Rare Native Fish Found In Karori's Waipāhihi Stream Through EDNA Testing
'For the last few years, our Friends group has been undertaking quarterly monitoring of the health of the stream at three sites in the upper catchment with the support of Mountains to Sea Wellington Trust', says Friends Group coordinator Joanne Davidson.
'We had done some initial eDNA testing which told us both species of Tuna (shortfin eels and longfin eels), a couple of species of Bully and Kōaro were in the catchment. We also knew from earlier Greater Wellington Regional Council testing that Banded Kōkopu were there too.'
The Friends group was formed when Andrea Skews, Chairperson of Karori Residents Association saw an opportunity to get community involved in the care of the stream. 'Reports on water quality were a 'D" and I felt having our community involved in the care and condition of our stream would empower us to do more than just moaning about the bad news stories online" said Skews. 'we are so lucky to have local leaders with the credentials they hold, volunteering to drive this group, not to mention the support of Wellington City Council, Mountains to Sea and local land owners".
Over the summer, the Friends Group undertook testing outside of their normal operating area to get a picture of what was happening in other areas. This included additional eDNA testing, undertaken with financial support from Lyon Marine Research Limited and Terawhiti Charitable Trust, to get a better sense of what species were living across the catchment.
The Group also received support from Kinnoull Station and local resident Roger Askin to access different parts of the catchment and get the most out of the investment in eDNA testing. Greater Wellington and Mountains to Sea staff also helped on the additional testing days.
'Waipāhihi Karori Stream is relatively unusual in that the urban area is in the upper part of the catchment and there is a large downstream catchment with a lot of regenerating bush. This means the Stream is most polluted in the upper catchment, whereas the more common pattern is for urban streams to become more polluted as you move downstream', says Ms Davidson.
'Our water quality testing had indicated that the Silver Stream tributary (which runs through Long Gully Bush Reserve) was in pretty good health, and when we got the eDNA test results back from Wilderlab it was easy to see the positive impact of this for biodiversity. Several sensitive macroinvertebrate species that need good water quality were present along with five species of fish, including the Shortjaw Kōkopu'.
The more polluted areas of the catchment still support a range of biodiversity and fish species. Kaharore Bully, Common Bully and Tuna/Eels are all living in the suburban area.
'We often have Tuna visit when we are doing our testing, and we know they are well-loved by residents. Even in the Cambell/Donald Street part of the catchment, which has very few open areas remaining, the eDNA testing showed that both species of Tuna there,' says Ms Davidson.
The Friends Group hopes to secure financial support do some more eDNA investigation in the future to better understand the distribution of the Shortjaw Kōkopu across the catchment. The Group, which operates under the umbrella of Karori Residents Association, has a Memorandum of Understanding with Wellington City Council and is also progressing a restoration project in the stream area by the path between the swimming pool and RSA.
'The site of our restoration project is a particularly yucky and often smelly part of the stream. Given its accessibility to the public, we think there's a real opportunity to show the difference we can make for te mana o te wai (the wellbeing of the water itself) through community action and care', says Ms Davidson.
People who want to support or join the Group's efforts can connect with them via their Facebook group at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/fowks
Notes:
eDNA stands for 'environmental DNA'. Environmental DNA is genetic material that is shed by organisms as they move in, through and around their environment.
The Group used eDNA freshwater sampling kits and sequencing services provided by Wilderlab. More information about their services is available here: https://wilderlab.co/
Results from the Group's eDNA testing (and other publicly available testing results) can be viewed on the Wilderlab website here: https://wilderlab.co/explore
The presence or lack of macroinvertebrates such as insects, worms and snails gives a biological indicator for the ecological health of a waterway, based on the sensitivity of each species to pollution.
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RNZ News
08-07-2025
- RNZ News
A changing environment — tuna threatened by climate change
By Scott Waide for Politok, ABC As tuna shift with warming seas, Pacific nations like Palau face an uncertain future. Photo: ABC / Greg Wilesmith Across the immense Pacific Ocean, a silent struggle is unfolding beneath the surface. The vital tuna, a cornerstone of both the region's marine ecosystem and its economic stability, is facing unprecedented challenges. As ocean temperatures rise, waters acidify, and currents alter, tuna populations are being driven into new territories, placing Pacific Island nations and their essential fishing industries at risk. For the people of Palau, the ocean is not merely a resource but an intrinsic part of their identity. Ann Singeo, executive director of the Ebiil Society, a conservation group dedicated to Palau's natural resources, highlighted this profound connection through her interviews with local fishers. "One of the questions that we ask a fisher is, what is your relation to the ocean? And most of them would answer that their relationship to the ocean is that it is their responsibility to care for the ocean." Palau's marine sanctuary is the sixth largest in the world. Photo: Reuters / Jackson Henry This deep-seated responsibility extends to Singeo's own life, having grown up trolling with her father and marrying an avid fisher. In Palau, teaching children to swim before they can run underscores the pervasive presence of the ocean. However, in recent years, the familiar waters have begun to behave unpredictably. Elders, once repositories of deep ocean knowledge, now express confusion. Fishers observe strange weather phenomena and changes in fish behaviour. Singeo recounted one fisherwoman's observation of heavy rains causing fish in shallow waters to float and die from lack of oxygen. "For over a week. And then it rains. Heavy rain, instant heavy rain that causes this phenomenon, where the fish in the shallow waters would just be floating in the water. They would die from lack of oxygen that's being processed in the ocean." This phenomenon, once rare, is now occurring more frequently and extending to deeper waters, with reports of dead sharks, rays, and larger fish along the coastline. This signals that rising temperatures are impacting beyond shallow areas. Ann Singeo says fishermen have a deep connection with the sea. Photo: Facebook The impacts of climate change are also eroding traditional knowledge. Observational cues that have guided fishing practices for millennia are no longer reliable. Fishers report that the ocean is "too warm", and tuna, which typically follow water temperature, are no longer found in their usual seasonal grounds. "It's definitely affecting their knowledge of the ocean and the efficiency of their fishing practices," Singeo said, detailing how speargun fishers now find no fish at midnight due to warm waters, and pelagic fish are absent during what should be their season. Beyond fishing, climate change has manifested in other ways. A typhoon, occurring outside the typical season, caused widespread damage to fruit crops and led to a bacterial outbreak affecting corals in a marine preserve. "We had some marine scientists go out to identify, that's how we knew it was caused by this bacteria, but there was an excessive amount of it in an area that was far away from land that you wouldn't think that there would be any kind of an effluent from the land that may cause increased bacteria in the ocean." Singeo described feeling "helpless" witnessing these changes, particularly as they challenged long-held conservation ideologies that assumed protected areas would withstand climate impacts. The changes in tuna migration patterns are not isolated to Palau; they represent a significant concern for the entire Pacific region. Tuna fisheries are a major economic driver, generating an estimated $US500 million annually for the region through the sale of licenses to industrial fishing companies. The Western and Central Pacific Ocean region alone provides more than 50 per cent of the world's tuna catch, valued at approximately $US6 billion per year, with the majority sourced from Pacific Island Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). Dr Graham Pilling, deputy director of the Fisheries Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division at SPC (the Pacific Community), highlighted the vastness of these EEZs. The combined EEZs of the 22 Pacific island countries and territories that are members of SPC span 40,000,000 km², an area over five times the size of Australia. Ann Singeo says fishermen have a deep connection with the sea. Photo: Facebook Selling industrial fishing licenses to nations like the United States, Japan, and China is a crucial source of government revenue for many Pacific island nations. For Kiribati, over 70 per cent of its non-aid government revenue comes from tuna access fees, and for Tokelau, it's over 80 per cent. Tuvalu, similarly, relies heavily on these fees, accounting for about 40 per cent of its government revenue annually, ranging from $US35 million to $US50 million in a good year. Simon Kofe, Tuvalu's Minister for Transport, Energy, and Communication and previously a legal advisor for Tuvalu's fisheries department, acknowledged the success of regional cooperation. "One of the success stories of regionalism in the Pacific is how the Pacific nations have come together to really harmonise their laws and their management measures. And the result is that the tuna stock in the western central Pacific is the last healthy fish stock in the world." Given tuna's migratory nature, regional cooperation is essential for consistent conservation and management. The Vessel Day Scheme (VDS), implemented around 2010/2011 by parties to the Nauru Agreement, is a key management measure. Under the VDS, fishing days are allocated to member countries at a benchmark price of $US8,000 per day. Countries like Tuvalu sell these days to fishing companies, with a limited number of days assigned to each nation, ensuring sustainable fishing effort. Tuvalu, for example, has approximately 2,000 fishing days to sell annually. Simon Kofe said tuna stock in the western central Pacific was "the last healthy fish stock in the world". Photo: Reuters / Fabian Hamacher Despite many years of work to get to this point, the threat of climate change looms on the horizon. Tuvalu expresses deep concern, acknowledging the potential economic impact on its budget and essential government services if fishing revenues decline. Dr Pilling said the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle, which influences weather patterns, also dictates water temperatures in the Pacific, consequently affecting tuna distribution. Warmer El Niño conditions push tuna eastward, while cooler La Niña conditions constrain them westward. Climate change models predict a consistent trend of warmer waters extending eastward. SPC employs scientific modelling to forecast these impacts, considering various greenhouse gas emission scenarios. "We identify different scenarios for basically the greenhouse gas emissions that will drive climate change into the future to try and kind of bracket what the futures will look like," Dr Pilling said, describing the use of oceanographic and ecosystem models to predict temperature changes and their impact on tuna food sources and the tuna themselves. Under a high-emission scenario, projections for the next 25 years indicate a decline in tuna abundance in the Pacific. "The abundance of tuna in the Pacific is going to decline. And if we look at our exclusive economic zones in the western central Pacific, on average, the decline will be about 13 per cent," Dr Pilling said. The majority of tuna are projected to be found further east, potentially outside the current EEZs, moving onto the high seas. This means Pacific island nations might struggle to charge fishing vessels for access, or their waters could become less attractive, directly impacting their revenue. Local fishermen are already reporting that fish stocks are moving further away, requiring them to travel greater distances. "It's a pretty big issue. And it's a, it's a concerning issue," Dr Pilling said. Recognising the gravity of the situation, regional efforts are intensifying. In February 2025, the Green Climate Fund announced a grant of more than $US100 million for 14 Pacific countries to help them manage the risks of climate impacts on tuna. This funding will support initiatives such as deploying Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) near shore to concentrate tuna resources, making them easier for local communities to access for subsistence and local markets. Another key aspect is improving modelling to provide better advice on climate change impacts on tuna at a local scale. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), responsible for conserving and managing tuna in the region, has 17 Pacific Island nation members, along with countries like Australia, Canada, and China. Dr Josie Tamate, Chair of the WCPFC, highlighted the strong regional cooperation as a cornerstone of past success in managing tuna stocks. "I think that the cooperation has been the cornerstone for the success of especially the Pacific island nation members of the FFA, and having that, the commitment is already there." Climate change is now a standing agenda item for the WCPFC. "We're supporting and incorporating the scientific research into the management discussions," Dr Tamate explained, noting the need to adapt existing management frameworks to ensure Pacific island states can maintain their economic benefits as tuna potentially move eastward, out of their EEZs. This involves working within a complex legal and geopolitical framework to pursue climate justice for tuna-dependent economies, balancing sustainability, equity, and economic needs. "If we do nothing now, that's not an option. We have to do something. Each of us has a responsibility," Dr Tamate said, emphasising that climate change is a global problem requiring universal action. Dr Josie Tamate said strong regional cooperation was a cornerstone of past success in managing tuna stocks. Photo: Western & Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Despite the comprehensive work planned at regional and national levels, the Pacific contributes very little to global greenhouse gas emissions. Dr Graham Pilling underscores that this is not just a Pacific issue, but a global challenge. "I think we all should be concerned. It's a global challenge. And to be effective. Every country in the globe needs to be working towards the same goal." Kofe echoed the sentiment, hoping the world takes the message to heart. "We see the disproportionate burden that we carry in the Pacific, but unfortunately, the world doesn't see it in that way." He reiterated that the science and real-world impacts are clear: tuna migration patterns in the Pacific are changing. For vulnerable nations like Tuvalu, experiencing these impacts daily, the urgency is paramount. "I just feel that the world might be too late when they finally take this issue seriously," he said. The Pacific's battle for its tuna, a battle against the escalating effects of climate change, is a testament to the region's resilience and its continued call for global responsibility. The stakes are high, not just for the economies and livelihoods of Pacific island nations, but for a vital global food source and the health of the world's largest ocean. - ABC
Scoop
27-06-2025
- Scoop
Rare Native Fish Found In Karori's Waipāhihi Stream Through EDNA Testing
The Shortjaw Kōkopu is considered a threatened species of fish in gradual decline. It is also known to be secretive and hard to find. Recent eDNA testing by Friends of Waipāhihi Karori Stream has revealed that it is one of several native fish species living in the catchment. 'For the last few years, our Friends group has been undertaking quarterly monitoring of the health of the stream at three sites in the upper catchment with the support of Mountains to Sea Wellington Trust', says Friends Group coordinator Joanne Davidson. 'We had done some initial eDNA testing which told us both species of Tuna (shortfin eels and longfin eels), a couple of species of Bully and Kōaro were in the catchment. We also knew from earlier Greater Wellington Regional Council testing that Banded Kōkopu were there too.' The Friends group was formed when Andrea Skews, Chairperson of Karori Residents Association saw an opportunity to get community involved in the care of the stream. 'Reports on water quality were a 'D" and I felt having our community involved in the care and condition of our stream would empower us to do more than just moaning about the bad news stories online" said Skews. 'we are so lucky to have local leaders with the credentials they hold, volunteering to drive this group, not to mention the support of Wellington City Council, Mountains to Sea and local land owners". Over the summer, the Friends Group undertook testing outside of their normal operating area to get a picture of what was happening in other areas. This included additional eDNA testing, undertaken with financial support from Lyon Marine Research Limited and Terawhiti Charitable Trust, to get a better sense of what species were living across the catchment. The Group also received support from Kinnoull Station and local resident Roger Askin to access different parts of the catchment and get the most out of the investment in eDNA testing. Greater Wellington and Mountains to Sea staff also helped on the additional testing days. 'Waipāhihi Karori Stream is relatively unusual in that the urban area is in the upper part of the catchment and there is a large downstream catchment with a lot of regenerating bush. This means the Stream is most polluted in the upper catchment, whereas the more common pattern is for urban streams to become more polluted as you move downstream', says Ms Davidson. 'Our water quality testing had indicated that the Silver Stream tributary (which runs through Long Gully Bush Reserve) was in pretty good health, and when we got the eDNA test results back from Wilderlab it was easy to see the positive impact of this for biodiversity. Several sensitive macroinvertebrate species that need good water quality were present along with five species of fish, including the Shortjaw Kōkopu'. The more polluted areas of the catchment still support a range of biodiversity and fish species. Kaharore Bully, Common Bully and Tuna/Eels are all living in the suburban area. 'We often have Tuna visit when we are doing our testing, and we know they are well-loved by residents. Even in the Cambell/Donald Street part of the catchment, which has very few open areas remaining, the eDNA testing showed that both species of Tuna there,' says Ms Davidson. The Friends Group hopes to secure financial support do some more eDNA investigation in the future to better understand the distribution of the Shortjaw Kōkopu across the catchment. The Group, which operates under the umbrella of Karori Residents Association, has a Memorandum of Understanding with Wellington City Council and is also progressing a restoration project in the stream area by the path between the swimming pool and RSA. 'The site of our restoration project is a particularly yucky and often smelly part of the stream. Given its accessibility to the public, we think there's a real opportunity to show the difference we can make for te mana o te wai (the wellbeing of the water itself) through community action and care', says Ms Davidson. People who want to support or join the Group's efforts can connect with them via their Facebook group at: Notes: eDNA stands for 'environmental DNA'. Environmental DNA is genetic material that is shed by organisms as they move in, through and around their environment. The Group used eDNA freshwater sampling kits and sequencing services provided by Wilderlab. More information about their services is available here: Results from the Group's eDNA testing (and other publicly available testing results) can be viewed on the Wilderlab website here: The presence or lack of macroinvertebrates such as insects, worms and snails gives a biological indicator for the ecological health of a waterway, based on the sensitivity of each species to pollution.
RNZ News
13-06-2025
- RNZ News
Lifeblood for Pacific Islands threatened as warming ocean drives tuna east
Getting ready for the first set of the day on a pole and liner near Noro in the Solomon Islands. Photo: Francisco Blaha By Nathan Eagle for Civilbeat This story was produced by Honolulu Civil Beat , a nonprofit news organization covering Hawai'i that specializes in accountability and in-depth enterprise coverage. For more stories like this, subscribe to their newsletters . Adrian Wickham is worried. He sits quietly in the back of a cavernous conference hall, fiddling with his fedora as he listens to Pacific island nation leaders, renowned marine scientists and international fishery managers talk tuna. Wickham knows tuna. That's been his business for decades as the manager of SolTuna, the Solomon Islands' only cannery. And it's been his country's lifeblood for generations, providing food, jobs and a reliable revenue stream for government services. He didn't need to fly 200 miles from Noro, where SolTuna is based, to a United Nations gathering to know that things are changing. The tuna are moving out. Fishermen have been working harder to catch fewer fish in recent years, and it's getting worse. By adding bigger and better boats to the primary fleet that supplies the cannery, SolTuna has continued to grow. Without a new plan, those days seem numbered. Photo: Warming waters are driving the tuna east where their prey - squid, shrimp, sardines, whatever they can find - has become more abundant in cooler waters farther out at sea. That's why 300 delegates from 28 countries, including Wickham, have come together. It's an economic crisis, fueled by climate change, and perhaps the most perplexing problem they'll confront at the Honiara Summit. "It's worrying," Wickham says during a break in the meetings. "It's hard to imagine tuna leaving archipelagos and being purely high seas." Nearly 10% of the Solomon Islands' government revenue is tied to tuna. The cannery is one of the nation's biggest employers, alongside forestry and mining. More than 2,000 people, mostly women, come from throughout the country to clean, cut and can fish at SolTuna, which has spent millions of dollars over the past decade to build up its tuna processing capacity. About a dozen Pacific island countries are facing this predicament, including Fiji, Kiribati and Papua New Guinea. Average tuna catch rates are projected to fall nearly a third by 2050, scientists say, delivering a financial hit of up to US$140 million annually for these developing countries. It's on average 37% of each government's yearly revenue. China and other industrial fleets pull in the bulk of the tuna caught in the Pacific, paying an access fee when inside each country's exclusive economic zone. For the Solomon Islands, this zone is a misshapen ring that extends 200 miles around its 992 islands and atolls. Outside these zones, foreign fleets essentially fish for free, so as the tuna disappear, so, too, does the money. Labelling and packing of locally produced Soltuna cans in Noro, Solomon Islands. Photo: Francisco Blaha Behind a security gate at 1 Tuna Drive in the remote Solomon Islands village of Noro, women huddle together on a bench, hiding from the sun as they wait for rides home. They have just finished working an overnight shift at SolTuna, processing tons of yellowfin and skipjack in a row of factory buildings that line the coast. Several fishing boats bob in the blue waters at an adjacent dock, just past the stacks of Maersk shipping containers. National Fisheries Developments, SolTuna's sister company, employs 400 people to man the small but growing fleet of purse seine and pole-and-line vessels that supply the cannery with about 30,000 tons of tuna annually. That's enough to provide the equivalent of 50 cans of tuna for every man, woman and child in the Solomons and still send some off to foreign markets. Steady jobs are highly sought on these islands, where average salaries hover around US$2,200 a year. Most families live paycheck to paycheck, relying on strong communal ties and subsistence farming and fishing to survive. People in the Solomons, which has been inhabited for at least 30,000 years, used to catch tuna with hooks made from oyster and turtle shells, handlining them out of dugout wooden canoes, according to the 2007 book 'Capturing Wealth from Tuna'. Islanders still go out to catch tuna with handlines, but today they favor fiberglass canoes, outboard motors and steel hooks. Read more: Up the road from the cannery, a family ambles past an oinking pig, squawking chickens and men drinking warm SolBrew beer in the shade under their tin-sided homes mounted on wooden stilts. Kids carry breakfast dishes to a communal sink as neighbors hang hand-washed laundry to dry. A woman joins her in-laws under their home for a brief visit. She's worked at SolTuna for the past 13 years and though she is grateful for the income she still frets about whether she will be paid on time. Like others in the village, she doesn't want to give her name for fear of finding herself unemployed like her brother. "People in the Solomons need jobs," says Sony Toribule, a 43-year-old married father of four who lives a 20-minute canoe paddle from SolTuna. Toribule worked for National Fisheries Developments for 23 years before resigning in 2018 as a quality control supervisor. Recently he's come back as a contractor to unload tuna. While the fisheries workforce is almost entirely local, international forces have long played a role here. SolTuna was one of global seafood producer Tri Marine's plants until Italy-based Bolton Group acquired it several years ago. Some of the tuna it processes is sold to Europe as frozen loins and fish oil; some is canned for export to Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries. But much of the canned tuna remains a domestic product. Solomon Blue and SolTuna's premium products - cans packed with white and red tuna flakes in oil and flavored with local chilis or curry - are Solomon Islands staples. They are enjoyed on crackers, straight out of the can with cucumbers or alongside sweet potatoes and taro. "SolTuna products are the main dish in all Solomon Islanders' homes," says Dorothy Wickham, who grew up about 8 miles from the cannery managed by her uncle, Adrian. Four monstrous ceiling fans spin overhead as three dozen dignitaries in matching blue polos find their seats at the front table inside Friendship Hall, a multipurpose facility that's part of a new sports complex in Honiara, where the UN summit is being held. It's day 2, a pivotal work day without any of the fanfare of the opening ceremony. Back-to-back sessions feature scientists, politicians and policymakers debating sustainable fisheries management, trying to find consensus on measures they can take to France for the global United Nations Ocean Conference that begins June 8. That includes figuring out what to do about the shifting tuna stocks. Johann Bell, a fisheries scientist who lived in the Solomons in the 1990s while working on a coastal aquaculture project, is at a back table conferring with colleagues from Conservation International and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, which provides scientific and technical assistance to the region. They are trying to persuade Pacific leaders at the summit to take action now in response to scientific modeling that shows the financial consequences for small Pacific island nations of the decline of tuna in their waters. "It's not that the fish are going to migrate," Bell explains. "It's that the productivity will decrease in the western area and increase in the eastern area." He works the room, the hallways, the rainy bus rides back and forth from the hotel. He's rooted in science, but turning that into action demands a lot of lobbying. Bell says it's not a matter of if tuna biomass will shift away from the exclusive economic zones of the 10 most tuna-dependent countries in the Pacific - but when, how fast and to what extent. And knowing this will let Pacific Island nations identify solutions that minimize the economic consequences of climate change. From 2015 to 2018, the Solomon Islands annually received an average of more than US$41 million in access fees from foreign fishing fleets, according to a p study Bell did with 30 international scientists in 2021 . The contrasts are enormous from place to place: Papua New Guinea received $134 million, 4% of its government revenue, for instance, while Kiribati received $128 million, almost 71% of its government revenue. That's what's at risk from the tuna moving out of their exclusive waters. Pacific island leaders, for the most part, don't doubt the science or the stakes. They just need it to be more robust. Bell knows this. It's why he spent the past four years on a plan to develop advance warning systems for the region. Now it was time to unveil that plan. The Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office oversees a successful model of fisheries management. Photo: Facebook/PNA Tuna Stuart Minchin, director-general of the Pacific Community, climbs up the steps to stand on a stage before a backdrop of international flags. He recounts the thousands of pages of grant applications, years of effort - "all the blood, sweat and tears of regional partners" that led to this moment. The world's largest climate fund is pledging $107 million to help Pacific island nations adapt to the tuna moving out. It's the biggest grant for tuna that the Green Climate Fund has ever awarded. "It's a huge outcome that will have impact for many years to come," Minchin says as delegates nod in approval. The science supported by the Green Climate Fund - a pot of money the UN established in 2010 to help countries adapt to climate change - is expected to clear up a lot of the uncertainty around the 2021 study published in the journal Nature Sustainability. Half of the $107 million in grant money will go toward this effort, and half will go to boosting nearshore fishing, which has been on the decline for years from poor management and environmental changes. Scientists say they will be able to confirm through genetic testing that the same family of fish that was in one country's waters has indeed moved to international waters. And, Minchin says, that it was through no fault of these small island states, but rather a product of global climate change. Overfishing can't be blamed for tuna's decline, scientists say, as the fish have been sustainably harvested in recent years following a series of conservation measures. This new data could help countries recoup the money they are expected to lose from the shifting tuna and better prepare for the future. The climate fund project will let countries collect the CSI type of evidence they need to demonstrate "the actual loss and damage that we are receiving as Pacific members through the movement of that stock," Minchin says. Pacific leaders heralded the announcement, even though the hard data is still years away. Tuna on display in Nuku'alofa Photo: RNZ Pacific / Lydia Lewis A vendor laughs as she pulls a squid out of a dead tuna's mouth at the Honiara Central Market. She lines up several tuna on a display stand as the country's biggest market - now boasting more than 100 stalls - comes to life on a recent weekday morning. Seafood is on sale from around the islands, but fishermen complain there's been less to offer of late. It's gotten harder to catch as much as they used to as the capital city has grown, pollution has worsened and the reefs have degraded from warmer, more acidic waters. The other half of the Green Climate Fund's $107 million grant will go to help local fishermen catch more tuna closer to home. Fish-aggregating devices - floating objects that attract pelagics such as tuna and mahimahi - are to be installed for the benefit of coastal communities, Bell says. These manmade rafts, anchored to the seabed in a few hundred feet of water, mimic drifting coconuts or logs that the fish see as shelter for prey. Nearshore fisheries have needed better stewardship in the Solomons and other Pacific island nations for years, a point Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele acknowledges on the second day of the summit. "While there is a need to strengthen management of nearshore fish stocks, offshore management is good," he tells the crowd of delegates. With less food available close to shore, there's increased demand for tuna. And many Pacific islanders already don't eat enough protein, according to UN Food and Agriculture Organization guidelines. Deploying fish-aggregating devices may bring more fish closer to shore in the short-term as the world attempts to address the rising ocean temperatures that are at the root of the problem. Frozen skipjack tuna being loaded onto a carrier vessel in the Federated States of Micronesia. Photo: Francisco Blaha Bell has advocated at the international level for the world's biggest polluters to do more to meet the goals of the Paris climate accord, namely preventing global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2100 compared to pre-industrial levels. That could stave off some of the worst effects of climate change, including the warmer ocean waters that are driving tuna away while killing the coral reefs that are foundational to fishing. But world leaders have largely failed to meet these goals. Fossil fuel consumption reached a record high in 2023. The World Meteorological Organization confirmed that 2024 was the hottest year on record. And President Donald Trump has again pulled the United States - the planet's second biggest carbon emitter after China - out of the Paris Agreement . Pacific island countries are disproportionately affected by global inaction. Rising seas are making some nations uninhabitable. Cyclones have grown more deadly and destructive. And saltwater intrusion during abnormally high tides is wrecking agriculture. "The best scientific advice available says that climate change is expected to reduce the tuna biomass in our waters to an extent that will remove a substantial share of the gains that we should be expecting from the sustainability of our fisheries," says Sangaa Clark, chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, which controls the world's largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery. "The higher the level of carbon emissions, the worse the impacts will be," she says during a panel discussion at the summit. "We consider that unfair and unjust." Photo: RNZ Papua New Guinea Prime Minister James Marape takes a breath before saying what he has flown 1,100 miles to Honiara to say. "If I catch illegal fishing, I will sink all the boats," he says. "If there is any sense of morality left in you, take this message back to your countries: The ocean is a global asset, a carbon sink, a supermarket and a superhighway for all your ships and submarines. It needs protection." He, like other Pacific leaders, is tired of constantly fighting to protect vital natural resources that have provided a living and a way of life. When not battling indirect threats from climate change, they're fending off direct threats from foreign ships plundering their waters. "No one needs to lecture us on fish sustainability - it is our lifestyle," he says. "This lecture should be taken to the big, industrial polluters who continue to pollute our oceans." James Marape on PNG National Parliament on 15 February 2024. Photo: Screengrab / Loop PNG Some Pacific island nations are banding together behind a new initiative that aims "to leverage their shared tuna resources and find collective and inclusive investment pathways," as the intergovernmental Forum Fisheries Agency put it. The FFA, headquartered in Honiara, has overseen management of more than half of the world's tuna stock for the past half century. Bell finds the so-called East New Britain Initiative among the most promising solutions. FFA leaders, who called on more countries to sign on at the summit, say the "hubs and spokes" initiative intends to maximize the economic benefits from each member country's tuna fisheries by processing more of it in the region and creating value-added products, such as smoked, dried or marinated fish. They'll have to overcome resistance from China and other foreign fleets to pull it off. And that's how fisheries policy in this part of the world, a region held together by a web of shifting, fragile alliances, veers from science and economics to geopolitics. The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, which includes representatives of more than two dozen countries and related nongovernmental organizations, will play a crucial role in figuring out how to adapt to tuna's shifting stocks. Some officials, however, fear regional management organizations like this one won't be able to respond fast enough. It took decades to course-correct after years of overfishing decimated tuna populations. The key stocks - yellowfin, skipjack, albacore and bigeye - are finally healthy again, thanks in large part to the commission's work. But Pacific nations need to start planning now for the shift of tuna stocks into the high seas, according to Rhea Moss-Christian, the commission's executive director. "It's the question of the century," she says before a session on the summit's final day. On a recent Sunday in Noro, the drizzling rain looks like white curtains flapping against the distant green jungle as a mother ushers her kids down a dirt road to church. One of the children shakes his hand free from hers to chase a ball across the newly paved street. It rolls between a row of new utility poles, yet to be wired together. The boy stops to peer beyond a corrugated metal gate. Behind a "Do Not Enter" sign is a gray steel building, labeled with gold and red Hanzi characters, that houses Chinese workers the federal government here has turned to in recent years to improve local roads and aviation facilities. Chinese influence is prevalent throughout the country. Menus at some restaurants have flipped from serving local favorites to fried noodles and dumplings. Construction signs appear in Mandarin. Chinese flags flew outside the new sporting complex that surrounds Friendship Hall, including the 10,000-seat stadium, aquatic center and other infrastructure built with Chinese support for the Solomon Islands to host the Pacific Games in 2023. Pacific Games opening ceremony on 19 November 2023. Photo: Supplied/Games Organisers The current prime minister, Manele, like the prior one who's now trying to oust him, Manasseh Sogavare, have openly courted China and the millions of dollars in funding it has provided. The Solomon Islands and Taiwan severed ties in 2019, and the Solomon Islands went all-in with Beijing, signing a security pact in 2022. Tuna is part of the calculus of such cooperation. China, the United States and Australia have all shown interest in investing in a second tuna cannery in Malaita, which would be the biggest project in the Solomons Islands' history as an independent country. There's money in tuna, but it also offers a foothold in the region. "Tuna is the currency for commerce in the Western Central Pacific region," says Kelly Kryc, former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deputy assistant secretary for international fisheries. She was a political appointee under President Joe Biden and represented the U.S. at international fishery meetings. "Any shifting of the economy creates an opening for influence, so not only is tuna an issue of food security and economic security, but also national security," she says. "And that applies not only to the countries in the region, but also for the United States." More than 150,000 tons of tuna worth about $180 million is caught in waters controlled by the Solomon Islands alone - only about a quarter of which goes to SolTuna. Most of that tuna never enters the local market; it's transferred at sea to larger vessels just off the coast of Honiara. But the revenue the Solomon Islands collects from those nations for the right to fish in its waters is a lifeline, helping pay for education, healthcare, roads and more. Losing it would be devastating. During her tenure with NOAA, Kryc led several successful climate initiatives. With funding from the U.S. and Taiwan, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission is planning to do a climate risk assessment of the management measures that it has passed to date. That could provide an important backstop against shifting tuna stocks. "If it works," she says, "it could be a paradigm shift in how we manage species in the face of climate change." Yellowfin tuna inside a purse seine net Photo: Supplied / SPC Adrian Wickham wanders across the conference room to greet an old friend, the current prime minister of Tuvalu whom Wickham knows from his time as director of the Forum Fisheries Agency. A low-lying atoll east of the Solomons particularly vulnerable to rising seas, Tuvalu is a place where climate refugees are no longer theoretical. Australia recently agreed to host 280 of them in exchange for veto power on the small island nation's foreign defense decisions. That could be a cautionary tale for Wickham about the realities of climate change, but instead he is in a wait-and-see mode. He says he will be looking west to Papua New Guinea to watch how the shift of tuna from warming waters unfolds there. A half-million tons of tuna is caught annually in the waters around Papua New Guinea, a nation with six canneries and nearly 12 million mouths to feed - 14 times the population of the Solomons. Wickham has played such a pivotal role in growing SolTuna for so long, it's hard for him to picture the 52-year-old company - and the resources it relies on - going anywhere but up, despite all the alarm bells scientists rang at the summit. And even harder for him to imagine it happening anytime soon. "I won't be here on this earth when the final results are out," Wickham says. "But for future generations … for them, and their kids, I hope something is done." Civil Beat's coverage of climate change and the environment is supported by The Healy Foundation, Marisla Fund of the Hawai'i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation. -[ Civilbeat]
