Fisheries newsletter / South Pacific Commission

Call Number
S 350.0823 FIS
Created/Published
Noumea, New Caledonia : The Commission, 1983-
Issue
No. 140 (January-April 2013)
Images
48
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Fisheries Newsletter  

NUMBER: 140 (January-April 2013)  

ISSN: 0248-076  

In this issue  

SPC activities  

Page SPCparticipates in purse-seine bycatch mitigation  

cruise  

Page My career in fisheries observing: story for aspiring  

observers  

Page new approach to monitoring FAD programmes  

Page Survey for milkfish fry collection in the Arnavon  

Islands, Solomon Islands  

Page 11 Practical training on seaweed culture in Indonesia  

Page 13 The latest information on fisheries, aquaculture  

and climate change in the Pacific  

News from in and around the region  

Page 14 "Fish and People": An innovative fisheries science  

learning tool for the Pacific  

Page 16 Sea cucumber identification cards help  

sustainable reef management in Fiji  

Page 18 Community-based resource management pre-  

awareness training for communities in the Solomon  

Islands  

Page 21 The Nago Island Marine Research Facility in Papua  

New Guinea is up and running  

Page 22 New policy brief on mangroves  

Feature articles  

Page 24 Effective management of sea cucumber fisheries and  

the beche-de-mer trade in Melanesia  

Page 43 Towards new management strategy for Pacific Island  

sea cucumber fisheries  

Editorial  

Sea cucumbers, or beche-de-mer as we call their dried and marketable form, are  

todays special in this issue. Few people know that these strange looking creatures  

lying lazily in shallow areas of tropical waters are the targets of the second-most  

valuable capture-based, export fishery in the South Pacific, second only to tuna.  

Unfortunately, these targets have been hit so hard in recent years that several  

Pacific Island countries, which are among the main producers, have banned their  

fishing for up to 10 years, in the hope that stocks will recover.  

In the first feature article (p. 24), Carleton and co-authors explain why “the key  

priority [for sea cucumber management] is to break or moderate the boom-  

and-bust cycle typical of this industry.” They also demonstrate how using more  

precautionary production levels (which would allow the production of higher-  

value species mix and larger sea cucumbers) and better processing techniques  

would provide far greater economic returns (almost the double of what the  

fishery actually does), and would eliminate the need for moratoria. In other  

words, year after year, national economies, particularly cash-starved rural coastal  

communities, would benefit from increased revenues.  

In the second feature article (p. 43), Leopold and co-authors confirm Carleton’s  

conclusions. They describe how, in New Caledonia, sandfish sea cucumber  

fishery is co-monitored and co-managed, using an original total allowable  

catch (TAC) system, by coastal community and local authorities, under the  

scientific guidance of the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD).  

Between 2008 and 2012, the sandfish biomass in the study area nearly tripled,  

while the average income per fisher nearly doubled, even though the number  

of fishers increased during the period... success story, for sure!  

Transposing the TAC management system used at the New Caledonia site  

to another social context and wider geographic scale will certainly be  

challenge. But, among the many lessons learned while reading these two  

articles, will certainly remember one: limiting captures can provide far  

greater economic returns.  

Aymeric Desurmont  

Fisheries Information Specialist (aymericd@spc.int)  

Fishing for milkfish fry using hulldozernet, Arnavon Islands, Solomon Islands (image: Tim Pickering).  

SocraWraL of  

Prepared by the Information Unit, Division of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems  

Cite

Citation options:
Work identifier

http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3549222308

APA citation

South Pacific Commission & Secretariat of the Pacific Community & Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Marine Resources Division. Information Section. (1983). Fisheries newsletter Retrieved June 8, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3549222308

MLA citation

South Pacific Commission, Secretariat of the Pacific Community and Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Marine Resources Division. Information Section. Fisheries newsletter Noumea, New Caledonia: The Commission, 1983. Web. 8 June 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3549222308>

Harvard/Australian citation

South Pacific Commission & Secretariat of the Pacific Community & Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Marine Resources Division. Information Section. 1983, Fisheries newsletter The Commission, Noumea, New Caledonia viewed 8 June 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3549222308

Wikipedia citation

{{Citation
  | author1=South Pacific Commission.
  | author2=Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
  | author3=Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Marine Resources Division. Information Section.
  | title=Fisheries newsletter
  | year=1983
  | issn=0248-076X
  | issue=No. 140 (January-April 2013)
  | location=Noumea, New Caledonia
  | publisher=The Commission
  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-3549222308
  | id=nla.obj-3549222308
  | access-date=8 June 2025
  | via=Trove
}}

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