Day 5 Session 3 What are (some of) the implications of the assessment for your national fisheries?

Introduction The WCPO region comprises many different countries and territories, all of whom have direct or indirect fisheries based economic interests in the regions tuna resources. The species of most economic or social importance varies between countries/territories. For any given species, some countries will have significant economic reliance upon the fishery catching that species, and others very little etc. Some have significant reliance on revenue or food derived from fisheries targeting multiple species. Hence, the national level implications of any given assessment will differ depending on the species and between countries.

Introduction Determining the implications of a given assessment for a given country will depend initially on the following: A) The outcomes of the assessment (resource status and scientific advice in response to that) B) Your countries contribution to overall fishing impacts C) Your countries economic, social or food security dependence on the resource being assessed** D) The management options being considered in response to the assessment outcomes – which of these options might impact on the fishery operating in your EEZ (domestic, foreign) or your flagged vessels operating outside the EEZ?

Introduction The role of science is to help you understand the impacts on catch, effort, catch rates, sizes of fish caught, now and in the long term......but the flow on social and economic impacts are best assessed by those with knowledge and expertise in those areas (often the fishers, managers, economists) in consultation with the stakeholders, and not by scientists. The following slides outline a series of steps which might help you to assess the implications of an assessment for your fisheries.

Where is your fishery located? How much catch is taken in that region Is it in a high or low catch region for the species under consideration?

2. What is the status of the resource? SC-5 Conclusions The current stock assessment indicates that the condition of the bigeye tuna stock continues to decline, with a high level of overfishing is occurring on the bigeye stock in the WCPO, and the stock is in a slightly overfished state or will be in the near future. SC-5 recommendation: A 34-50% reduction in fishing mortality from average 2004-2007 levels is required to maintain the bigeye stock at levels capable of producing MSY SC5 noted that the intended 30% reduction in fishing mortality intended under the current Conservation and Management Measure will in fact not be achieved by that measure.

Country contributions to impacts Look at the region in which your country is situated, and consider the following: A. Is a large portion of the stock located there? B. Are there high impacts on the regional biomass? C. What proportion of your regions catch is taken by your fishery? D. What proportion of the WCPO catch is taken by your fishery

Country contributions to impacts Which gears is your fishery based on and to which component (age classes) will your fishery contribute the highest impacts? Age at start of maturity Females 50% mature at 102cm (2 yrs) (Farley et al 2006) at ~ 3+ years of age

Country contributions to impacts Which gears is your fishery based on and to which component (age classes) will your fishery contribute the highest impacts?

Resource Status So….do management recommendations relate directly to your region, your fishery, the gears operating within your fishery and the age classes being impacted most by your fishery? Is the sustainability of the resource being assessed of importance to your fishery/country ? If the species is not important to your fishery or country, might the management actions effect your fishery anyway (as a byproduct)…e.g BET and SKJ

Management options implications The key implications of an assessment become more apparent through consideration of the management options being considered in response to assessment outcomes: If your countries food security is dependant upon the sustainability of the stock? Is the fishery a major employer? Does the fishery generate significant national revenue (e.g. licence fees) Therefore longterm sustainability may mean longterm employment base, food security and national revenue....or it may not.

Example of Analysis of Management Options BET 2007 – Scenario = PH/ID effort is constant and equal to recent average, while PS UNASS effort level is irrelevant as it does not catch BET. F/Fmsy < 1 F/Fmsy > 1 Large reductions in effort required to achieve Fmsy for BET. LL 50%, PS 0% LL 40%, PS 15% LL 30%, PS 30% LL 20%, PS 45% LL 10%, PS >50% LL 0%, PS >>50% Is your country reliant on either or both of these fishery methods and species? Which options would have been more attractive, least attractive?

Effect of Management Measures

Management options implications Are the management measures currently in place likely to achieve their objective? All of these questions are questions you might want to consider when considering the results of a regional tuna stock assessment paper.