Results for Fishing

Two fishermen whose fibre boat suffered engine failure at sea were rescued by Tonga Police at Ha’aluma Beach in ‘Eua on Saturday, 15 October, a few hours after they failed to return home. The boat had no communications, no life jackets and beacon. Tonga Police urged the public and sea farers to make sure their boats are appropriately equipped with means of communication, life jackets, a beacon and enough food supplies.

US border agencies will detain tuna and other seafood harvested by the Hangton 112, a Fijian flagged and owned fishing vessel, under a Withhold Release Order issued by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which claims the use of forced labour on the vessel. Flag states need to uphold international standards and perform proper oversight and safety of their ships, says the chair of a migrant workers union.

The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) is calling for collective action to focus on people, not just technology, in efforts to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. FA Director General, Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen an international forum last week, said it is people who commit fisheries offences, not vessels.

The October Fishing Competition of the Nuku’alofa Fishing Club ended with a few surprises. The heaviest catch of the day, half-a-marlin weighing 69kg caught by Charles Sullivan on the boat Taipuha, could not be entered in the competition after a shark snapped off its tail.

With a dire warning that, “If we do not act now, by 2050, 90% of the region’s coral reefs will be dead, and there will be no commercially exploitable wild fish stocks left,” the President of the Asian Development Bank, Mr Takehiko Nakao, launched an ‘Action Plan for Healthy Oceans and Sustainable Blue Economies for Asia and the Pacific’ yesterday, 3 May in Fiji. By Pesi Fonua.

Eight fishing boats were donated to Tonga by China’s sister city to Ha’apai, Dongguan Municipality in Guangdong Province, at a handover ceremony this afternoon, 10 January, at the Ministry of Fisheries in Sopu.

To ensure sustainable high-seas fishing in the Pacific region, the New Zealand Defence Force recently inspected 23 foreign-flagged fishing vessels as part of a joint maritime patrol operation with Australia, France, and the United States.

A new Tropical Tunas Bridging Measure was adopted in the early hours of this morning, after a marathon session by the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission meeting in the Philippines this week. The Chair and the Executive Director today issued a joint statement on the outcomes of the 14th annual meeting of the Commission, which also include a Conservation and Management Measure on Pacific Bluefin, bycatch mitigation strategies and conservation measures on marine pollution.

A 50.8kg sailfish caught by Rehan Razak on the Hustle and Flow was the heaviest fish caught during a two-days fishing tournament, June 3-5 run by the Nuku’alofa Fishing Club.