Why Amanda Nickson Thinks It’s Too Early To Declare Victory
While NGOs would like to declare victory and celebrate the successful and sustainable management of tuna fisheries, Amanda Nickson, Director of International Fisheries at Pew Charitable Trusts, says that time to sit back and celebrate is still far away. Atuna sat down with Nickson at the recent Seafood Expo Global in Brussels, where she laid forth her thoughts on NGO influence in RFMO meetings, and how environmental organizations are sometimes shut out when important decisions are to be made.
Washington DC-based Nickson joined the NGO Pew in 2010, and has held several positions within the organization since then. Pew, which is short for Pew Charitable Trusts, is an independent nonprofit research and public policy organization that works to inform the global community on issues such as environment and health. Her main responsibility in her current job as Director of International Fisheries is leading advocacy efforts with RFMOs. In her role, she works to address the overfishing of tuna in international waters with a broader goal of protecting the global environment. Before joining Pew, Nickson spent 12 years at World Wildlife Fund (WWF), where her focus was on the protection of threatened species.
Nickson had just finished her participation in a panel discussion at the MSC Seafood Futures Forum, and the room was still buzzing with audience members and experts when Atuna sat down with her.
NGOs play an important part in the management of tuna fisheries, Nickson tells Atuna. Environmental organizations, such as Pew, have been active in coming up with solutions to some of the most pressing issues when it comes to the sustainability of tuna stocks, with Nickson mentioning FAD regulations and harvest strategies as examples. “I think NGOs are specifically there to be the voice of civil society, and as such I think they have had a role in helping shape debate and decision-making on a whole range of issues related to tuna management.”
Participating in the finishing panel of the event, Nickson was asked by the moderator of the debate to offer her opinion “from the other side”, referring to her as a representative of an NGO. He received an assertive response from Nickson; “I would hope at this point, that speaking on behalf of an NGO does not put me on the other side of the fence, given the importance of collaboration.”
It is however tough for NGOs to have any direct influence, as they do not have a vote when management measures are to be decided. Nickson argues that one of the main challenges is that tuna fisheries are managed via Regional Fisheries Management Organizations (RFMOs), which means that agreement has to be made between many different countries. “That is sometimes a slower process than we would like, so the challenge is to improve management in a way that keeps pace with actual fishing effort.”
For example, at the most recent meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) in December last year, environmental groups were blocked from entering the discussions when several important decisions were to be made. The gathering did result in an increase of eight percent for purse seine and longline bigeye catch limits, a decision Nickson at the time described as “disappointing”.
She says to Atuna that there should be a higher level of transparency in RFMO discussions and decision making, although noting that this is not specifically about NGO influence. “I do think that it is important to ensure that all negotiations are kept to the highest level of transparency, and that is sometimes under threat when really important decisions have to be made.” As well as NGOs’ ability to influence decisions at RFMO meetings being limited, environmental groups also have goals that can differ greatly from the fishing industry.
However, if appropriate sustainability measures fail to be implemented, it could have dire consequences for the tuna industry in terms of accessible raw material, says Nickson. “I think it will be dangerous,” she states, adding that several tuna species, such as bluefin, bigeye and yellowfin, have been overfished in several ocean areas. “What this tells us is that without appropriate harvest strategies and management measures going into place, we could continue to see the depletion of tuna populations to a point that is no longer ecologically healthy, and that is not what we would want to see happen.”
But the voice of NGOs is increasingly being heard. “I think there is certainly a greater and ever growing recognition for the need for cooperation and dialogue,” she says. Although some think that non-governmental organizations will never be satisfied with management no matter how sustainable it becomes, Nickson emphasized in the panel discussion that this is not the case. “People think NGOs would really like to stay unhappy forever, but mostly we’d really like to declare victory and go for cocktails.”
But how does Nickson believe this victory can be reached? The implementation of harvest strategies for all commercially fished tunas is one crucial point. “We believe that is really the way forward for both industries and governments, and others concerned about the state of the environment. It brings all of the stakeholders together to the table to determine management objectives for the fishery.”
Observer coverage ranks high on Pew’s agenda, Nickson explains. She says that a critical gap in tuna management at the moment is the “incredibly low” observer coverage on longline vessels, which is currently less than two percent globally. “There is no excuse at this point, given the available technology, to not have every single vessel covered by either human or electronic observers.” She argues that observer coverage for longliners should be increased to 100 percent, including a mix of electronic and human observers, saying this would be a “huge leap forward from where we are now”.
Another top priority for Pew is FAD management. When it comes to the use of FADs, one of the biggest problems is the devices’ impact on juvenile bigeye stocks. “So we would want to see regulations that actually address the primary concerns around FADs, and there are a range of them – it could be limits on the number put on the water, it could be limits on the number of times you set on a FAD, there also probably needs to be requirements around the removal of FADs.” She adds that Pew also believes FADs should be tracked, so their location is known and information can be gathered about how they are interacting with the ecosystem. While Nickson argues that the use of biodegradable and non-entangling FADs is a step forward, she says “they cannot be the only solution,” as these still do not account for issues such as the number of times a vessel makes a set on a FAD.
At the end of the day, Nickson says that it is important to emphasize that tuna management is not solely an NGO or an industry issue, but that dialogue between the different stakeholders is key. “The practical reality is that we have an ocean that is still degrading, and we need to address that”. All in all – it could be a long road ahead before improvements in tuna fisheries are celebrated with a round of margaritas.