In this article we describe the rapid uptake of technology that increases fishing efficiency in two parts of western Melanesia: Ghizo Island in Western Province, Solomon Islands, and Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. We present evidence that demonstrates a disturbing lack of awareness among fishers of the finite nature of the stocks they are exploiting, and we argue that without corresponding systematic management interventions, the technological transformations we are now witnessing will accelerate the presentpattern of sequential overfishing of commerci ally valuable species.
Coastal and tuna fisheries in the Pacific Ocean feed Pacific Islanders and supply global markets, which are the biggest sources of foreign exchange for some of the mall Island Developing States (SIDS) in the region (Pacific SIDS). This makes the health and sustainable use of these resources critical both for the countries holding the solemn responsibility of managing their fisheries resources and for the rest of humanity, which relies on fish catches in Pacific waters.
The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has worked in Kimbe Bay, West New Britain, Papua New Guinea since 1992. This region is the major focus point for TNC’s Papua New Guinea Marine Conservation Program, and TNC is currently working with various partners and stakeholders to establish a resilient, fully functional, network of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) in Kimbe Bay by 2008 (Green and Lokani, 2004).
Fish is a mainstay of food security for Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs). Recent household income and expenditure surveys, and socio-economic surveys, demonstrate that subsistence fishing still provides the great majority of dietary animal protein in the region. Forecasts of the fish required in 2030 to meet recommended per capita fish consumption, or to maintain current consumption, indicate that even well-managed coastal fisheries will only be able to meet the demand in 6 of 22 PICTs.
In the Western Central Pacific region, most sea cucumber fisheries have exhibited boomand-bust cycles since the late nineteenth century. Since the 1980s, elevated export prices and demand from Asian markets have been the catalysts for increased fishing. At many localities, high-value species have been depleted and previously unfished species are now exploited. The sustainability of these fisheries is of widespread concern.
In this paper we examine the strengths and weaknesses of state-supported Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) systems in two independent Melanesian states in the context of burgeoning commercial and subsistence fisheries. Both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands can be categorised as “weak states” where access by foreign-owned fishing companies to state-owned resources (e.g. tuna) is typically easy to obtain by bribing the relevant politicians and bureaucrats at national and/or provincial level.
Many large commercially valuable species of reef fish aggregate in the hundreds or thousands at fixed sites during specific lunar and seasonal periods for the purpose of spawning (Domeier and Colin, 1997). Not surprisingly, fishers have often taken advantage of this predicable behavior, as exceptionally high catches can be made from spawning aggregations (Johannes, 1978). Although fishers have been aware of spawning aggregations for centuries, biological interest in them is far more recent (Colin et al., 2003).
Coastal fisheries are brought up for information in order to help address the complete portfolio of issues that Pacific Island Fisheries Ministers have to deal with in their everyday work, beyond the commercial tuna fisheries that FFC normally confines its business to.
Over recent decades it has become widely accepted that managing fisheries resources means managing human behaviour, and so understanding social and economic dynamics is just as important as understanding species biology and ecology.
This survey was conducted in the northern part of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville between 1st –2 5th of November 2008. The survey covered the western side and outer islands of Buka Island, the Saposa and Buka Town region and the Tinputz region on north eastern side of Bougainville Island. The survey team was comprised of marine scientists, conservationists and fisheries’ officers. The survey provided an assessment of the status of sea cucumbers, reef fish and corals in Northern Bougainville, with recommendations for their conservation and management.
Papua New Guinea has astonishing biological and cultural diversity which, coupled with a strong community reliance on the land and its biota for subsistence, add complexity to monitoring and conservation and in particular, the demonstration of declines in wildlife populations. Many species of concern are long-lived which provides additional
In 2008 we began intensive archaeological surveys at Caution Bay, located 20km to the northwest of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (Figure 1.1). We followed this with the excavation of 122 stratified sites in 2009- 2010, and detailed analysis of the well preserved and abundant faunal, ceramic and lithic finds has beencontinuing ever since.
This paper consists of a review of existing literature relating to Incorporated Land Groups in Papua New Guinea (PNG), followed by a case study of two urban incorporated land groups (ILGs) in the city of Lae. The paper is an attempt at assessing the sustainability of ILGs in the country. The challenges facing the ILGs have heightened public fears that the land groups may not be sustainable. Based on the argument in previous studies that the ILGs are not sustainable,
The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) is committed to achieving high and sustained economic growth and improving the social well-being of the country’s population.
A driver is a natural or human-‐induced factor that directly or indirectly causes a change in the system of interest (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005). Understanding drivers of change helps us to 1) identify causes and mechanisms of change in variables of interest (Biggs et al. 2011, Fereira et al. 2011), 2) be able to anticipate and sometimes even predict future outcomes, and 3) be able to understand the context or ‘backdrop’ of past change.
The Purari Hydropower Project is a public-private joint venture. The governments of Queensland and Papua New Guinea (PNG) are supporting Origin Energy of Australia and PNG Sustainable Development Program Limited (PNGSDPL) of PNG in a feasibility study to potentially dam the Purari River at Wabo in the Gulf Province of PNG. PNG Energy Developments Limited (PNG EDL) is a 50:50 joint venture equally owned by Origin Energy and PNGSDPL
The marine resources of the Coral Triangle (CT) region are the most biologically diverse in the world and sustain the livelihoods of a massive and growing population. The region currently has an estimated population of 394.7 million, one third of which (131.5 million) are estimated to be directly depending on marine and coastal resources for their livelihoods and wellbeing (Table 1).
The Coral Triangle Marine Protected Area System aspires to become a region-wide, comprehensive, ecologically representative and well-managed system of marine protected areas (MPAs) and MPA networks. The development of this system will proceed primarily through the implementation of ecological, social, and governance MPA networks
Environment and development agendas are increasingly being characterised by regional-scale initiatives. This trend is in part motivated by recognition of the need to account for global drivers of change (e.g., climate change, migration, and globalisation), the aspirations of achieving large-scale ecological goals (such as maintaining ecosystem processes), and reconciling potentially conflicting priorities in multi-use planning. However, regional-scale governance is challenging and there is little theoretical guidance or empirical evidence to suggest how it can be achieved.
The six Coral Triangle countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste—each have evolving systems of marine protected areas (MPAs) at the national and local levels. More than 1,900 MPAs covering 200,881 km2 (1.6% of the exclusive economic zone for the region) have been established within these countries over the last 40 years under legal mandates that range from village level traditional law to national legal frameworks that mandate the protection of large areas as MPAs.