Healthy coastal ecosystems, particularly coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass habitats, are critical in underpinning coastal fisheries, food security and vital ecosystem services that provide significant additional benefits to Pacific coastal communities and economies. These ecosystem services include shoreline protection, maintenance of water quality, support for reef and nearshore tourism activities, and resilience to the impacts of climate change.
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A green sea turtle, which had been caught and entangled in a local fisher’s net, was successfully tagged and released safely back into the ocean on 6 October 2021.
The turtle, which was caught two days earlier by a fisherman from the village of Salelesi about 16 kilometres east of Apia on Samoa’s Upolu Island, was kept in the village pool while the fisher sought assistance from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE) of Samoa and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Invertebrate surveys allow us to understand the status of species populations, not just what is caught. Data, such as abundance and length, are used to calculate stock densities and track sizes and help develop management strategies for the sustainable use of fisheries resources.
The BIEM Initiative, KRA 5 of PEUMP, implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) supported a collaboration between World Wide Fund for Nature Pacific (WWF-Pacific) and the Fiji National University’s Fiji Maritime Academy (FMA) to provide certification training to fishing crew in Fiji’s longline tuna industry.
In Vanuatu the SPREP-led BIEM Initiative (KRA5 of PEUMP) is supporting Biodiversity Rapid Assessments (BIORAP) in the provinces of Malekula and Pentecost. Photographs and video are essential not only to record the work being done, but to document community views and share stories further afield.
To reduce mortality of by-catch and endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species mortality and encourage safer by-catch handling in Fiji's offshore fishing industry, 54 by-catch mitigation toolkits have been distributed to Fiji Fishing Industry Association (FFIA) member longline fishing vessels.
The supply of the by-catch mitigation toolkits was supported by the By-catch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) Initiative implemented by SPREP under the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) Programme funded by the European Union and the Government of Sweden.