Flashback to Pohnpei voices

(C) Greenpeace

The story in Pohnpei was much the same as everywhere - worries about the future of fishing. Industry representatives where especially outspoken. The first day there, James Morvick, Chair of the FSM Offshore Fishers Association, set the tone at the Greenpeace sponsored symposium...

"Some of us kill fish for a living, and we have to. We kill fish because people want to buy it, or have to buy it in order that they can sustain themselves. But we wish to kill the fish in a responsible manner. No one has a greater interest in the sustainability of these resources than the fishermen, and the people who depend upon these fishery stocks for their livelihood."

Morvick backed many of the same measures that Greenpeace advocates - such as only licensing fishing vessels that are on the region wide FFA registry and also have Vessel Monitoring Systems in place. Also, allowing transhipping (transferring) fish only in ports where regulators can monitor the catch. He even went on to say that market countries need to be part of the solution to pirate fishing, and suggesting certification of the origin of fish products.

But Morvick was more concerned about flag of convenience vessels than illegal fishing. Talking about foreign owned super seiners that are trying to get access to the region through flags of convenience and front companies he said, "...some of these vessels are very big, very efficient, very modern vessels, and the effect on the fishery resources could be quite devastating."

Milan Kamber, Manager of the Caroline Fisheries Corporation that owns two small purse seiners, spoke to us quite openly about the "alarm" within the fishing industry at the decline in catch over the past two years, saying:

"Our ships used to come in with 3,000 to 4,000 tons [per year], now they're barely coming in with 2,000 tons. They used to stay [at sea] a month, or under a month, but now [it takes] up to 50 days, close to 2 months to finish the voyage."

The scientists advising the Secretary of the Pacific Communities have also warned that yellowfin and bigeye tuna stocks are declining - and that if the present trend continues, both species will be in serious trouble. But Milan worries that skipjack tuna might also be in trouble, saying:

"In previous years we sometimes used to have a [period] during the year, two or three months, [when] we were catching small fish. Now… for 11 months the skipjack was so small - two to three pounds. It's unusual."

Nelson Arnold, who works for Trimarine, echoed the concerns about long-term decline in fish stock. Trimarine is a US company that owns/operates purse seiners - including the largest currently fishing in the region. Arnold has been in the tuna industry since the 1970's. Talking about long-term trends he said:

"Well, yes, to compare today back to 10 years ago, there is much much difference in the catch. The size of the fish is getting smaller. The size of fish that is being brought in by the purse seiners is less, and took more days to catch."

He also lamented the wastefulness of bycatch, and thinks some foreign fishing boats are the worst about catching and discarding fish that could be put to good use even though they aren't commercially targeted species. But he also admitted how hard it is to avoid bycatch, saying with a wry smile, "You have to catch the tuna to make money".

When it came to pirate fishing, he wasn't too alarmed about the current state of affairs, but worries about the future:

"I believe that once the rules start to come into place that will limit certain boats or certain countries from fishing then this pirating will increase. If they don't have the access to fishing licenses and things, and so the only way will be to sneak in, catch some fish, and run away."

It's not only industry, though. Even average the Pohnepians who just goes fishing for fun can see the trend. "If I can catch one yellowfin, I'll be all right," a 38 year old local businessman told me on his way out in his powerboat. He wasn't overly optimistic though because, according to him, there are a lot less fish these days than when he was a kid.

-- Andrew