Towards better management of Coral Triangle tuna

Indonesia, the Philippines, and Papua New Guinea, all part of a regional sub-group known as the Coral Triangle, have sizeable skipjack, yellowfin and bigeye tuna fisheries. Recent figures suggest that as much as a third of tuna catch from the western and central Pacific Ocean can be attributed to the fleets of these countries. Historically, however, little attention has been paid to their fisheries and their regulations. Management of tuna fisheries in Indonesia and the Philippines faces many challenges, including bycatch of juveniles, lack of effective gear restrictions, subsidized fleets, and unreported catches. Papua New Guinea has countered the challenges of tuna management with several effective measures, including implementing the vessel day scheme, a type of effort quota system, and limiting the use of fish aggregating devices (FADs). This paper compares and contrasts tuna fisheries in the three countries, as well as their management regimes and current management challenges. By highlighting some of the successes that Papua New Guinea has had, we hope that Indonesia and the Philippines may be able to more effectively manage their fleets and their fish. And this in turn may lead to better regional management of a valuable transboundary resource.