FFA members to seek first joint bigeye tuna measure at Port Vila talks

The 17 members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency have submitted a proposed bigeye tuna management procedure covering both purse seine and longline fisheries to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

Special Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) Officials Meeting | 30 October 2026, Honiara, Solomon Islands

Source: FAA

The 17 members of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) will push for a new management procedure for bigeye tuna at the 23rd Regular Session of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

The proposal is one of several priorities formally submitted to the Commission after the 22nd Management Options Consultation (MOC22), a week of meetings involving FFA members, partners and others on regional fisheries management.

The outcomes of MOC22 were endorsed on 30 October at a special Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) officials meeting in Honiara, before being submitted to the Commission.

If adopted, the bigeye measure would be the Commission’s first management procedure covering both purse seine and longline fisheries, the two main methods used to catch tuna, the FFA said.

The agency said the measure would strengthen management of the world’s largest bigeye tuna stock, which accounts for about 40 per cent of global bigeye catches and, according to the latest stock assessment, has never been overfished.

Managing the species remains difficult because both purse seine and longline fisheries take the same stock. Existing restrictions on purse seine fishing help protect bigeye tuna but also reduce fishing opportunities and potential revenue for Pacific Island countries, while benefiting longline fisheries, the FFA said.

Members are seeking a more balanced approach that protects the stock while recognising the economic interests of Pacific Island countries, with conservation responsibilities shared more fairly between the two methods.

Other proposals cover South Pacific albacore, fisheries reporting and monitoring, and transhipment. On albacore, members want agreement on how fishing opportunities should be allocated between coastal States and high seas fisheries, and on established rights on the high seas, supported by monitoring and reporting, for the management procedure the Commission adopted in December 2025.

That proposal rests on the rights and special requirements of Pacific Small Island Developing States and Territories and on the Commission’s agreed allocation criteria, the FFA said.

Members are also calling for a ban on transferring fish between vessels on the high seas until the Commission adopts clear guidelines, better fisheries data reporting, and protection of island countries’ fishing rights and economic interests as climate change shifts tuna distribution.

“Members, the 22nd Management Options Consultation demands flexibility, compromise and commitment to our collective interests and I recognise that this is not always a straightforward process. However, over the past few days, your engagement has once again demonstrated the strength of our membership: your ability to come together, reconcile differing views and work towards consensus,” FFA Director-General Noan David Pakop said at the FFC officials meeting.

WCPFC23 is scheduled for 30 November to 5 December 2026 in Port Vila.

The 17 FFA members are Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Naoero, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.