There is no room for complacency in the way the region's tuna stocks are managed, says the director of the Pacific Community's Oceanic Fisheries Programme.
Majuro is the world's busiest tuna transshipment port Photo: Giff Johnson
Graham Pilling said stocks of all four main tuna species - Albacore, Bigeye, Skipjack and Yellowfin - were being managed and maintained above agreed sustainable levels.
However, Dr Pilling said they were planning for the inevitable impacts of climate change, which included tuna migration patterns moving further east and south.
That could be beyond the EEZ's of member nations, which risked their food security and incomes.
"We have been looking into approaches such as putting into place coastal Fish Aggregation Devices, which tend to aggregate tuna in a localised area and make them more available for local fishers to see if we can start to combat some of these expected impacts of climate change," he said.
No room for complacency in Pacific tuna management
Dr Pilling attended last week's Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Pt Moresby, where the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency resolution to consider impacts of climate change on tuna stocks, food security and livelihoods was adopted.
2019 Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in Pt Moresby Photo: SPC