Tuna Market Intelligence
Issue 31, February 3, 2016
Your fortnightly report on trends and influencers on the global tuna market from the Pacific Islands.
MARKETUPDATE
Bangkokinsidersreportthatskipjacktunapriceshave
incheditswayabitfurthertoashighasUS$1080per
metrictonne.
Thiscouldbeduetoanumberoffactorsincluding
uncertainty,tyingupofvesselsfishinginPNAwaters
undertheUStreaty,andElNino.
PartiestoNauruAgreement(PNA)ChiefExecutiveOfficer
DrTransformAqorausaidtheyareanticipatingaslow
increaseofprices:"Ithinkwecouldalsopencilin
uncertaintymorethanscarcityasareasonfortheslow
climb."DrAqorausaiditmaytakeanothermonthbefore
thefullfinancialimpactoftheUSfleet'sinactioninPNA
watersisrealised.
However,theWorldTunaPurseSeineOrganisation
believesthetyingupofUSvesselsandhighcostofVDS
daysisthereason.
"Theslowclimbinpricesismainlyduetomanyboatstied
upastheycannotaffordtopaythehighvesseldaysbeing
charged,pluslowpricesontheBangkokmarket,"WTPO
PresidentFranciscoTiuLaurelsaid
[email protected]
Tuna
Market Intelligence is an independent
publication,
sponsored by the Parties to the
Nauru
Agreement (PNA) to unearth industry
market information from Pacific Island
and
reporters
and analysts. Reprint in the media
from the PNA countries is free. All other
reprints must be authorized. Contact us on
[email protected]
or see more on
www.pnatuna.com
INFLUENCERSREPORT
PalaulawsrequiresoffloadinginPort
AllfishingvesselsinPalauarenowrequiredtooffload
theircatchinMalakalHarbor.
LonglinefishingvesselsregisteredinPalauareprohibited
fromoffloadingortransshippingcatchinanyportoutside
thecountry,accordingtothenewInterimUniform
LonglineFishingAgreement.
MinisterofNaturalResources,EnvironmentandTourism
UmiichSengebausaidthenewagreementmakesclear
Palau’sstandontransshipmentandoffloadingcatch
outsideoftheMalakalHarbor.
“ThebiggestchangeisthattheynowhavefuelinPalau.It
willpreventalotofsuspectedoff-loadinginhighseas,”
Sengebausaid.
“Everylicensedvesselshalloff-loadortransshipitsentire
catch,fishorfishproductsatfacilitieswithinMalakal
Harbor.Thecompanyshallprovidethegovernmentwith
24hourswrittennoticeofanylicensedvesselplanningto
off-loadortransshipatMalakalHarbor,”theagreement
stipulates.
Thenewinterimalsotookintoaccountrelevantlawssuch
asthePalauNationalMarineSanctuarylegislation,Palau
NationalCodeandtherequirementsunderthePartiesto
theNauruAgreement(PNA).
Tokelautoexplorefisheriesoptions
Tokelauislookingataoptionsforanewfisheries
arrangementforthePacificasaregion.Respondingto
queriesonthefailurebytheUStohonouradealitsigned
withPacificislandStatesinAugustlastyear,General
ManagerforTokelau'sOfficeoftheCouncilforthe
OngoingGovernmentofTokelau,JovilisiSuveinakama,
saidtherewasnodoubtthatthiswouldbeamultifacetedandcomplexprocess:"Tokelauiscertainlynot
justlookingatthissituationintermsoflostrevenuebut
Tuna Market Intelligence
asanopportunitytoworktogetherasaregionand
stakeholdersforbrighterandsustainablearrangement
fortheregion."
MostofTokelau'sbudgetisfundedbyExclusiveEconomic
ZonefishingandithadcommittedalotofitsVesselDay
SchemetotheUnitedStatestreaty.Mostofitsfunding
comesfromthePartiestoNauruAgreementVesselDay
Scheme(VDS).
PNGtoupskilllocalsforprocessing
Withsignificantchangestothedevelopmentofthe
fisheriesindustryinPapuaNewGuinea,localsneedtobe
upskilledtokeepupdatedwithvariouschanges.
NationalFisheriesAuthority’s(NFA)ManagingDirector
JohnKasusaidmoreup-skillingofpeopleareneeded:
“Lookingbackatallthedevelopmentsinfisheriesforthe
last10-15years,thereisadramaticchangeinanumber
ofareasthatrequireskillchange.Youwouldseethatby
thevariousprocessingplantsthathavecomeonboard,
wecurrentlyhaveaboutfive,threecomingonboard,so
therewillbeeightprocessingplants,includingtherecent
openingofthePMIZproject(PacificMarineIndustrial
Zone).”
DuringthelaunchofthePMIZproject,PrimeMinister
PeterO’Neillsaidthatprojectalonewouldgenerate
20,000jobsforlocals.
Kasusaid:“Onedaywewillownourownprocessingplant
andweneedtoupskillourpeopletomanagesucha
processingplant.”
TheNationalFisheriesCollege(NFC)’sCommercialFishing
OperationDepartmentteamleaderBernardBuasaidthe
collegehasallfacilitiesthatatrainingcentershould
requiretoempowerlocalswhoarekeeninthefisheries
industry.“EveryyearwehaveindustryvisitslikeSouth
SeasTunainWewak,wegotoMadang’sRD(Tuna
Canners),thenLaeFrabelleandInternationalFood
Corporation,PortMoresbythePrawnTrawlersandallthe
othersandthenweinterviewonwhattypeoftraining
theyneed.”
USwithdrawaltotakeeffectinJanuary2017
ThedecisionbytheUnitedStatestowithdrawfromthe
30-yearTunaTreatywithPacificIslandCountrieswillnot
takeeffectuntilJanuary2017,saysPacificIslandsForum
FisheriesAgency(FFA)deputydirectorgeneral,Wez
Norris.
InhisinitialresponsetoPACNEWSqueries,Norrisadmits
theimpactoftheUSwithdrawalwillbedifferentfrom
countrytocountry:“Someofthemhaveviable
alternativemarketsthatcouldabsorbtheirfishingdays
withrelativelylittleimpact.Others,howeverthatare
reliantontheTreatytoselltheirdayswouldstruggleto
achieverevenuessimilartothosecurrentlyenjoyed.”
WhilethePNAcountriescanselldaysunderthePNA
VesselDayScheme(VDS),someoftheothercountries
willsuffersignificantlossesoffundingfromthetreaty’s
aidallocations.TheForumFisheriesAgencyprovides
technicaladvicetothePacificIslandcountriescoveredby
theUSTreaty.
“OurworkwillfocusonredesigningtheTreatysothatit
canstillplayitsvitalgovernmenttogovernmentroles,
butcancaterformoreflexiblecommercialarrangements
betweenindividualvesseloperatorsandcountriesthat
sellthenfishingdays,”saysNorris.“Thiswillensurethat
theTreatyadequatelyreflectsthenatureofthefishery
andrespectstheVDS.”
DespiteallthemediahypeabouttheUStreaty,Pacific
IslandsForumFisheriesAgency(FFA)headquartersin
Honiarareportsthattherecouldbesomelightforthe
treatyinitscurrenterraticstate.
Norrisacknowledgedthe:“highleveloffrustrationfrom
Pacificnationswherebudgetsarebeingskeweredbythis
news,especiallyasUSandPacificdelegationsheldthree
specificformalnegotiationsinthelast12monthstoreach
ahard-wonagreementachievedthroughcompromise,
effort,andgoodfaithfromallsides.“
“AstheUSTreatyAdministrator,thesecretariat
recognisestheimpactsofthisdecisionbytheUSonour
membersandremainscommittedtoidentifyingavailable
optionsandcontinuedcommunicationwiththeUSto
seekresolution,”saysNorris.
Tuna Market Intelligence
USindustryrespondstoTreatycrisis
PartiestoNauruAgreement(PNA)ChiefExecutive
Officer,DrTransformAqorauhastoldaUnitedStates
newspaperthatthePNAisnotinterestedinboatsthat
cannotpay,asmixedmessageshavesurfacedamongthe
USplayersaboutwhoshouldpayforUSfishingaccess.
“Youcomefishinourwaters,youfishaccordingtoour
rulesandregulations,”Aqorausaid.“Wedon’ttellthe
U.S.andJapanhowtofishtheirwaters.”
TheSanDiegoTribunereportedthatDrAqorausaidthe
islandnationswerenothurtingbecauseU.S.companies
werenotfillingislandcanneries.Instead,hesaidthe
waterscouldnowbeopentomorecompetitionfor
fishing—includingfromlocalentrepreneurs.
Themediaoutlet,basedinthecitywheremostoftheUS
fleetthatoperatesinPacificwatersarebased,had
reportedthattheUSStateDepartmenthadsteppedinto
helpAmericantunaboatsdealwithPacificstates.
ThenewspaperhadalsoreportedTriMarineassaying
payingforfishingdaysasopposedtofishwasabroken
system.
Ithadalsoreportedthatwhilstcrewmembersonboats
cantransfertootherboats-canneriesliketheonein
AmericanSamoawouldlosethousandsofjobs.
Atthesametime,thenewspaperalsoreportsthatwhilst
UStunaoperatorsclaim2015wasabadyearsomeboat
ownerswerestillwillingtopayPacificnationswhatwas
agreedtoinAugust.
TheGlobalCompanies,agroupofthreeNevada-based
firmswithofficesinSanDiego,saysitwillpayitsportion
ofthe$17millionfirstquarterpaymentowedunderthe
dealstruckinAugust,2015.However,Globalsaiditcould
notcoverthecostoftheentirefleetitself.
OneoftheboatsmanagedbySanDiego-basedSouth
PacificTunaCorphasdockedallitsboatsbecauseofthe
disputeamongAmericanvesselowners.
FSMspreadsfisheriesmessageinChina
FederatedStatesofMicronesiahastakentheirfisheries
messagetoChinainanaimtowoolonglinefishingvessels
tofishintheirwatersunderthePartiestoNauru
Agreement(PNA)LonglineVesselDayScheme.
HeadedbytopofficialsfromtheNationalOceanic
ResourceManagementAuthority(NORMA)likeBoard
chairmanChurchillEdwardandexecutivedirectorEugene
Pangelinan,FSM,smallinlandmassbutwithlargeocean
areasrichwithskipjacktuna,conductedafisheries
seminarinBeijinglastmonth.
ItalsoencouragedlonglinefishingvesselsfromChinato
investintheFSMandsecurevesseldaysforlongline
fishinginFSMwaters.
WiththeimplementationofthePartiestotheNauru
Agreementlonglinevesseldayschemein2016,
PangelinanadvisedChineselonglinefishingcompanies
“thattheopportunityexistsnowforChinatoplayamajor
roleinits(FSM)longlinefisheriesdevelopmentandfor
Chinatosecureaplaceinthelimitedfisheryonceitgoes
intofullimplementationin2017.”
PangelinanfurtherrequestedChinatoseriouslylookto
theFSMasapartnerinimprovingrelationsonthe
managementofthelonglinefishery,throughastrategic
partnershipintheWesternandCentralPacificFisheries
Commission.
SolomonsfishforJapanmarket
Thefirstconsignmentoftunacatchfromlonglinefishing
vesselsoperatinginSolomonwaterswereoffloadedover
theweekendandboundforJapanaspartof
government’sefforttogainmorefromitsresources,
Pacnewsreports.
TunawastransferredfromLeroywharf,Lungapoint,East
Honiaraandisexpectedtoboostthecountry’sexportin
tunacatch.
It'sthefirsttimeforlicensedlonglinefishingvesselsfrom
GlobalFisheriesLimitedfromTaiwanandSolFish
Companytooffloadtheircatchinthenation’scapital,
Honiara.Thecatchhasbeenunloadedandloadedagain
intofreezercontainersboundforJapanesemarkets.
Tuna Market Intelligence
UndertheSolomonIslandgovernment’spolicy,a
minimumof80%oftheboat’srespectivecatchmustbe
offloadedlocallythisyear.By2017,alltunacaughtin
SolomonwaterswillbeoffloadedintheSolomons.
ThePurseSeineVesselDaySchemeusagefor2016
The effort in Vessel Day Scheme participants’ EEZs for
2015 is illustrated in the graph below, where the yellow
line represents the constant monthly usage for staying
within the TAE (total allowable effort), and the red line
shows the total VDS days in zones, taking into account
nonfishingdays.
Asshownbythegraph,theeffortlevelinParties’zones
for2015wasmuchlowerthantheTAE,allocatedforthe
year.