Sustainable Fisheries in the Pacific Islands

The Nature Conservancy aims to provide the food and water people need without sacrificing the environment. To do this, we are working with fishers to create sustainable supplies, reduce negative environmental impacts, promote economic growth and create policies that enable sustainability.

Fishing is a central part of life in the Pacific. For reef fisheries, we are working alongside communities to reform policy and management. This is happening on multiple scales, with the establishment of the Northern Reefs Fishery Management Co-op in Palau and a learning exchange set up between the fishermen of Palau and Manus, a province of Papua New Guinea.

TNC supports fishery improvement projects by engaging with fishing communities, government and key industry partners to demonstrate successful models of fisheries reform that are re-enforced and sustained through policy and markets. We are focused on target fisheries that have a high unit value and are an important source of export revenue or are species of priority to fishers/employment.

Using FishFace and other tools, we will provide a step-by-step guide to selecting monitoring, assessment and management methods that help projects achieve successful and measurable improvements toward sustainability. We will engage fishers, processors, buyers and traders, in the data collection process and use these data to expand the roles of key players in fisheries management and in traceability. In addition, this work aims to work hand-in-hand on the docks and in the water to identify specific actions and monitor improved management and ecosystem conservation that make coastal fisheries livelihoods more secure.

We know you care about the future of our fisheries and marine health, so please donate.