Resources on the economics of tuna fishing in the WCPO
You can find news stories, popular articles, opinion pieces and blog posts on the economics of the WCPO tuna fisheries on the Economics news and views page.
Fact sheets
- Tuna economic development indicators 2019, FFA; economic indicators for earlier years are also available
- The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) has published 6 fact sheets on economic opportunities that may be realised from WCPFC oceanic and coastal waters, in line with the UN sustainable development goals
- Gender and fisheries in Fiji: summary of key issues, Pacific Community, 2018
- Gender and fisheries in Samoa: summary of key issues, Pacific Community, 2018
- Gender and fisheries in Tonga: summary of key issues, Pacific Community, 2018
- Gender and fisheries in Vanuatu: summary of key issues, Pacific Community, 2018
- What Pacific islands are doing to manage tuna fishing, WCFPC
- Ensuring the sustainability of Pacific tuna: Parties to the Nauru Agreement, WWF Pacific, 2011
Tuna fisheries and processing are essential to Pacific economies. Photo: Francisco Blaha.
Technical papers
- FFA advises members about developments in international trade policy and economic cooperation frameworks, and how to advance their individual and collective fisheries interests in trade policy and economic partnership negotiations. Regular trade and industry reports includefisheries industry briefings.
- Pathways to sustaining tuna-dependent Pacific Island economies during climate change, Nature Sustainability, 2021
- Value of WCPFC-CA tuna fisheries 2020, FFA; estimates of the value of catch in the WCPFC area, updated annually, sourced from the Oceanic Fisheries Programme of the Pacific Community
- Netting billions 2020: a global tuna valuation, Pew Charitable Trusts
- Overview of tuna fisheries in the WCPO, including economic conditions, 2019, WCPFC Scientific Committee, 3rd revision published August 2020
- Fishing for success: lesson in Pacific regionalism, a history of the PNA by Transform Aqorau, published by the Australian National University, 2020
- Gender in tuna value chains: case studies from Indonesia and Solomon Islands, Women in Fisheries Bulletin, no. 31, SPC, March 2020. Other articles in the journal include profiles of women working in fisheries, and barriers and constraints to women’s participation in fisheries.
- Recommended best practices for tuna longline fisheries and for tropical tuna purse-seine fisheries in transition to MSC certification, ISSF, 2020
- An evaluation of the sustainability of global tuna stocks relative to Marine Stewardship Council criteria, ISSF, 2020
- Tuna fisheries, World Bank, report on how tuna fisheries can contribute to economic growth of Pacific Island states
- Information paper on labour rights in the fishing industry(the case of unpaid salary disputes on fishing vessels), paper presented to WCPFC 16th session, December 2019
- Gender analysis of the fisheries sector in the Federated States of Micronesia, Pacific Community, 2019
- Assessing tuna fisheries governance for community wellbeing: case studies from Indonesia and Solomon Islands, full report, by Nicholas McClean, Kate Barclay and others, University of Technology, Sydney, 2019. There is also a summary.
- Regionally harmonised minimum terms and conditions for access to commercial tuna fisheries in FFA members waters, Forum Fisheries Agency
- Annual FFA reports on tuna economic indicators, 20152019. These reports give an overview, among other things, of trends in catch, catch value and economic conditions in the tuna fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, and their impact on the countries that are part of FFA.
- Gender analysis of the fisheries sector: Solomon Islands, Pacific Community, 2018
- Baseline study and performance indicators for the Pacific Islands Oceanic Fisheries Management Project (OFMP2), draft of a report written for the FFA, 2017. It examines the state of health of fisheries and the environments they are part of, and the measures in place to conserve and manage both.
- Improving tuna governance institutions by the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, Wageningen University & Research, 2016
- How tuna is shaping regional diplomacy, by Transform Aqorau, chapter inThe New Pacific Diplomacy, edited by Greg Fry and Sandra Tarte, published by ANU Press, The Australian National University, 2015
- Sources for economic data on the tuna fisheries of the Western and Central Pacific and globally, FFA; links to sources of information categorised by country, vessels, catch and effort, fishing and processing, trade data and markets, macroeconomics, and investment and tax regimes.
- Trends in economic conditions in the southern longline fishery, by Chris Reid and Jason Raubani, for the Scientific Committee of the WCFPC, 2015. The authors develop an index of economic conditions in the southern longline fishery to better understand historical trends in economic conditions in the fishery and drivers of change.
- Fisheries development strategy for developing Pacific Island countries: case study of Tuvalu, Filitua Siaosi, Hsiang-Wen Huang, and Ching-Ta Chuang, in Ocean and Coastal Management, volume 66, 2012
- Market and industry dynamics in the global tuna supply chain, FFA, 2011
- A new approach to maximize economic benefits from tuna resources: Development of the concept, report by Kwame Mfodwo to the Forum Fisheries Agency, 2009
- Economic and management implications of stock assessments on key tuna stocks in the WCPO, by Chris Reid, Samasoni Sauni and Les Clark, for the Scientific Committee of the WCFPC, 2007. This paper describes the approach to multi-species, multi-gear analysis of management options being used by the FFA secretariat. Options are assessed against Convention criteria of ensuring sustainability, promoting optimum use, and avoiding a disproportionate burden on SIDS.
- Recommended best practices for regional fisheries management organisations, Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), 2007
Posters and videos
- Purse seine fishing, a video introduction to what is involved and how fishing is done, produced by Pasifika Communications for Pacific Community, 2012 [19 mins]
FSM’s Eugene Pangelinan talks about the economic importance of tuna at an OFMP2 forum. He mentions several factors, such as chain of custody, and traceability, that need to become embedded so that fisheries businesses are viable (1.42 mins).
John Maefiti from the Pacific Island Tuna Industry Association (PITIA) talks at an OFMP2 forum about the importance of the domestic tuna fisheries in Pacific Island economies. He also mentions the biggest threat to these economies: some distant fishing nations sending too many fishing vessels to the region (1.09 mins).
Pacifical is a brand of tuna marketed by PNA countries. Here, they talk about their approach to environmentally and socially sustainable tuna (4.55 mins).
The Marshall Islands Journal showcases fresh tuna processing in Majuro in 2017 (2.31 mins).