13 June 2012: The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) convened a workshop aimed to transfer the results of SPC’s recent vulnerability assessment, titled “Vulnerability of Tropical Pacific Fisheries and Aquaculture to Climate Change,” and to raise awareness of the impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture in the region.

The meeting, which took place in Noumea, New Caledonia, from 5-8 June 2012, was attended by fisheries officers and national focal points for climate change from 15 Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Participants identified ten priority actions to assist the fisheries and aquaculture sectors in adapting to climate variability, climate change, and increased risk of natural disasters, as follows: managing tuna fisheries to conserve stocks; strengthening regional arrangements to cap and trade fishing effort for tuna; diversifying sources of tuna for canneries; reducing the energy used by industrial tuna fishing vessels; managing and restoring vegetation in catchments to protect coastal fish habitats; keeping harvests of coastal fish within sustainable limits; increasing access to tuna for coastal communities with inshore fish aggregating devices; developing fisheries for small pelagic fish; expanding freshwater pond aquaculture; and improving post-harvest methods. [SPC Press Release]