An Improved Reconstruction of Total Marine Fisheries Catches for the New Hebrides and the Republic of Vanuatu, 1950–2014

Marc Léopold,Gilbert David,Jeremie Kaltavara,Jason Raubani,Lincoln Hood,Dirk Zeller

doi:10.3389/fmars.2017.00306

Abstract

1. Abstract For many small island nations, fisheries provide residents with both food security and economic stability. However, in order to create effective and sustainable fisheries policies and management that will ensure a growing population can prosper, policy makers need to know what is being fished and how much is fished. Vanuatu, the smallest country in Melanesia, has a declared and claimed Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 820,000 km2 and fisheries resources play a large part in the food security and economic stability of this country. This reconstruction of total marine fisheries catch of Vanuatu for 1950 to 2014 faced major data gaps. It showed that the reconstructed total catches of nearly 1.4 million t were 40% higher than the 977,997 t reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on behalf of Vanuatu for the same period. However, if large-scale industrial catches are excluded, the reconstructed small-scale fisheries catches (~ 270,000 t) were over 200% higher than the 114,862 t of reported catch that were assumed to represent the small-scale sector in FAO data. Subsistence catches made up almost 93% of small-scale catches, followed by artisanal and recreational catches with ~7% and less than 1%, respectively. By continuously improving the fisheries data of Vanuatu for both the past and the present, policy makers, stakeholders and fishers can make better decisions that will maintain the benefits of marine fishery resources.

Highlights

Vanuatu is a Pacific island country consisting of 117 islands (73 permanently inhabited) located between 13◦04′−20◦15′S and 166◦32′−170◦14′E (Seto et al, 2017; Figure 1)
Vanuatu’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was declared in 1982 and covers over 820,000 km2, including the area disputed with New Caledonia (Figure 1)
The reports cover the fishing activities in the Vanuatu EEZ and operations of the Vanuatu flag vessels that were active in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and other regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) areas

Summary

Introduction

Vanuatu (former New Hebrides) is a Pacific island country consisting of 117 islands (73 permanently inhabited) located between 13◦04′−20◦15′S and 166◦32′−170◦14′E (Seto et al, 2017; Figure 1). Vanuatu’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was declared in 1982 and covers over 820,000 km, including the area disputed with New Caledonia (Figure 1). In line with standard Sea Around Us procedures (Zeller et al, 2016), any catches by Vanuatu fishers within the disputed. Operated by foreign vessels from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, and Fiji under joint-venture or bilateral fishing agreements. The Chinese fleet has been dominant in Vanuatu’s EEZ since the 2000s both in terms of vessel numbers and capacity, followed by Taiwan and Fiji, while the domestic fleet has slowly expanded since the mid-1990s

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion