The 19th Regular Session of the Scientific Committee of the WCPO / by Francisco Blaha

As I’m only partially involved this time (since I’m getting certified as a bicycle mechanic – one of my other interests) up in Palau, the Scientific Committee of the WCPFC is taking place.

This is an event I am very interested in, as it discusses all aspects related to science and technology in the WCPFC-managed fisheries.

Generally, there is a plethora of papers to read, and I wonder if anyone in the world has the time to read them all, yet for some reason, this year seems to be even more than usual! There must be over 150 papers, presentations, reports and so on.

There is no way that I could read all the papers I’m interested in, but I do have some absolute topics of interest, and the good thing about the WCPFC is that all of the stuff I’m interested in is accessible online to those that want to read about it, beside those of us that do as part of our work.

Here is my personal selection of the ones I found interesting on the topics I’m keen on (and understand! I’m really interested in stock assessment, yet the depth of the modelling used today is beyond my limited brain)

So for whatever it is worth, here are some of them

Overview of tuna fisheries in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean, including economic conditions – 2022 https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19335

A novel FAD tracking device tested in the Pacific Ocean https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19844

ISSF Workshop on Different Approaches to Limit the Number of FADs in the Oceans  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19487

Spatial and temporal description of drifting FAD use in the WCPO derived from analyses of the FAD tracking programmes and observer data  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19395

A preliminarily analysis of variations in the fishing gear configurations and practices of Japanese longliners in the WCPO since 2007 https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19783

Non-entangling and biodegradable FAD trial in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19392

The Jelly-FAD: new results on its performance  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/20154

Independent Review of the 2020 WCPO Yellowfin Tuna Assessment  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/20156

Technological developments of the fishing devices in the Japanese pole-and-line vessel identified in past surveys  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19782

Proposed purpose, scope, and process for the seabird CMM 2018-03 review https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19793

Updated ACAP Advice on Reducing the Bycatch of Albatrosses and Petrels in WCPFC Fisheries  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19486

Evaluation of the use of netting and biodegradable materials in drifting FAD construction in the WCPO https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19393

Statistical comparison of bycatch mitigation performance with and without streamers in tori-lines for small LL vessels  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19763

Analyses of the regional database of stranded drifting Fish Aggregating Devices (dFADs) in the Pacific Ocean https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19394

Tori line experiments on Taiwanese tuna longline fishing vessels in the North Pacific Ocean https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19923

Ecosystem and Climate Indicators https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19391

A Fisheries Science Vessel for the Pacific – A tool to manage and preserve our common resources and ecosystem  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/19401

Summary of bycatch in WCPFC longline fisheries at a regional scale, 2003-2021  https://meetings.wcpfc.int/node/20161