Kiribati’s efforts to protect its tuna resources have been significantly strengthened with advanced training for 26 Monitoring Control Surveillance (MCS) practitioners.
Officials from the Kiribati Police Maritime Unit (PMU) and the Ministry of Fisheries Marine Resources Development (MFMRD) in Tarawa participated in intensive Boarding & Inspection Training. This programme is crucial in developing skills and knowledge to conduct effective fishing vessel compliance inspections to detect IIUU fishing activities.
The training was organised by the FFA Secretariat in partnership with the Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries, the New Zealand Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI), and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA).
It came in response to a request from Kiribati for in-country capacity building for boarding officers, aiming to bolster the nation’s ability to manage its fisheries resources sustainably.
‘Enhancing safe and effective port and at-sea inspection capacity remains a fundamental component of Kiribati’s fight against IUU fishing, fisheries management and ensuring the sustainable flow of economic development,’ said Kiribati Director Oceanic Fisheries Kaon Tiamere at the opening of the training.
FFA Surveillance Operations Officer Yohni Fepuleai also expressed gratitude for the collaborative effort from the Government of Kiribati and its partners, highlighting that the Boarding & Inspection course is designed as a skills-based training programme. It builds on the effective use of Integrated MCS Tools to perform vessel risk assessments and implement boarding inspections of fishing vessels both in port and at sea.
Key items covered in the training included vessel inspections procedures and best practices to support fisheries management objectives. Other areas of the training broadly covered the evolving legal instruments, national fisheries conditions on conservation management measures, associated components of the MCS tools, health and safety, IUU risks and focus on catch reporting verification using log sheets analysis and electronic reporting. Participants also engage in practical exercises in Tawara Port.
