South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Research Articles

Innovation in the quest for compatibility: Interplay of jurisdiction and allocation in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

This paper explores how the legal obligation that management measures for straddling stocks in the high seas and for areas under national jurisdiction must be ‘compatible’ is interpreted within the forum of Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, by considering the example of the ongoing conflict over allocation of jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) managed by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO). To do so, the paper presents the innovative framework through which to realise compatibility set forth by the treaty instituting SPRFMO, the Convention on the Conservation and Management of High Seas Fishery Resources in the South Pacific Ocean, together with the practice implementing these provisions as seen in the annual SPRFMO jack mackerel management measure. This measure has evolved as coastal States Chile and Ecuador have consented over time to apply the measure in the areas under their national jurisdiction, and as it has been used to urge coastal State Peru to ensure measures under its area of jurisdiction are compatible with those in the SPRFMO measure. Methodologically, the paper draws from a mix of doctrinal analysis of international treaties alongside document analysis of SPRFMO Commission meeting reports, management measures, and reports of the SPRFMO Review Panel, enriched through interviews with persons with experience of the workings of SPRFMO. Ultimately, the paper grapples with the challenges in interpreting and applying the legal obligation of compatibility within the political context of allocation decisions by a Regional Fisheries Management Organisation such as SPRFMO.

Protecting the Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges: A review of policy pathways for creating conservation measures in the international waters of the Southeast Pacific

Seamount ecosystems host ecologically important species, including many that are found nowhere else on Earth. The Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges, two adjacent seamount chains in the Southeast Pacific, are biodiversity hotspots marked by the highest levels of marine endemism on Earth. Historically isolated from many human activities, this region has produced a unique biodiversity and provides an excellent opportunity for protecting a global biodiversity hotspot before it is degraded. However, no legal protection mechanism currently exists for comprehensively protecting areas beyond national jurisdiction (ABNJ) of the Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges. After years of negotiations at the United Nations for a legally binding instrument to address conservation in ABNJ, the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement was finally agreed in March 2023. While this Agreement may provide one avenue for protecting the high seas, the Agreement has yet to be adopted and ratification may take several years. As it stands, conservation efforts in ABNJ will rest on sectoral bodies primarily set to manage large-scale industries like fishing, shipping, and mining, but that do have the ability to enact conservation measures other than restricting these industrial activities. Our study provides an overview of the major international organizations managing activities in the ABNJ of the Salas y Gomez and Nazca Ridges, identifies current conservation measures, and maps out potential policy pathways for creating conservation measures in this unique region. Our synthesis focused on identifying conservation procedures within the documents of international organizations and applying their rules and procedures to implement conservation measures. We identify three potential pathways. A regional and national pathway that relies on cooperation among international organizations spearheaded by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO), and an international pathway through the BBNJ Agreement.

The Eighth Meeting of the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

The Eighth Meeting of the Commission of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

The IUU Fishing Vessel Listing Process in the Practice of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

The IUU Fishing Vessel Listing Process in the Practice of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

Dispute Settlement in the Law of the Sea: Survey for 2018

Abstract This is the latest in a series of annual surveys in this Journal reviewing dispute settlement in the law of the sea, both under Part XV of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and outside the framework of the Convention. It covers developments during 2018. The most significant developments during the year were the judgment of the International Court of Justice in Costa Rica v. Nicaragua, delimiting the maritime boundaries between the two States’ overlapping maritime zones in both the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean; the report of the Conciliation Commission concerning maritime boundary arrangements between Timor-Leste and Australia; and the findings of a dispute settlement body of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization.

Examining the utility of a decision-support tool to develop spatial management options for the protection of vulnerable marine ecosystems on the high seas around New Zealand

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) Convention includes specific provisions to protect vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). The SPRFMO Commission has determined that the interim measures put in place to protect VMEs should be replaced by an improved system of fishable and closed areas. We used the conservation planning tool Zonation to examine the utility of a decision-support tool to develop spatial management options that balance the protection of VMEs with utilisation of high value areas for fishing. Input data included: habitat suitability maps for VME indicator taxa, and uncertainties associated with these model predictions, for an area of the high seas around New Zealand; naturalness condition, represented by two proxy variables using New Zealand trawl effort data; and value to the New Zealand fishery using trawl catch data for two gear types and three time-periods. Running scenario analyses with these data allowed for an understanding of the effect of varying the input data on the spatial prioritisation of areas for VME conservation. The analyses also allowed for the cost to fishing to be determined, in terms of the amount of the trawl catch footprint (normalised to the catch) lost if high priority areas for VME indicator taxa are protected. In most scenarios, the cost to fishing was low given the relatively high proportion of suitable habitat for VME indicator taxa that could be protected. The main outcome of the present study is a demonstration of the practical utility of using available data, including modelled data, and the Zonation decision-support tool to develop future options for the spatial management of the SPRFMO area. Suggestions are also made for improvements in input data for future analyses.

Innovation in the decision-making process of the RFMOs

Throughout the last several decades, the Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs) have become essential bodies for the management of the fisheries resources. However, the state of fish stocks that are fished in the high seas seem even more critical for some species. That situation put into question the functioning of the RFMOs where decisions adopted have not been stringent enough to tackle the overexploitation of many fish stocks. When states are establishing RFMOs’ conventions they have to fulfil their duty to co-operate while applying the principle of consent, a basic principle in international law. This has led states to setting up various decision-making processes within RFMOs. The paper shows that a better tailored decision-making process for RFMOs is needed so as to bring changes in them to comply with the objectives set out in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, i.e. maintain or restore populations of harvested species at levels which can produce the maximum sustainable yield. With that aim, the analysis defines three principles to evaluate the effectiveness of the decision-making procedure in RFMOs; 1) blocking or opting-out behaviours constrained, 2) transparency in the objection procedure, 3) conservation and management measures, including the related dispute resolution process, adopted in a timely manner. In line with these three principles, after considering the example of 12 main RFMOs, the study concludes that among them, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) has developed the most advanced and innovative decision-making mechanism.

La defensa del Jurel en la OROP del Pacífico Sur

The exploitation of the shing resource depends on the nature of the seas and the migratory characteristics of shes. Thus, the division of interests between coastal States and coastal States with States that sh at a distance, has set the pattern of international regulation in relation to the use of this natural resource. In this context, this article tries to briefly explain the context of international regulation related to the shing industry on the high seas. This in order to contextualize the successful defense of Peru to maintain sovereignty in its jurisdictional waters, within the framework of the agreements that gave rise to the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization.

Implementing Article 28 of the UN Fish Stocks Agreement: The First Review of a Conservation Measure in the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation

ABSTRACTThis article assesses the contribution of the 2013 Review of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation's measure on jack mackerel to effective decision making as mandated by the UN Fish Stocks Agreement. Though positive overall, the review highlights some potential flaws, notably the dilemma that the requirement of an alternative measure equivalent in effect to the one challenged may, if interpreted strictly, lead to a replacement measure just as unacceptable to the state initiating the review. Other issues emerging from the review are the incentive to overreport catch in anticipation of an allocation and a doubtful interpretation of a central provision in the treaty that created the organization.

Modeling habitat suitability index for Chilean jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) in the South East Pacific

Habitat models, such as the habitat suitable index (HSI), have been extensively used to estimate the spatial distribution of fish species based on the quality of habitat. Fishery dependent data from commercial fishing vessels are an important or potentially the only source of scientific information available in these fisheries, especially for the highly migratory stocks in the high seas. In this study we use catch and effort data from the Chinese trawl fishery combined with remote sensing data including sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH) and sea surface chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a) to define suitable index (SI) for jack mackerel (Trachurus murphyi) in the South East Pacific Ocean. Observed SI values were calculated based on the frequency distribution of fishing effort for each environmental variable, and parameters of the SI models were estimated using nonlinear regression. SI models for SST, SSH, and Chl-a were combined into two empirical HSI models, the arithmetic mean model (AMM) and the geometric mean model (GMM). Results indicate that the AMM performs better than the GMM model to quantify the scale of best available habitat for jack mackerel. Catch distribution fit well with the predicted high-quality habitat in 2013: 85.5%, 100.0% and 97.0% of total catch in fall, winter and spring respectively, were caught in areas predicted with better habitat. The seasonal variation of suitable habitat in latitude is consistent with that of the gravity centers of fishing effort and the 15°C isotherm. There is strong agreement between annual total catch by the international trawl fishery and mean suitable habitat area during the period 2001–2010, but an opposite tendency from 2011 to 2013. This may be related to the lowest biomass of jack mackerel and catch quota introduced by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization since 2010.

Evaluation of New Zealand's high-seas bottom trawl closures using predictive habitat models and quantitative risk assessment.

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 61/105 on sustainable fisheries (UNGA 2007) establishes three difficult questions for participants in high-seas bottom fisheries to answer: 1) Where are vulnerable marine systems (VMEs) likely to occur?; 2) What is the likelihood of fisheries interaction with these VMEs?; and 3) What might qualify as adequate conservation and management measures to prevent significant adverse impacts? This paper develops an approach to answering these questions for bottom trawling activities in the Convention Area of the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) within a quantitative risk assessment and cost : benefit analysis framework. The predicted distribution of deep-sea corals from habitat suitability models is used to answer the first question. Distribution of historical bottom trawl effort is used to answer the second, with estimates of seabed areas swept by bottom trawlers being used to develop discounting factors for reduced biodiversity in previously fished areas. These are used in a quantitative ecological risk assessment approach to guide spatial protection planning to address the third question. The coral VME likelihood (average, discounted, predicted coral habitat suitability) of existing spatial closures implemented by New Zealand within the SPRFMO area is evaluated. Historical catch is used as a measure of cost to industry in a cost : benefit analysis of alternative spatial closure scenarios. Results indicate that current closures within the New Zealand SPRFMO area bottom trawl footprint are suboptimal for protection of VMEs. Examples of alternative trawl closure scenarios are provided to illustrate how the approach could be used to optimise protection of VMEs under chosen management objectives, balancing protection of VMEs against economic loss to commercial fishers from closure of historically fished areas.

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

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.

Culture, Conservation and Competition: Orange Roughy and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization

Culture, Conservation and Competition: Orange Roughy and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization

17. New Zealand

New Zealand's international environmental law actions with regard to climate change in 2010 comprised formal notification of association with the Copenhagen Accord in January, hosting the inaugural meeting of the Global Research Alliance in April, adopting the Ambo Declaration in November, and attending the sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP-16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the sixth Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (MOP-6) in Cancun in December. In Cancun, New Zealand articulated agendas on forestry calculations and fossil fuel subsidies and led the focus on measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV). New Zealand signed the Convention Establishing the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) and took actions relating to renewable energy, persistent organic pollutants, biodiversity, and bilateral environmental co-operation agreements (ECA). New Zealand decided not to become a party to the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from Their Utilization (Nagoya Protocol) (finalized at COP-10 to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in October 2010), when it opens for signature, due to unresolved domestic policy issues. In terms of New Zealand's regional activity, it refocused its Overseas Development Aid Programme on the Pacific on climate change, announced intentions towards sustainable forest management and illegal logging co-operation with Australia, and formed a Polynesian fisheries co-operative with other Pacific countries by way of the Te Vaka Moana Arrangement (TVMA). Domestically, 2010 developments included an assessment/projection of New Zealand's progress in meeting its first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol's obligations (a surplus of 11.4 million units or NZ $231 milliion), the entry of new sectors into the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS), a number of regulations clarifying the detail of the NZ ETS, and an announcement of a forthcoming review of the NZ ETS to, inter alia, assess the current situation whereby obligations will rise to 100 percent with no price cap when the transition period expires in December 2012. Other 2010 developments included changes to the Environmental Protection Agency (which is now to be a Crown agent), steps towards the sustainable management of fresh water, criticism of New Zealand's government for voting against two proposals to protect Atlantic bluefin tuna under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and for increasing its quota on its southern bluefin tuna catch, and the introduction of other catch limits and actions relating to funding, registration requirements, and national plans for highly migratory species, deepwater, and middle-depth fisheries. A coastal policy statement was also introduced, as was a review of the necessity of continuing with forestry schemes outside of, and predating, the NZ ETS. Finally, the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act was amended, various species protection programs were upgraded, and attempts to reduce New Zealand's biodiversity loss were launched.

Protection measures implemented by New Zealand for vulnerable marine ecosystems in the South Pacific Ocean

Interim measures for bottom fisheries adopted by the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization (SPRFMO) require participants to limit bottom fishing to currently fished areas and prevent significant adverse impacts on vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs). The New Zealand bottom trawl footprint consists of two hundred 20 min latitude × 20 min longitude blocks trawled over the period 2002-2006 within which New Zealand flagged vessels reported 11 425 tows, primarily targeting orange roughy Hoplostethus atlanticus. Past effort and seabed impact levels dif- fer substantially between these blocks, ranging from lightly ( 50 tows block -1 ), with a maximum of 1417 tows in the most heavily trawled block. Effort data were used to stratify the bottom trawl footprint into 3 effort tiers as the basis for a management approach tailored to levels of past impact: (1) adequate and representative spatial closure of areas likely to sup- port VMEs, with emphasis on less impacted areas; (2) a move-on rule in areas where likelihood of encounter with a VME is unknown; and (3) constraining fishing effort to remaining open areas most impacted by past fishing. Sixty-two lightly trawled blocks were closed to prevent impact in these areas; 69 moderately trawled blocks were subjected to a move-on rule; and 69 heavily trawled blocks were designated as open to fishing. A further 20 blocks were closed to provide representative protec- tion within the moderately and heavily trawled tiers. In the absence of seabed biodiversity data, bio- logically important physical factors, primarily depth range and topography, were used to select interim precautionary closures and to evaluate representativity of closed in comparison with open areas. Geospatial analyses are presented on the distribution and representivity of seabed depth within open, move-on and closed blocks in each fishing area in comparison with the overall SPRFMO Area.

At sea movement of Macquarie Island giant petrels: Relationships with marine protected areas and Regional Fisheries Management Organisations

Satellite tracking devices were used to examine the at sea movements of southern and northern giant petrels from Macquarie Island during the Austral summers of 2005–06 and 2006–07. Time spent at sea for nine northern giant petrels (four breeding adults, five recently fledged juveniles) and 10 southern giant petrels (three breeding adults, one non-breeding adult, and six recently fledged juveniles) was examined in relation to marine protected areas and fishing activity in the area immediately adjacent to Macquarie Island in 2005–06, and in terms of the jurisdictions of Regional Fisheries Management Authorities (RFMOs) at a broader scale during both seasons. Breeding adult southern and northern giant petrels spent a large proportion of their time at sea in the Macquarie Island Marine Park (25% and 65%, respectively), primarily during chick rearing. Further from Macquarie Island, the most important foraging areas for adult giant petrels were the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) statistical sub-areas 58.4.1 and 88.1, where foraging activity was concentrated around the ice edge and the Polar Frontal Zone. Fledglings of both species spent time in the Marine Park immediately after fledging, before moving into international waters. We found significant temporal and spatial overlap in the areas used by recently fledged juvenile northern giant petrels and the areas utilised by the single trawler that operated in these waters during 2005–06. Adult giant petrels spent little time in RFMO waters other than those under the jurisdiction of CCAMLR, but fledgling southern and northern giant petrels spent considerable time (56% and 78% of total time at sea) on the high seas of the Pacific Ocean, in areas under the jurisdictions of the Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna (CCSBT), the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), the Inter American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC) and the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO). Band returns indicate that the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) and the South East Atlantic Fisheries Organisation (SEAFO) areas are likely to be extensively utilised by Macquarie Island giant petrels in the first three years after fledging. Overall, Macquarie Island’s giant petrel populations are well protected by marine reserves during the breeding season. However, after fledging birds move into RFMO areas that currently have low standards of observer coverage and by catch mitigation, and where fisheries related mortality is likely to pose a significant risk.

Interim Measures Adopted by the Participants in the Negotiations to Establish the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organization

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