1. Highlights of SciCOFish Coastal Fisheries Finfish work SciCOFish Steering Committee meeting Noumea, March 2015

2. Coastal fisheries
Provide 50%–90% of protein intake for coastal communities
Very important for local incomes (provides around 50% of coastal households with 1st or 2nd source of income)

3. Fresh finfish key to food security

4. SciCOFish key work areas (Finfish)
Increased capacity, better science, for more informed management
Multiple themes:
In-water assessments (including habitat surveys)
Creel and market surveys
Catch, effort, CPUE, prices, value etc
Biological sampling and demographic assessments
Length and age-based indicators, genetic population structure
Ciguatera
Development of awareness/Information materials
Capacity building

5. In-water assessments - Highlights
Training conducted in 6 countries in UVC and habitat survey methods
FSM 2010 (Aquarium fish; 8 staff)
Kiribati 2011 (Environmental Impact Assessment; 9 staff)
RMI 2011 (5 staff)
Samoa 2011 (Spawning aggregations; 8 staff)
Tuvalu 2011 (4 staff)
Fiji 2013 (12 staff)
General move by countries away from UVC
Costly and time consuming
Logistically difficult
Easily biased
More informative approaches for assessing fisheries available

6. Creel and market surveys - Highlights
Trials and training conducted in 9 countries
Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, PNG, RMI, Tonga, Tuvalu
82 in-country staff trained
Assessment reports produced for 5 countries
Provide much-needed baseline data for future comparison
Finalised draft of Creel & Market survey manual
Developed, trialled and implemented new database
Promotes standardisation of data and comparisons over space and time
Coming soon in Waterproof ID cards (300 species)!!

7. Creel and market surveys – Highlights (2)
Ongoing survey programs established in 4 countries
PNG (18 people employed)
Tonga (1 person employed)
Kiribati
Nauru
Palau, RMI, Tuvalu planning to commence programs in 2015
Trainings regularly featured in national media
Promotes project, reaffirms official nature & gets people used to surveyors

8. Biological sampling - Highlights
Training conducted in 10 countries
Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, PNG, RMI, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu
92 in-country staff trained
2 ageing workshops held in Noumea (collaboration with IRD)
Ageing protocols developed for numerous coastal finfish species
Ages estimated for > 2500 fish
Demographic assessments completed for 7 countries
Length & age structures, growth rates, maturity schedules, mortality rates
Genetic population structure / connectivity examined for 10 species (collaboration with IRD)

9. Biological sampling

10. Age-based Indicators Fished population
Information on fishing mortality
Number of fish
Age (years)
High Fishing mortality
Moderate Fishing mortality
Low Fishing mortality

12. Highlight - Combining creel surveys and biological sampling a powerful approach!
Joint survey between MFMRD & SPC at Abemama
Large fishery for bonefish
19 landings surveyed
1129 individual bonefish measured
Catch and gear documented for all landings
Maturity assessed
Results used to guide Kiribati Coastal Fisheries Management Plan

13. Genetic connectivity

14. Genetic connectivity ?

15. Other highlights
Kept SPC at the forefront of ciguatera work in the Pacific and globally
Workshop on standardising field survey methods for ciguatera collection and detection, Hong Kong, 2012
Assisted Tuvalu with detection of ciguatera in fish and algae surveys
Co-facilitated training workshop on sampling methods and ID of ciguatoxin- causing algae, Suva, July 2013 (collaboration between UQ, USP, FAO, IFREMER; 21 participants)
Workshop on fish and shellfish poisoning held in Noumea, Nov 2014 (60+ participants)

16. Other highlights (2)
Trained and mentored 6 Pacific Island Young Professionals
Developed information/awareness materials
Developed collaboration with research groups in the region and globally (IRD, USP, UQ, USC, ZMT, SPC OFP)

17. Work plan for 2015 and beyond
SciCOFish project concludes in September 2015
Priorities for 2015
Process remaining genetic samples and otoliths
Finalise biological and genetic assessments
Examine potential for otolith measurements to be used as proxies for age (cheaper, easier)
Develop biological sampling guides for key species
Finalise, print and distribute creel and market survey manual and ID cards

18. Thank you