by juanita Nonwo – EM TV Online
The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) reported that the El Nino event due to occur sometime during this year may affect the fishing grounds for tuna fisheries.
SPC stated that the event might cause the fisheries to migrate over to the central region of the Pacific Ocean, away from the usual fishing waters of Papua New Guinea, Palau and the Solomon Islands.
According to John Hampton, the Fisheries Programme Manager, prediction of this years’ El Nino will be much stronger than the one experienced in 1997 and as the water temperatures change, the stock will likely be pushed towards the exclusive economic zones of Kiribati, Tuvalu, Tokelau and Nauru.
“We should see very strong fishing activity and catches over towards the central Pacific side of the region,” Mr Hampton said
“If this event impacts the biology of the tuna resource in a similar fashion as it has in the past, we should possibly see a fairly strong recruitment particularly for Skipjack tuna next year, towards the end of next year.”
Hampton further commented saying this could be suggesting that the current high catches experienced at the moment will remain.
While all is looking good for the catches, the concern now Mr Hampton says is that the current depressed price of Skipjack tuna in the marketplace will not be assisted by continuing strong supply.
