The Commission and the SPC agree to establish and maintain cooperation in respect of matters of common interest to the two organizations. In particular, the Commission and the SPC will:

• encourage reciprocal participation in relevant meetings of each organization;
• encourage the collaboration of national scientists in the scientific work undertaken by, or on behalf of, the Commission;
• actively and regularly exchange relevant meeting reports, information, project plans, documents, and publications regarding matters of mutual interest, up to the limits allowed by the information-sharing policies agreed by each organization’s members; and
• consult on a regular basis to enhance cooperation and minimize duplication.

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The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is currently conducting a region-wide tuna tagging project to collect critical information for the assessment of these important resources.

Tagging consists of catching tunas and deploying conventional (plastic dart tags inserted into the dorsal musculature) or electronic tags (surgically implanted into the body cavity) before releasing them in the wild. When fishermen find a tagged tuna, information concerning the recovery is forwarded to SPC.

The specific objectives of this research are to obtain information on the growth, movements, natural mortality and fishing mortality of the tuna, information·which is required to estimate the status of the stocks and the impacts of fishing.

Read more on the Tuna Tagging Website...

Background

The tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) has undergone continuous expansion over the past 30 years, with the catch of skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and albacore tunas reaching 2.4 million tonnes in 2007. The landed value of the catch in 2007 was approximately USD 4 billion, with considerable economic benefits accruing to Pacific Island Countries and Territories through direct participation in the fishery, employment, onshore processing, provision of fleet services and support, and foreign access licence fees.

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The unaccounted impacts of ocean acidification (and warming) upon tuna stocks in the Pacific (and globally) represent a serious risk to the achievement of sustainability based management objectives for both Regional Fisheries Management Organisations (RFMOS) and for the policies of sovereign states responsible for tuna fisheries management in the Pacific region.  Research has demonstrated that the early life history stages of some fish species (and numerous other marine organisms) are sensitive to ocean acidification levels that are projected to occur by the end of this century. Those findings have significant implications for future recruitment success and population levels for those species. Utilising the long established expertise and unique facilities at the IATTC’s Achotines Laboratory in Panama, the first year of this project aims to elucidate the impacts of projected ocean acidification levels upon processes and life history stages of yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacores) that are considered critical to recruitment success: sperm motility, fertilisation rates, embryonic development, hatching rates, condition, development, growth and survival in pre- and post-feeding larvae.  Empirical results from the laboratory trials will then be used, in conjunction with physical oceanographic data from ocean acidification projection models, to parameterise the SEAPODYM model and evaluate the impact of ocean acidification upon the distribution and abundance of yellowfin tuna in the Pacific Ocean. The outputs from this project will reduce uncertainty regarding future stock trends as provided to tuna RFMOs in the Pacific, increasing the likelihood that these organisations can make decisions that ultimately achieve sustainability based management objectives.

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