The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO): an improved model of decision-making for fisheries conservation?

Abstract

The Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Living Resources in the South Pacific Ocean recently entered into force. The new South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) that it creates will face key challenges in the conservation and management of critical commercial fish stocks in the region. Among the most important species under management is the Orange Roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus). The SPRFMO regime was designed to avoid, or at least lessen, some of the major difficulties experienced by other RFMOs around the world. One of its features is a stricter standard for utilizing the objection procedure in the decision-making of the organization. The Orange Roughy is harvested by the destructive bottom-trawling method which poses a significant threat to South Pacific seamounts. The status of the Orange Roughy, and the protection of these seamounts, will likely be a barometer of SPRFMO success. The SPRFMO may provide an improved model for decision-making and organizational effectiveness in commercial fisheries on the high seas.