Ministry of Fisheries - Tonga

Vuna Road, Sopu
Tongatapu, Tonga

+6767401201
info@tongafish.gov.to

International Year Of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture

PRESS RELEASE

 

(Sopu, Tongatapu, November 30, 2022) – The Ministry of Fisheries together with the Vava‘u Environmental Protection Association (VEPA) NGO, held a day of celebration and awareness program for the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture. The year 2022 has been declared as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture(IYAFA), with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) as the leading agency, working in partnership with Pacific Island countries and regional organizations. IYAFA aims to highlight and enrich our understandings of the contributions of artisanal fishers and the aquaculture industry, and calls for our support and more actions towards national and global sustainable development, specifically, in relation to food security, nutrition, poverty eradication and the use of our natural resources. The celebration was to acknowledge IYAFA and the ongoing efforts and activities of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture within Tonga.

 

 

Final

Figure 1: Participants for the IYAFA 2022 celebration and awaareness program

The program was chaired and opened by Mr. Poasi Ngaluafe, Deputy CEO for Ministry of Fisheries, Science Division. Participants included representatives from  schools, communities (Special Management Areas), small scale fishers and other relevant stakeholders. Mr. Ngaluafe reiterated the importance of the public sustaining  artisanal fisheries and aquaculture and why we need to support their activities, as they play important roles as livelihood for the people of the Tonga.

 

The celebration involved presentations by the Government Ministries on topics such as SMAs, Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs), livelihood and well-being of Fishers, the importance of artisanal fisheries and aquaculture to food security and nutrition, the challenges & threats of climate change and the importance of biodiversity to artisanal fishers. Question-and-answer sessions were held amongst the participants and also a sharing of common knowledge and experience from fishers who attended the program with the intention of inspiring the younger generation represented from schools  to be more involved in  Fisheries and to improve livelihood in their respective communities. 

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Metuisela Pohiva, Ministry of Fisheries, Tonga

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

 

WESTERN & CENTRAL PACIFIC FISHERIES COMMISION 19 MEETING

PRESS RELEASE

[Da Nang, Vietnam, Nov 28- Dec 3, 2022] – The 19th Annual session of the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC 19) “the Commission” is held in the Royal Lotus Hotel, Da Nang, Vietnam from the 28th November – 3rd December 2022. Tonga’s delegation to the Annual session of the Commission meeting this year is led by Dr. Tuíkolongahau Halafihi (CEO for Fisheries) and accompany by Mr. George Vete (Project Manager, Tongafish Pathway project), Lavinia Vaipuna (Head of Offshore Fisheries Section), Mele Átuekaho (Deputy CEO) and Kilisitina Ákimeta (Media Officer).

Hau

 

The objective of the Convention of the WCPFC is “to ensure, through effective management, the long-term conservation and sustainable use of highly migratory fish stocks in the Western and central Pacific Ocean in accordance with the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1995 UN Fish Stocks Agreement” Tonga ratified the Convention of the WCPFC in 2003 before it enter into force in 2004. The main purpose of the Annual session of the Commission is provided under the mandate of the Commission which is to “ensure the long-term conservation and sustainable use of the tuna fishery resources, of highly migratory fish stocks in the western and central Pacific Ocean for present and future generations”. 

The WCPFC19 hold this week was preceded by a Special Forum Fisheries Agency 125 (FFC125) of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) member countries in which Tonga is a member. The Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) meeting is the decision-making body of the FFA which responsible for providing policy guidance to the FFA and its’ member countries including Tonga.  Prior to the Annual session of the Commission each year, a Special FFC meeting is held to finalize and consolidate the priorities and positions of the FFA member countries on matters to be tabled in the Commission’s meeting in each year.

WCPFC19 Team

 

At the FFC125 prior to the WCPFC19, the FFA members agreed to put forward to the Commission’s Annual session ten (10) key priorities and expected outcomes from FFA member countries in which six (6) are of key important to the management of the tuna fishery in Tonga:

  1. To agree a focused process for South Pacific Albacore in 2023 to improve the management of this fishery, including agreement to review the management objective and TRP;
  2. Climate Change and its impact on the tuna fishery as a standing agenda for the Annual session of the Commission and its subsidiaries committees;
  3. To adopt a strengthened Southwest Pacific Swordfish measure;
  4. Establishing a Harvest Strategy for Key Fisheries and Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) to meet the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification;
  5. Enhance existing CMMs to combat Illegal Unreported and Unregulated fishing (IUU) in Tonga and the region;
  6. Data Collection: Electronic Reporting (ER) and Electronic Monitoring (EM) of fishing activities. 

Tonga’s participation in the Annual session of the Commission each year provide a clear indication of the high priority of the fisheries sector and the management of the highly migratory species to the Government of Tonga. It is also an opportunity for Tonga to raise priority issues in relating to the management of the tuna resources in our fisheries waters as well as holding bilateral meetings with other Commission members to support Tonga in the development of the tuna fisheries resources in our waters.

For more information, please contact:

Kilisitina Akimeta, Ministry of Fisheries, Tonga

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