In the South Pacific, a Prime Chance to Improve Fisheries Management

The international waters of the South Pacific Ocean are home to numerous commercially valuable fisheries, and now the organization that oversees those fisheries has a chance to ensure they thrive far into the future. At its annual meeting from 17 to 21 February in Santiago, Chile, the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) has a chance to secure the long-term health of jack mackerel, and lay the groundwork for sustainable management of the heavily fished jumbo flying squid.

SPRFMO, which began operations in 2012, achieved its initial goal to rebuild jack mackerel from a severely depleted condition but has more work to do to protect that population for the long haul.

Secure a sustainable future for jack mackerel

The Organisation benefits from a convention that calls for using the precautionary and ecosystem approaches to fisheries management, and has used those tools to make progress on jack mackerel management.

Among those tools are management procedures (MPs), also known as harvest strategies, which help establish consistent and predictable fisheries rules for several years or decades, reducing the need for contentious annual negotiations. With MPs, managers set long-term objectives for a fishery and then use science to agree how fishing levels will fluctuate over time – if at all – based on the status of the fish population. Several other regional fishery management organizations have recognized MPs as the preferred way to set fishing limits and have already adopted them for 15 fisheries across the globe.

Overfishing of jack mackerel helped spark the international effort that led to the creation of SPRFMO. Now that the species has been recovered, SPRFMO is developing an MP for jack mackerel. To lock in this species’ recovery, SPRFMO now needs to provide managers and scientists with more direction so that its members can adopt a first-ever MP for this resource in 2026. This work should include well-defined management objectives, a timeline to adopt the MP and a dialogue meeting where managers, scientists and stakeholders can discuss options and choose a final MP.

Better management needed for jumbo flying squid

At its annual meeting, SPRFMO members should also discuss how to better manage the jumbo flying squid fishery, particularly given the explosive growth in targeting of this population. In 2022, fleets landed around 1 million metric tons of squid in the convention area and adjacent State waters – 10 times more than in 2000.

The jumbo flying squid caught in the SPRFMO convention area are part of the largest cephalopod (squid, octopus or cuttlefish) fishery in the world, with this species making its way to tables around the world, including in the European Union and the United States. This species also plays an important role in marine food webs, both as a predator and as a valuable food source for whales and other large marine animals.

But with their short lifespan, the number of jumbo flying squid can fluctuate rapidly due to variability in environmental conditions and fishing pressure. Thus, SPRFMO should be proactive and take science-based management actions and, in line with the Organisation’s mandate, ensure this stock is managed sustainably, particularly as demand grows. Currently, SPRFMO isn’t sufficiently monitoring their jumbo flying squid fishery, and doesn’t have an agreement on how to adjust fishing based on changes in the size of the stock.

To address those shortcomings, SPRFMO should take the first steps in Santiago to modernize its squid management, including by agreeing to a workplan to develop and adopt an MP for jumbo flying squid. This workplan would help identify what scientific data the Organisation needs to sustainably manage the species, and an MP – once adopted – would establish science-based controls that adjust fishing pressure to match changing environmental conditions. If SPRFMO acts now, it can avoid the mistakes that caused the jack mackerel depletion, and ultimately save time – and the money that industry loses in responding to wild swings in catch limits – and stop ecological damage.

Dave Gershman is a senior officer and Raiana McKinney is a senior associate with The Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries project.