Annual reporting against the four Regional Roadmap goals for WCPO tuna fisheries — sustainability, value, employment and food security.
4/4
Healthy WCPO stocks
61%
FFA fleets' share of catch value
26,176
Tuna-related jobs (+19% vs 2015)
US$502m
Access & licence fees 2024
~286kmt
Tuna processed onshore 2024
US$1.2bn
Export value 2024 (+70% vs 2015)
Sustainability — Goal 1
All four main WCPO tuna stocks — South Pacific albacore, bigeye, skipjack, yellowfin — are biologically healthy. Not overfished; overfishing is not occurring. The WCPO is one of only two ocean regions globally with all four stocks "in the green".
Skipjack: Management Procedure adopted under CMM 2022-01.
South Pacific albacore: Interim Target Reference Point set 2023; new MP scheduled.
Yellowfin & bigeye: Both above their TRPs; bigeye MP scheduled for 2026.
Shark bycatch: Longline bycatch rates have declined and stabilised since 2014.
Value — Goal 2
FFA Members' fleets now take 61% of catch value in their waters — a record high. Onshore processing nearly doubled since 2015, reaching ~286,000mt in 2024. Government access & licence fee revenues at US$502m (+12% vs 2023), broadly stable since 2017.
Catch value (FFA fleets)
US$1.9bn (2024) — more than doubled vs 2015
Purse seine share
61% (US$1.6bn), record high
Longline share
62% of catch value in FFA waters
Employment — Goal 3
Tuna-related employment reached 26,176 in 2024, up 19% from 2015 and 5% from 2023. Onshore processing accounts for 60-70% of all tuna jobs.
Processing
15,621 jobs · PNG leads with 70%
Harvest
8,167 jobs (31% of total)
Labour standards
WCPFC CMM adopted at WCPFC21 (in force Jan 2028)
Food security — Goal 4
Recent studies of local consumption: ~22,000mt whole-tuna equivalent of canned tuna across PNG, Solomon Islands and Fiji. ~29,000mt of catch from local fleets entering local markets (2016 baseline). For some PICTs the share is much higher: 95% Cook Islands, 33% Samoa.
FFA & SPC have published the Tuna Fishery Report Card annually since 2015. Each edition tracks the four Roadmap goals — sustainability, value, employment and food security — for the WCPO tuna fisheries, alongside Taskforce-on-Increasing-Economic-Returns targets agreed by Forum Leaders.
Decade:
Latest · interactive view
2025
All 4 stocks healthy; record catch-value share at 61%
First edition reporting beyond the 10-year Roadmap horizon. FFA Members' fleets now take a record 61% of catch value (US$1.9bn in 2024). Onshore processing reaches ~286,000mt; access & licence fees US$502m (+12% on 2023); tuna employment 26,176 (+19% on 2015). WCPFC CMM on labour standards adopted at WCPFC21 (in force Jan 2028).
Skipjack MP runs for the first time; tropical-tuna measure revised
First implementation cycle of the skipjack Management Procedure under CMM 2022-01 — recommended no adjustment to catch or effort for 2024-2026. South Pacific albacore interim TRP adopted at WCPFC 2023. Tropical tuna measure (CMM 2023-01) revised. FFA Members' national-waters catch-value share reaches 57% in 2023 (up from 38% in 2015).
Skipjack TRP adopted under CMM 2022-01 — harvest strategy live
A target reference point for skipjack adopted as part of the agreed management procedure (WCPFC CMM 2022-01), which commences this year. Harvest strategy workplan now in place for all four key stocks. National-waters catch-value share at 54% in 2022 vs 39% in 2015; exports and onshore processing both up 50%+ since 2015; tuna employment +44%.
National-waters catch-value share rises to 56% (from 39% in 2015)
FFA Members' fleets take 56% of catch value in national waters (+46% since 2015). Exports to four major markets up 45%; onshore processing volumes up 50%+. Tuna employment +42% over 2015-2021. Government revenue from access & licensing relatively flat since 2015 after +300% growth between 2009-2015. Bycatch sharks: declining trend.
COVID-19 cuts longline catch -29%; albacore TRP being re-evaluated
All four main WCPO stocks remain biologically healthy. COVID and associated measures impacted longline fleets significantly in 2020 (-29% tuna catch, fresh-tuna exports down two-thirds). National-waters catch-value share up 39% over 2015-2020 (from 38% to 53%); exports +47%. Tuna employment +25% (4,850) over the period. Albacore TRP being re-evaluated after 2021 stock assessment.
Access fees +21%; Members' catch-value share +23% over four years
Over 2015-2019: government revenue from license & access fees +21%; FFA Members' catch-value share +23% across the WCPFC Convention Area (+29% in national waters); export value +53%. Tuna employment +4,600 over four years — below the Roadmap trajectory. Interim TRP only in place for albacore.
Interim TRPs agreed by WCPFC for skipjack and albacore
Interim Target Reference Points adopted by WCPFC for skipjack and South Pacific albacore (the albacore TRP agreed December 2018). All four main stocks remain in the "green" healthy area following positive 2017/2018 bigeye advice — though biomass continues to decline and management gaps need to be addressed.
All four stocks now in the green — bigeye reassessed
Following more positive scientific advice on the bigeye stock in 2017, all four major tuna stocks are now in the green "healthy" area for the first time. Skipjack TRP agreed by WCPFC; FFA Members agreed an albacore TRP internally pending wider WCPFC acceptance. Continuing need to strengthen management to maintain this positive stock status.
Taskforce on Increasing Economic Returns targets integrated
First edition to reflect the Taskforce on Increasing Economic Returns from Fisheries targets (agreed by Forum Leaders in 2016). South Pacific albacore not overfished but fishery faces serious economic challenges. Tokelau Arrangement parties making progress on effort-reduction measures to maintain economically viable catch rates.
Skipjack moves towards healthy zone; Taskforce launched
Encouragingly, skipjack tuna is not overfished and overfishing is not occurring, with stock state improving. First edition to take account of the Taskforce on Increasing Economic Returns from Fisheries — established by Forum Leaders to deliver real, measurable results within five years.
The original Report Card — bigeye overfished, PNA measures growing
The first edition, benchmarking the Regional Roadmap for Sustainable Pacific Fisheries (3-year timeframe for TRPs; 10-year for management measures). Bigeye tuna identified as overfished and overfishing occurring — PNA measures from 2008, subsequently adopted by WCPFC, had curtailed growth in overfishing but were yet to eliminate it.