Net gains: how Pacific Island states are securing the future of tuna - and their own

Crystal clear waters, white sands and kilometres of scattered islets, stretching as far as the eye can see; the Marshall Islands, a microstate in the Pacific Ocean, is a diver's paradise, halfway between Australia and Hawaii. 

The region's tuna fishing industry, valued at €5.5 billion, is a vital economic resource for the countries and territories of Oceania.  

However, climate change is a major threat to the Marshall Islands, shoals of tuna, particularly skipjack and yellowfin varieties, are projected to be migrating eastwards towards cooler open water due to rising sea temperatures.

According to a UN special report on the impact of climate change on the ocean, ten Pacific Island countries and territories could lose approximately €55.2 million a year in fishing fees and up to 15 per cent in revenue by 2050 due to these tuna migration patterns.

If tuna stocks were to run out, this tiny nation and its Pacific neighbours would lose a vital natural resource and the key to their current economic development. The tuna industry has also created 25,000 jobs across the region, according to the region’s sustainable development body, the Pacific Community (SPC).

Approximately half of the world's supply of tuna is caught in the western and central Pacific Ocean. The Majuro Atoll, where the capital of the Marshall Islands is located, is the busiest tuna transshipment port in the world.

**“**For us, of course, it's an important livelihood, economic as well as our tradition and culture. It's our backyard,” Glen Joseph, the director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, told Euronews. 

What is the future of tuna and the Pacific people who rely on it?

The Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru,