency, the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), is based in Solomon Islands and is headed by the Director General, Tanielu Su’a.

Officials from the FFA countries  met in May here in Apia to consider submissions from the Secretariat on issues including reports on the progress of implementation of the agency’s “Statement of Intent”, outcomes of technical working groups and proposed strategic and operational interventions in fisheries management and development at the national, regional and international levels.

Their collective vision is to “maximise economic and social benefit for every man, woman and child of every member country through the sustainable harvesting of our tuna resources”, and requires informed decisions, robust legal and technical frameworks, socially inclusive processes, vigorous evaluation systems and delivery of meaningful results.

This means going beyond the mere “providing services for countries” to firstly creating the short term results necessary for medium term economic development, to iteratively impact and ultimately attaining the long term economic and social outcomes of improved livelihoods in our communities.

The Secretariat therefore initiated reforms to its administrative systems, to better align, expand, and finetune its strategic infrastructure and operational interventions, linking work of each individual staff to the FFA Strategic Plan, results pursued at the national level and  in congruency with regional outcomes of the Pacific Plan.  Because of this clarity of  purpose, transparency of governance measures, and accountability trails established by these reforms, the Secretariat became the first CROP agency to be granted multi-year donor funding, by two major donors, governments and people of Australia and New Zealand.

REGIONAL ISSUES AND CHALLENGES
Many of the FFA countries consist of very limited landmasses with even fewer land-based resources necessary for economic development, the 30million km² of ocean that surround our islands, is however not only rich in various marine life, it is also the only fishing grounds with healthy levels of tuna stocks left in the world.  Unlike everything else where size and economic status, relegates island countries to being price takers on the international stage, being owners however of a limited and sought after resource such as tuna, they, individually and collectively are the choosers.  How the FFA, as individual countries, and collectively as a region use this rare opportunity, to ensure that the fish is sustainably managed to guarantee their future for now and into perpetuity is an ongoing endeavour that requires solidarity at the highest level.

To assist members address this very important of issues, the Secretariat’s has in its toolbox the Regional Tuna Management and Development Strategy and its component Strategies – Regional Economic Integration of Pacific Tuna Fisheries (REI) and Regional Monitoring, Control and Surveillance Strategy (RMCSS).  These Strategies while regional in outlook focuses on coordinating capability development at the national level, as identified and prioritised by each member.   Inclusive development of Country Service Level Agreement (CSLAs)  between the Secretariat and each member country ensures clarity on results pursued, mutual obligations and accountabilities in addressing national priority needs. To date, four CSLAs have been signed, with remaining members being progressively developed over the next year.  The intent of course, is to ensure that with targeted focus on building national capability, in areas needed requested by each individual member, will lead to easier and earlier attainment of regional outcomes for maximised  economic and social benefits for all our people throughout the region.

Opportunities

Historical data strongly indicate the competitive advantage FFA members have achieved in the WCPO and global tuna industry as reflected by the following;

• FFA members now have increased control of fisheries within the WCPO and globally, with over 57% of the total WCPFC catches and 32% of the annual global catch. Compared to 2005 levels, production in all oceans declined except in the WCPO which increased by almost 300,000 Mt, from 2.17 million to 2.44 million Mt registered by FFA members
• Increased FFA tuna fisheries values, in last 10 years  from $1.1 billion to a peak of $2.2 billion in 2008 but reduced to just under $2 billion in 2010,  representing between 40% and 45% of WCPO catch values or 20% to 30% of global catch values. 
• Favourable price levels, highlighted by sustained upward trend of tuna global prices, relative to other food commodities. For example, skipjack prices continuously outstrip prices of poultry and maize for the majority the last 10 years.  Canned tuna prices while lower relative to skipjack throughout the period nevertheless continued to increase to more than double its value and providing close competition to poultry and maize prices.

Price Indices: SKJ, Canned tuna and Other Food

FAO price indices further demonstrates the sustained high prices of frozen skipjack tuna, registering higher than the FAO Global Food Index, for all but a few months of the last decade.

Record prices of tuna raw materials at the Thai and Japanese sashimi market registered in recent times indicate the continued buoyancy in these markets  as a result of various factors including fuel/food price variations, impact of global economic downturn, limited supplies from El Nina conditions, conservation management measures and to a large extent, exchange rate variations. 

The overall annual export values trend to the EU, US and Japan have shown steady growth over the years, from $65 million in 2000 to $169 million in 2005 and increasing further to $195 million in 2009.   

Recovery of Japanese overall sales at Tsukiji to pre-quake levesl at end of April following an overnight plunge in demand immediately following the Japanese quake and tsunami on March 11 2011.

Overall contribution of tuna fishing to GDP, has markedly increased over the years parallel with the trends of increases in purse seine fleet capacity. Tuna fishing in 2009 contributed $206 million, a decrease from the previous year’s $263 million on account of lower purse seine value.

Employment data in the tuna industry shows an uptrend between 2002 and 2008 with 2009 data showing slight decrease from 2008. Presently more than 12,000 people are engaged in the tuna industry, either in vessels or in onshore facilities

The significance of the purse seine fleet contribution to economic activity has risen sharply in recent years to reflect domestication policies in FFA member countries where this has been pursued, as well as development of own fleets by some; and similarly for the longline fleet. The pole and line fleet has lost its importance. Reflective of the rise in the fleet capacities, the volume of catch and catch value have also risen sharply over the years

Issues
Despite the favourable conditions, efforts to maximise benefits has succeeded to some extent but still has a fair way to go.
Several issues stand in the way.  The Secretariat has been working with individual members or collectively with you to address these. 
An important issue is with regards to trade and access. The slow progress with respect to WTO rules for fisheries subsidies has created some uncertainty, particularly with respect to the treatment of fisheries access agreements.  The EU IUU Regulations entered into force as of 1st January 2010 -  a certification requirement for export into the EU market requires FFA members to address emerging issues under this scheme in order to continue to benefit from export to the EU.  The Secretariat together with the PIFS have arranged a joint meeting between  the Forum Economic Ministers and yourselves later this week to provide a forum to discuss and strategise ways of addressing these trade and access issues further. Work on development of Competent Authorities for the EU market has continued in the last two years 
The second issue relates to the suppressed economic return to members from their tuna fisheries, despite record harvesting levels.  This is attributed to two factors; (1) FFA member fleet lower  catch rate relative to foreign fishing vessels (2) low value-adding component in FFA member country.    
Addressing the first of these two issues include successfully promoting Consservation Management Measures in the tuna commission to limit catches. 
To improve value-adding opportunities the Secretariat in the last fiscal year piloted the REI Strategy to assist  members increase economic returns from tuna fisheries, through an emphasis on commercial and economic cooperation in the region focusing on: improving tuna industry efficiency;  strengthening regional control of tuna resources to increase the value of their resources; and increasing collaboration among tuna exporters in the region.  Following the REI report to the Officials FFC, I am happy to report continued donor commitment to the REI, with medium term funding now made available to the REI Unit which in its first year of operation demonstrated beyond doubt its usefulness at the national and subregional level, with ten Off shore Fisheries Development  projects progressed over that short period of time.  
Monitoring Control and Surveillance work of the Secretariat over the last fiscal year has effectively reduced IUU fishing and greater compliance with licensing conditions.  The upgrade of the VMS infrastructure has been instrumental in providing 24/7 visibility of the various EEZ’s and timely advise to national authorities.
A relevant regional development that was delivered jointly by FFA and SPC in the last fiscal year that warrants particular mention, because of its ambitiousness and extremely short lead time include; successful delivery of the required number of observers as per obligations under the Observer Strategy and WCPFC Conservation Management Measures requirements.     
Cross-Cutting Issue
An important issue that will be discussed in this meeting is Climate Change. The Secretariat as part of its forward planning have developed this concept paper for proactively addressing this most unavoidable of issues. While the concept is being investigated further, it is expected that tuna fisheries can play a pivotal role in improving outcomes for the region.
Climate change will impact heavily on the Pacific Islands region. Catastrophic effects will include more intense and frequent cyclones and droughts, destruction of food crops, and damage to infrastructure.  Some Pacific Islands, particularly those that are low-lying, will be especially impacted by the more violent weather and sea level change. There is a real possibility that many islands will become uninhabitable – and the concept of environmental refugees is emerging. All fisheries in the region are likely to be affected by climate change.  A preliminary assessment of the impact on tuna fisheries show that innovative development can significantly enhance economic and social resilience. 
Way Forward
Pacific islands strength as owners of a limited resource are clear. FFA members now have greater control on    tuna supply and therefore tuna prices globally.  
Progressing onwards requires informed decisions, innovative thinking, bold action and a need to balance  short-term commercial gains with the long-term sustainability of tuna stocks.
Capitalising on opportunities, requires addressing issues of trade, institutional frameworks within each country and collectively as region as well as further afield and supporting strategies and interventions now in place by the Secretariat.
It has been suggested that while Pacific Island countries vary and differ from each other, they nevertheless share an ocean - its blue economy, with its multitude of riches of which tuna is an important one. And despite vast distances between countries and the smallness of the landmasses the islands nevertheless inhabit a continent.  They are the blue continent,   and their strength lies in cooperation.