Environment

Tuna overfishing continues
Turangi tip clean-up underway
Game fishery idea mooted
Pest knocked out by predator
Surveillance key to marine park
Fishermen put concerns to govt

Purse seine vessels, such as this one, are reportedly contributing to the overfishing of bigeye tuna in the Pacific. 12011029

Overfishing of bigeye tuna continues in the western and central Pacific tuna fishery, the worlds biggest tuna fishery, according to the 2010 tuna fishery assessment report released this month by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC).

Though the species is not at risk of extinction, and is never likely to be, the assessment found that bigeye fishing efforts need to be reduced by at least 32 per cent from the average levels for 20062009 to ensure long term sustainability.

Using fisheries and biological data, some going back to the 1950s, SPC has assessed the trends and current stocks of the four tuna species mainly targeted by fishers skipjack, yellowfin, bigeye and south Pacific albacore.

In the Cook Islands albacore is the only commercial fishery, although government has begun a three-year exploratory fishing programme to determine whether there is enough resource to establish commercial skipjack and bigeye fisheries.

The overall 2010 catch for all four species is estimated at 2.4 million tonnes the second highest annual catch on record.

It represents 83 per cent of the total Pacific Ocean catch and 60 per cent of the global tuna catch.

Overall, the fishery is in the best shape of all the tuna fisheries in the world, says John Hampton SPCs Oceanic Fisheries Programme Manager.

On a scale of 1 to 10, we estimate it as 6 or 7, a green traffic light tinged with orange. But there has been an upward trend in total tuna catch for many years, mainly due to increases in purse seine fishery catches, which accounted for 75 per cent of the 2010 catch, Hampton says.

Bigeye represents just five per cent of the fisherys total tuna catch.

Most of the bigeye catch is taken in equatorial areas, both by purse seine and long line vessels.The purse seine fisheries and domestic surface fisheries of the Philippines and Indonesia take large numbers of small bigeye. The assessment report states that yellowfin, skipjack and south Pacific albacore tuna stocks are being fished at a moderate level and stocks are reasonably healthy. But Hampton cautions against complacency and stresses the need for responsible management actions to keep the stocks healthy.

Though some species are being fished within generally accepted levels, this does not mean that there is potential for higher catches, he says.

Now is the time to think about limiting catches, or fishing effort, at around the current levels.

In particular, the report recommends that the yellowfin catch in the western equatorial Pacific be limited to around current levels and that limits on skipjack fishing be considered.

• Release

Operators of the Turangi recycling centre were last year pleading for government help to stop people dumping waste on their property, and to help remove the rubbish. 11070615

Cook Islands General Transport is still chipping away at the job of cleaning up the Turangi recycling yard, but recent rains and the delayed arrival of a car baler have postponed the projects date of completion.

Last November leaseholder Dave Brown estimated that the clean-up for which he contracted General Transports services would be complete by December.

Malcolm Sword of General Transport says that was an optimistic estimate.

While his team is quietly removing bits and pieces from the Turangi section which belongs to Pa Marie Ariki he says General Transport cannot begin the job in earnest until a car baler arrives from New Zealand.

We had to hold back on doing any further work because were waiting for a car baler to arrive from New Zealand what weve been doing is working quietly on the smaller stuff but obviously we can only handle three or four cars a week. With the baler (we can) do 50 vehicles a week, depending, Sword said.

He estimates there are hundreds of rusted car bodies on the Turangi property.

Sword expects the baler to be in Rarotonga by late February, but says he is still negotiating with the manufacturers and will not know for certain until the end of this week.

He expects that the job will take three months from the date the baler arrives.

Were getting onto it but its not as if its something that were going to walk away from we have well and truly got processes in place and soon as this car baler gets here well get into it, he said.

The clean-up effort has also been hampered by recent rains.

Sword says the job must be done carefully and deliberately, as the Turangi site is a minefield of hazardous materials.

The whole idea is to clean it up responsibly in an environmentally correct manner to remove debris, waste, batteries (responsibly), he said.

We are still taking stuff from there but can only do three or four cars a week, in the last three weeks the weather (has made it) impossible to do any work.

In the middle of last year, the tenants who ran the Turangi recycling operation vacated the premises after receiving an eviction notice from Brown through his agent John Tansley.

Brown said he issued the notice on the grounds that the tenants had not been keeping (the section) tidy.

Brown agreed to cover the cost of clearing of the section, as the former tenants were not in a position to do so.

• Rachel Reeves

Recreational and commercial fishermen alike are keen to see whether there is value in establishing a designated game fishery in Rarotonga and Aitutaki. Photo Akura Fishing Charters 12011530

Recreational fisherman Reuben Tylor explains to fellow fishermen and government marine resources staff the potential value of a game fishery in Rarotonga and Aitutaki. 12011212

Recreational and commercial fishermen alike are keen to see whether there is value in establishing a designated game fishery in Rarotonga and Aitutaki.

Concerned about declining catch rates and governments issuing of commercial fishing licences to foreign operators, local fishermen want the Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) to consider the idea.

It was mooted at a meeting between MMR secretary Ben Ponia, marine resources minister Teina Bishop, senior fisheries officer Sonny Tatuava and eight Rarotonga-based fishermen this week.

Recreational fisherman Reuben Tylor says there is strong demand from tourists for game fishing in Rarotonga and Aitutaki, and he thinks the economic benefit could be more than that generated by foreign commercial operators.

Tylor suggests MMR should research just how much a designated game fishery in Rarotonga or Aitutaki, or both, is potentially worth to the country.

If found to be valuable, the game fishery should be nurtured and developed with help from MMR, he says.

That could involve limits on foreign operators and the extension of buffer zones around the islands where long line vessels and other commercial fleets cannot operate, Tylor says.

I think you (MMR) are taking a big risk with an extremely high performing game fishing industry. I think government should have an idea of the potential value of that industry before they allow you to take that risk.

He says it will be difficult to prove the game fisherys worth, but that is no reason to ignore its potential.

Fishing is an integral part of the tourism industry. In a way its a matter of experimentation.

Fellow fisherman George Ngaei is supportive of a cautious approach in respect of commercial fishery development.

I think that unless our catch history is statistically significant we are bound to go through every other countrys experience in that species are becoming extinct and possibly some are already extinct. You (MMR) should think carefully before extending the term of current licences.

Ngaei says maybe the tourism industry should put money into the development of a designated game fishery.

Fisherman Don Beer says tourists want fresh fish but at present domestic operators cannot supply the demand.

Ocean Fresh owner and fisherman Bill Doherty provides verification of that point.

Weve just offloaded about 700 kilograms of broadbill in Rarotonga, after spending a few days collecting fish from eight boats. They were dropping about 24,000 hooks a day for about five days thats 100,000 hooks and just 700 kilograms of broadbill.

Local fishermen have been pointing the finger at MMR, which they say needs to focus on domestic development rather than securing agreements with foreign commercial fishing operators.

But Ponia says the ministry is dedicated to improving the local fishing industry in collaboration with larger players.

We are not about fishing licence revenue. Our objective is we have a primary resource we have to develop.

Here in Rarotonga we want to set up markets for export and let the small scale fisheries feed into that. Already we are on the right track with Yuh Yow offloading their catch in Rarotonga before sending it on.

Ponia says more needs to be done with the local fishing industry, but foreign operators should not be excluded in its development.

Your (local fishermen) capacity to supply is different to those (foreign) fleets.

He says a good start will be getting more data from Cook Islands fishermen.

We dont have local scale statistics. Every time you go out and dont catch a fish that needs to be recorded thats actually the most important data.

Bishop says he is determined to help local fishermen as best he can both as marine resources minister and minister of tourism.

But they should not be blaming foreign operators for local problems, he says.

Most of the 17 Chinese vessels will be coming around April. We already have a fishing problem before those 17 boats come here.

• Rosie Manins

A beneficial bug (centre) surrounded by its dinner of juvenile thrips (top left) and adult thrips. 12011306

The Cuban laurel thrips pest is under control in the Cook Islands thanks to the introduction of a natural enemy of the pest from Hawaii.

This is the result of surveys conducted since the beneficial insect was released a year ago by Ministry of Agriculture entomologist Dr Maja Poeschko.

Within months of its first discovery in November 2009, the Cuban laurel thrips turned into one of the biggest pest problems on Rarotonga causing a number of minor road accidents and lots of eye irritation.

The small black bug attracted to bright colours was renowned for leaving a nasty sting and itch it if flew into the eyes of its unsuspecting victims and even work crews on roads, athletes and bar patrons having a quiet drink fell victim to the irritating thrips.

The thrips feeds and multiplies on young leaves of ficus benjamina trees which can be found all over the island as popular shade trees such as those surrounding the national auditorium.

By the end of 2010 the pest population literally exploded, explains Poeschko.

Millions of thrips where flying in swarms in the humid hot air becoming a major nuisance for everybody.

After much research, Poeschko came across a beneficial insect from the minute bug family to combat the thrips.

With a body length of only 2mm the adult bugs are only slightly bigger compared to a mature thrips.

Similar to a spider the bugs feed by inserting their piercing mouthpart into the host, sucking up all their body liquid.

Upon further research on the management of the pest a predatory insect was identified as a major natural enemy of the Cuban laurel thrips which was present in Hawaii.

Poeschko consulted colleagues of the State Department of Agriculture in Honolulu to discuss the matter further and an import risk analysis (IRA) was carried out.

Based on this IRA it was decided that it was safe to import the beneficial bugs in an attempted to biologically control of the Cuban laurel thrips.

The predators arrived in December 2010 and were released on to a small ficus tree in Arorangi which was heavily infested with the pest.

The fragile bugs survived and multiplied by feeding on eggs, immature stages and adults of the thrips.

Two months later bugs collected from the Arorangi site were distributed all over Rarotonga. The releasing sites were monitored on a regular basis to find out whether the predators were able to control the thriving thrips population.

Young ficus leaves infested with the Cuban laurel thrips show a distinctive reaction by curling up.

It is therefore easy to determine whether the pest population is increasing or declining by looking at the ratio of infested leaves on the host trees, says Poeschko.

During the summer of 2011, prior to the release of the predator, Poeschko says that all trees examined were heavily infested with the pest.

They showed an infestation of close to 100%. The curled leaves contained dozens of adults, immature stages and eggs of the pest. The ground was littered with leaves showing signs of thrips infestation.

During this period many households decided to cut their trees down.

Poeschko says that a few months after the release the ficus trees around the island started to recover.

The lush young green leaves were very obvious and could easily be spotted from the distance.

In a close up examination on selected trees this month Poeschko estimated that between 1% and 5% of leaves showed signs of thrips infestation.

The predatory bugs were found to be very abundant and active.

The adults were flying around the trees in search of leaves infested with the pest.

About every third curled leave contained immature stages of the beneficial bug clearly indicating that they got well established and are multiplying.

No other beneficial insects could be found amongst the thrips population indicating that the drastic decline in the Cuban laurel thrips population is due to the introduced predatory bug from Hawaii.

This is another successful biological control programme for the Cook Islands but Poeschko is pushing for tighter boarder controls to prevent pests entering the country.

This thrips had a huge impact on the entire community and all because someone smuggled in a plant or a part of a plant this type of thing needs to stop.

• Matariki Wilson / MP

Click to enlarge

Dr Maja Poeschko releases beneficial bugs onto an infested ficus tree in Arorangi to combat and control the Cuban laurel thrips pest. 12011303

 

Click to enlarge

A curled up ficus leaf infested with Cuban laurel thrips (left) compared to a healthy leaf (right). 12011305

 

Click to enlarge

Dr Maja Poeschko releases beneficial bugs onto an infested ficus tree in Arorangi to combat and control the Cuban laurel thrips pest. 12011304

 

Cook Islands delegates were invited to attend the Big Oceans Network conference a forum for scientists and people who have stewardship of established large marine protected areas in December of last year.

The conference was an opportunity to hear firsthand from those who have successfully established marine protected areas among them Andrew Skeat, general manager for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park was established by the Australian government in 1975, and in 1994 was accepted as a World Heritage site. This is seen as a wonderful accolade for the Great Barrier Reef which is the original and still one of the largest marine protected areas (MPA) in the world.

Australia declared the reef a marine park after much consultation with the 70 groups of traditional indigenous owners of the Great Barrier Reef and this continues via the Indigenous Reef Advisory Committee that advises the authority on traditional and cultural matters.

The Cook Islands delegation to the Big Oceans Network conference, which included two members of the Koutu Nui o Te Kuki Airani, was very interested in the Australian model because of its complex mix of culture, nature, management and science.

It sustains a blend of carefully managed and monitored activities including commercial fishing, recreational fishing, traditional fishing methods, tourism, boating and much more. The Great Barrier Reef has designated zones activities needing permits, restricted activities, and prohibited activities.

Naturally, such zoning requires careful management with sophisticated remote surveillance and monitoring methods used to track commercial activities in the Great Barrier Reef.

The main tool used is the vessel monitoring system (VMS) used by Fisheries Queensland to track and monitor commercial fishing vessels within the Great Barrier Reef MPA. VMS is a remote vessel surveillance system that must be fitted on to all commercial fishing vessels which fish within the Great Barrier Reef MPA.

The VMS data also has a marine park overlay which shows whether a vessel has been operating in the restricted or no-take zones of the marine park. It is not illegal to pass through a restricted zone, but if illegal fishing is suspected, then compliance staff can board the vessel, check logbooks and download data from onboard navigation systems and interview the vessel master. Patrol boats can also be sent out to catch vessels in the act of fishing in the no take zones.

Tampering with the VMS is an offence, but not uncommon, and so the Great Barrier Reef authority have started a new focused data analysis that zooms in on suspect activities in the area.

So far, the VMS data has led to a substantial number of prosecutions and large fines of up to AU$40,000 for breaking the rules of the no-take zones has had a strong deterrent effect on others in the fleet.

The primary purpose of the surveillance is to ensure that commercial fishing boats play by the rules and honour the purpose of the marine park so that it can be used and enjoyed as a national treasure by everyone.

• Koutu Nui

Fishing for wahoo in the Cook Islands is becoming more difficult, with local fishermen reporting a steady reduction in catch. 12011618

Rarotonga fishermen are concerned about the domestic fishing industry, due to declining catch rates. Photo: Tipani Tours 12011617

There remains a stalemate of sorts between local fishermen and the Ministry of Marine Resources as to whether fish stocks are in serious decline and why.

MMR secretary Ben Ponia, senior fisheries officer Sonny Tatuava and marine resources minister Teina Bishop met with eight fishermen in Bishops Rarotonga office this week.

The fishermen recreational and commercial fishermen as well as those associated with the Cook Islands Fishing Association (CIF) requested the meeting to air their concerns.

For some time local fishermen have complained of decreasing catch rates and their worries are being exacerbated by MMRs recent issuing of commercial fishing licences to foreign operators.

CIF and those who make a living off the local fishery, as well as artisanal fishers, believe increased commercial fishing in the two million square kilometre Cook Islands exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is contributing to a decline in fish numbers.

Its a matter of sorting out issues and how we can overcome perceived differences and perceived deficiencies, fisherman George Ngaei says.

Recreational fisherman Reuben Tylor says it is at least gratifying that MMR is now recognising there is a problem with the local fishery because in October MMRs position was that there was no problem.

Fellow fisherman Don Beer agrees.

The real concern is the state of our fisheries, the declining catch and the impact its having on the local people and the Cook Islands market thats the crux of it. The situation got tense last year in October through a series of meetings with MMR trying to find a way forward.

Thats our principal objective today its really the state of our fishing, the lack of fish thats going on our table. We need to go through a process of clearly establishing why the fish arent there.

Ngaei says Rarotonga has been ring-barked by long line commercial fishing vessels for quite a few years.

The reality is that in spite of what you (MMR) are saying, weve been over-fished and we are suffering the consequences. Maybe we are one of the last bastions of the fish resource, which is going to vanish if MMR keeps going how it is going.

But Ponia's school of thought differs somewhat.

The overfishing problem is occurring because fishing nations like ourselves cannot bargain with our neighbours until we have a quota and thats based on catch history. The bigeye fishing problem is about purse seining that takes place around FADs (fish aggregating devices).

Licences issued by MMR are to foreign operators fishing 1000 kilometres away from locals, he says.

I understand you have some very strong concerns but theres a bigger picture we are also trying to deal with we have hundreds of thousands of tonnes (of fish) in our waters and we have to exploit that fishery to establish our rates because that window is closing.

Ponia says the Cook Islands will soon be restricted to a fish quota and in order to ensure the country receives its fare share, a local catch history must be established and soon hence the exploratory fishing programme.

He says declining catch rates around Rarotonga may also be attributed to the extreme la nina weather pattern at present.

Of note as well are the 800 long line fishing vessels currently operating throughout the Pacific, plundering tuna and other species in some parts, Ponia says.

In the Cook Islands there are just 40 long liners, of which only four operate in the southern EEZ and may impact Rarotongas fishery, he says.

Ponia says while some fish do travel throughout the entire Cook Islands EEZ, most species stay within certain degrees.

So the fish being caught in northern waters and high seas above the Cook Islands do not generally move as far south as Rarotonga.

The boats dont come down south because there isnt the fish they stay up north. Weve got two fairly discreet fisheries and yes, we want to protect Rarotongas fishery but we can separate Rarotongas fishery from the northern fishery.

He says those in the southern group should not forget how beneficial commercial fishing in the north can be for those communities particularly Penrhyn which is in a prime geographic location.

If we can generate a sustainable fishery we can hold up our people up north. If you look west Penrhyns the only port for hundreds of kilometres so there are great development opportunities there.

Lets not just try to develop the Rarotonga fishery. We are trying to do a lot of things at once and its difficult sometimes.

Tapi Taio, who operates a small long line vessel around Rarotonga, says he thinks MMR is sacrificing the small local fishermen in order to have foreign fleets operating in Cook Islands waters.

Why 17 licences why dont you just get two or three of those (foreign) boats? Havent we done enough trials? I thought the little fishermen would be okay but we are not.

Whats really bothering me now is we dont spend $10 weve gone through hundreds of thousands of dollars and weve worked hard for that money and now it seems that those people (foreign operators) spend less but impact our fishing more. We are depending on government to look at us dont leave us like this.

Bishop says he wishes local fishermen expressed such concerns more explicitly while government consulted the public on its exploratory fishing programme. He says at present about 7000 tonnes of fish is caught each year in the northern EEZ, but there is no guarantee that if fishing ceased up there, it would improve in the south.

Bishop agrees licence revenue collected by government at present is just peanuts but says the Cook Islands continues to charge the highest licence fees in the Pacific.

• Rosie Manins