Critical Shift In Focus To Value Retention For Forum Fisheries

Iliesa Tora
RNZ Pacific senior sports journalist

The
Forum Fisheries Agency is shifting its focus to value
retention and economic development for its
members.

FFA Director-General Noan David Pakop said
the shift was critical for members as Pacific tuna stocks
remain among the healthiest in the world.

This was a
key aim laid out in the Vakamanu Regional Pacific Fisheries
Strategy 2026-2035, adopted by Fisheries Ministers in
Wellington, New Zealand in July

The strategy was
presented to Pacific Islands Forum Foreign MInister in Suva
last Friday by Pakop and the Pacific Community (SPC) Deputy
Director-General Dr Andrew Jones.

The Vakamanu
strategy includes both key elements of the East New Britain
Initiative (ENBi) and the FFA Strategic Plan
2026-2031.

Pakop said the Strategy provides Pacific
Leaders with holistic oversight of the management and
development of the region’s fisheries and aquaculture
resources.

“Fisheries and aquaculture are not a
sectoral issue. They are a strategic regional resource,
underpinning government revenue, food security, livelihoods,
and the practical expression of our Members’ sovereignty and
stewardship of the ocean,” Pakop told the ministers in
Suva.

“It is therefore important that Leaders continue
to have holistic oversight over the management and
development of this critical resource. The Vakamanu Strategy
is the vehicle by which Leaders are able to exercise that
oversight.”

Maximizing economic returns

The
East New Britain Initiative (ENBi) is a regional platform
that was launched by FFA member countries in September 2023,
while the FFA Strategic Plan 2026-2031 was approved in
July.

Both focus is to maximize economic returns from
the region’s shared tuna resources by shifting focus from
exporting raw materials to local processing, value addition,
and regional economic collaboration.

The FFA said one
of the main target is to increase local ownership and
participation in the global tuna value chain.

While
over 50% of global tuna originates in Pacific waters, little
is processed locally, with just a few island countries like
Fiji and the Solomon Islands processing tuna products
locally.

The ENBi also targets shared island resources
and securing investment in joint island ventures.

Fiji
and Tuvalu, for example, have been discussing partnerships
in their fisheries sectors.

The FFA said the Vakamanu
Regional Pacific Fisheries Strategy 2026-2035 highlights the
key fisheries and aquaculture agreed by the Ministers and it
brings offshore fisheries, coastal fisheries, and
aquaculture together under a single regional 10-year
framework.

The outcomes of the 2026 Fisheries
Ministers Meetings, together with the Vakamanu Regional
Pacific Fisheries Strategy 2026-2035, will now be considered
by Pacific Islands Forum Leaders during their meeting in
Koror, Palau from 30 August – 4
September.

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