Tuna processing is the biggest employment provider for woman in the Pacific (i.e. 70% of Soltuna's workforce)
Small and remote island nations in the Pacific are custodians of the last great ocean fishery, but face huge challenges in economic development and managing the impact of climate change.
The Pacific fisheries have been feeding the world’s tuna appetite for many decades and have now reached their maximum yield potential. While some tuna species are in decline, we are focussing management and control efforts on achieving a safe long-term catch limit that will ensure sustainability of the fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific.
Although access fees to DWFN (Distant Water Fishing Nations - i.e. Taiwan, China, Korea, EU, Japan, etc) equate to only a fraction of the catch value, such revenues are of critical economic importance for many Pacific island economies where the scale of marine resources typically outweighs other natural-resource wealth.
This is particularly true for the smaller island and atoll states, most of which have few other opportunities for sustainable economic development.
Hence is a complicated equation where the needs and realities of each country will deliver a different outcome as there is no "one size fits all" solution.
Organisations like SPC, FFA, NZAid, AUSAid, the EU via programmes like DEVFish II, PHAMA and others are supporting this work in the region, and in many cases thanks to your taxes.