70% of global fish catch comes from the Pacific. But overexploitation of our ocean resources, Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing, combined with the impacts of climate change on the health of marine and coral reef ecosystems are resulting in devastating consequences for biodiversity, people and fisheries. Unsustainable fishing is now the single biggest threat to the health of our oceans and communities.

Relied on by millions of coastal communities for food security, nutrition and livelihoods, sustainable fisheries and blue food are at the heart of achieving a “People and Nature Positive Pacific.”

Over the past two decades, coastal and offshore fisheries across the Pacific have continued to deteriorate, with coastal communities hardest hit by depleting stocks of fish and other marine resources. Fishing practices continue to further endanger some of the region's most iconic and endangered species such as marine turtles, which are often captured as by-catch.

Growing demand, overharvesting and destructive fishing methods, land- and ship-based pollution, and sedimentation caused by logging, mangrove removal and land development, are some of the identified causes of the disappearing marine resources. Climate change is also causing shifts in the distribution and production of species, as well as the collapse of coral reef ecosystems. 

There is good news. Where we have the right alignment of science, politics and social factors, a significant and growing number of fisheries are in recovery. 

We are co-creating a future for our fisheries that benefits both people and the ocean. To do this, we're tackling the increasing pressure on ocean assets while ensuring communities continue to have sustainable pathways to access the resources they need and can continue benefitting from a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive fisheries industry. This involves mobilizing community support and promoting leadership across and between the public and private sectors to rebuild the habitats that support fisheries for essential food and income. 

Initiatives include...

• Contributing to various levels of fisheries management, working with communities to policymakers and businesses and involving multiple sectors, from governments to corporations to civil society organizations.

• Adopting a supply-chain wide perspective to secure wins in the effort to improve the sustainability and resilience of offshore and coastal fisheries.

• Developing low-impact fisheries that take bycatch, marine ecosystems and sensitive species into account, ultimately helping to secure not only the long-term viability of the fisheries sector, but boost ocean resilience in the face of the climate and biodiversity crises.

• Working with communities to develop Community-Based Fisheries Management plans encompassing tambu reefs (protected or sacred reefs) with community-determined restrictions on harvest times, sizes, and areas for specific species, and by promoting anti-destructive fishing practices.

• Tackling Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, including by hosting Marine Steardship Council Fisheries Standards and Chain of Custody (CoC) workshops for governments and private sector actors to improve the traceability of offshore fisheries, particularly Fiji's Tuna Logline Industry.

• Ensuring communities have needed scientific data which they can combine with their local knowledge to make the best decisions for the sustainable management of their resources, such as information about climate-related impacts on nature, species status and distribution, among others.

• Training National Fisheries Officers on community-based fisheries management to advance shared understanding.

• Testing ways to support the sustainable production of nutritional and economically viable aquatic food. 

• Working with the government to improve legislation at a national level, with clear targets for reducing the number of unsustainable fisheries and advocating to end harmful fisheries subsidies, which also contributes to fulfilling SDG14 in the UN Agenda 2030 and international agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the the Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species on Wild Flora and Fauna.

• Reducing the strain on natural resources while providing small-scale fishers with diversified income souces through innovative Nature-based solutions.