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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Fishing ban · Pacific Islands (PNA members) · 2010–2025

Pacific tuna Vessel Day Scheme

Nature's voice · report
My skipjack spawning biomass fell from about 90% to 51% of its unfished level, and the target was redefined in 2022 against recent depletion.
Did nature suffer? Yes. Harm is on record. Disputed
Recorded
What the record lacks: 5 none on record · 4 insufficient · 5 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Accounts of the harm differ
Did the vessel day scheme limit fishing effort and catch?
  • Government and regulators Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office: Its first quarterly report (2011) recorded a hard limit of 28,469 fishing days for 2011 and noted overcapacity. PNA Office
  • Researchers Asian Development Bank Institute: Found a relative catch increase of more than 200% in countries applying the scheme and raised overexploitation concerns. Asian Development Bank Institute
  • International bodies World Bank, as cited in the record: Said the revenue increase came through the rate of return rather than through catch; the record notes this holds for price.
Is the fishery's stock status consistent with its certification?
  • Standard-setters and registries Marine Stewardship Council, as reported by Fiskerforum: Re-certified the PNA purse seine fishery in October 2024 for about 1.3 million tonnes, including FAD fishing and bigeye tuna. Fiskerforum
  • International bodies Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission: Its bigeye summary gave F/FMSY of about 1.67 and said FADs take juvenile fish. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
  • Researchers Stock figures cited in the record: Skipjack spawning biomass fell from about 90% to 51% of the unfished level, and the target was redefined in 2022 against recent depletion; the bigeye recovery came largely from a model change.
Should the FAD fishing closure and the certificate's scope be loosened?
  • Standard-setters and registries Independent adjudicator: Halted the expansion of the MSC certificate to FAD fishing in 2022 (as reported by the Pacific Islands News Association). Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)
  • Government and regulators United States National Marine Fisheries Service: Proposed a rule in May 2024 implementing CMM 2023-01, which cut the FAD closure by half. US Federal Register, National Marine Fisheries Service
  • Standard-setters and registries Marine Stewardship Council, as reported by Fiskerforum: Included FAD fishing and bigeye tuna in the certificate on re-certification in October 2024. Fiskerforum
Why was the Phoenix Islands area reopened to fishing, and with what result?
  • Government and regulators Government of Kiribati: The record lists a government estimate of US$60 million to US$140 million in licence losses in 2015 to 2021 and a compensation foundation of about US$7 million; fisheries are about 40% of Kiribati's GDP.
  • International bodies IUCN World Heritage Outlook: Recorded the fishing ban as reduced to 3.12% of the area and FAD fishing taking place. IUCN World Heritage Outlook

Pacific island states that are parties to the Nauru Agreement sell fishing days to tuna fleets, and their access revenue rose from US$64 million in 2010 to US$357 million in 2015. Catch reached a record in 2024, the fishery's certificate was widened in 2024, and Kiribati's Phoenix Islands protected area was reopened to fishing.

US$64m to US$357mAccess revenue of PNA members, 2010 to 2015
Figures as recorded in the record; the scheme sells fishing days, and catch reached a record 3.06 million tonnes in 2024.

Status As of October 2026: the 2024 catch was a record 3.06 million tonnes, the MSC certificate has included FAD fishing and bigeye since October 2024, and the Phoenix Islands fishing ban covers 3.12% of the area; no penalty is recorded.

What?
The PNA's vessel day scheme sells fishing days to purse seine fleets. Access revenue rose from US$64 million in 2010 to US$357 million in 2015 while catch reached a record in 2024.
Where?
The waters of the Pacific island states that are parties to the Nauru Agreement in the Western and Central Pacific, including the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati and fisheries in Papua New Guinea.
When?
Revenue figures for 2010 and 2015; FAD closure cut in 2023; record catch and re-certification of the fishery in 2024. Fiskerforum
Who?
Gained
  • Island treasuries of PNA members — Access revenue of US$357 million in 2015, flat from 2017 according to the record
  • Purse seine fleets — Record catch of 3.06 million tonnes in 2024
  • Thai Union — A record gross margin reported for 2025
Lost
  • Kiribati — A government estimate of US$60 million to US$140 million in licence losses in 2015 to 2021 from the Phoenix Islands closure
Harmed
  • Deck workers — Pay of about US$350 a month
  • Fisheries observers — At least 14 dead or missing since 2015
  • Cannery workers — No collective bargaining right
  • Coastal fishers in Kiribati — Described falling catch per effort and competition from purse seiners
  • Juvenile bigeye tuna, skipjack and oceanic whitetip sharks — Juvenile bigeye taken by FAD sets; skipjack spawning biomass down to 51% of the unfished level; oceanic whitetip shark overfished Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
Why?
Fisheries are about 40% of Kiribati's GDP; the record gives lost licence revenue and undelivered compensation as the grounds for opening the Phoenix Islands area to fishing.
How?
Access is sold by the fishing day. A Papua New Guinea sector manager said in 2015 that high day fees led to longer trips and to setting nets twice a day.
In proportion Island governments' access revenue is about 2% of final sales value (about US$22.7 billion) and above 20% of landed value (about US$5 billion); the calculation mixes years.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) are a group of Pacific island states whose waters hold much of the Western and Central Pacific tuna fishery. Their vessel day scheme sells fishing days to purse seine fleets. The record gives the PNA's access (licence) revenue as US$64 million in 2010 and US$357 million in 2015. The PNA's first quarterly report (2011) recorded a hard limit of 28,469 fishing days for 2011 and described overcapacity.

Catch rose as revenue rose. The record gives a rise of about 27% in total catch from 2010 to 2024 and a record of 3.06 million tonnes in 2024. An Asian Development Bank Institute working paper (October 2023) found that catch in countries applying the scheme rose by more than 200% in relative terms and raised overexploitation concerns. The record cites the World Bank as saying that the revenue increase came through the rate of return rather than through catch. A Papua New Guinea sector manager said in 2015 that high day fees had led to longer trips and to setting nets twice a day.

Stock and gear measures changed over the same period. The record gives the skipjack spawning biomass as having fallen from about 90% to 51% of its unfished level, with the target redefined in 2022 against recent depletion. A Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission summary of bigeye tuna gave F/FMSY of about 1.67 and said that fish aggregating device (FAD) sets take juvenile fish. In 2023 the FAD fishing closure was cut from three months to one and a half months. Between 30,000 and 65,000 FADs are deployed each year and 1,500 to 2,200 strand on shore, according to the University of New South Wales; a 2021 analysis of PNA FAD tracking found 44.1% of tracked buoys abandoned and 6.6% beached.

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate for the PNA purse seine fishery was re-certified in October 2024 for about 1.3 million tonnes, with FAD fishing and bigeye tuna included, according to Fiskerforum. A 2022 ruling by an independent adjudicator had halted the FAD expansion of the certificate once. In Kiribati, the Phoenix Islands Protected Area was opened to fishing when promised compensation did not arrive; the IUCN World Heritage Outlook (October 2025) recorded the fishing ban as reduced to 3.12% of the area.

The record also gives figures on the value chain and on labour. The landed value of Western and Central Pacific catch was about US$5 billion and the final sales value about US$22.7 billion, with island governments' access revenue about 2% of final sales value (calculation mixes years). A deck worker earned about US$350 a month, and at least 14 observers died or went missing from 2015 onwards. The record lists as not found: current country-by-country revenue series, fleet profitability in PNA waters, the share Pacifical pays to the PNA, and post-2017 cannery wages.

  1. 2010PNA access (licence) revenue recorded at US$64 million
  2. 2011PNA first quarterly report records a hard limit of 28,469 days and overcapacity
  3. 2015Access revenue recorded at US$357 million; at least 14 observers have died or gone missing from this year onwards
  4. 2017Access revenue has been flat from this year, according to the record
  5. 2019University of New South Wales: 30,000 to 65,000 FADs deployed a year; 1,500 to 2,200 strand
  6. 2021PNA FAD tracking analysis: 44.1% of tracked buoys abandoned, 6.6% beached
  7. 2022Independent adjudicator halts expansion of the MSC certificate to FAD fishing
  8. 2023FAD fishing closure cut from three months to one and a half months
  9. 2024Record catch of 3.06 million tonnes; MSC re-certifies the fishery with FAD fishing and bigeye included (17 October)
  10. 2025Thai Union reports a record gross margin; IUCN records the Phoenix Islands fishing ban at 3.12% of the area (October)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Did the vessel day scheme limit fishing effort and catch?
Government and regulators
Parties to the Nauru Agreement Office

Its first quarterly report (2011) recorded a hard limit of 28,469 fishing days for 2011 and noted overcapacity.

PNA Office
Researchers
Asian Development Bank Institute

Found a relative catch increase of more than 200% in countries applying the scheme and raised overexploitation concerns.

Asian Development Bank Institute
International bodies
World Bank, as cited in the record

Said the revenue increase came through the rate of return rather than through catch; the record notes this holds for price.

Is the fishery's stock status consistent with its certification?
Standard-setters and registries
Marine Stewardship Council, as reported by Fiskerforum

Re-certified the PNA purse seine fishery in October 2024 for about 1.3 million tonnes, including FAD fishing and bigeye tuna.

Fiskerforum
International bodies
Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

Its bigeye summary gave F/FMSY of about 1.67 and said FADs take juvenile fish.

Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
Researchers
Stock figures cited in the record

Skipjack spawning biomass fell from about 90% to 51% of the unfished level, and the target was redefined in 2022 against recent depletion; the bigeye recovery came largely from a model change.

Should the FAD fishing closure and the certificate's scope be loosened?
Standard-setters and registries
Independent adjudicator

Halted the expansion of the MSC certificate to FAD fishing in 2022 (as reported by the Pacific Islands News Association).

Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)
Government and regulators
United States National Marine Fisheries Service

Proposed a rule in May 2024 implementing CMM 2023-01, which cut the FAD closure by half.

US Federal Register, National Marine Fisheries Service
Standard-setters and registries
Marine Stewardship Council, as reported by Fiskerforum

Included FAD fishing and bigeye tuna in the certificate on re-certification in October 2024.

Fiskerforum
Why was the Phoenix Islands area reopened to fishing, and with what result?
Government and regulators
Government of Kiribati

The record lists a government estimate of US$60 million to US$140 million in licence losses in 2015 to 2021 and a compensation foundation of about US$7 million; fisheries are about 40% of Kiribati's GDP.

International bodies
IUCN World Heritage Outlook

Recorded the fishing ban as reduced to 3.12% of the area and FAD fishing taking place.

IUCN World Heritage Outlook
What share of the tuna value reaches the island states?
Researchers
Earlier critical literature, as cited in the record

Put the Pacific's share at 3% to 5% of the value.

Researchers
Research record calculation

The scheme raised the share to above 20% of landed value; against final sales value it remains about 2% (calculation mixes years).

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • The vessel day scheme as a conservation tool that limits fishing effort
    Presentation recorded in the record; speaker not identified in the sources reviewed
  • The fishery as the world's largest sustainable tuna fishery (free-school fishing)
    Presentation recorded in the record; speaker not identified in the sources reviewed
  • The first FAD controls in the world
    Presentation recorded in the record; speaker not identified in the sources reviewed
  • The Phoenix Islands as one of the world's largest protected areas
    Presentation recorded in the record; speaker not identified in the sources reviewed

Recorded

  • PNA first quarterly report (2011): hard limit of 28,469 fishing days for 2011; overcapacity noted
    PNA Office
  • Catch up about 27% from 2010 to 2024; record 3.06 million tonnes in 2024
  • Asian Development Bank Institute working paper: relative catch increase of more than 200% in countries applying the scheme; overexploitation concerns
    Asian Development Bank Institute
  • WCPFC bigeye summary: F/FMSY about 1.67; FADs take juvenile fish
    Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission
  • FAD fishing closure cut from three months to one and a half months in 2023 (US proposed rule implementing CMM 2023-01)
    US Federal Register, National Marine Fisheries Service
  • 30,000 to 65,000 FADs deployed each year; 1,500 to 2,200 strand on shore
    University of New South Wales
  • 44.1% of tracked PNA buoys abandoned; 6.6% beached (2016 to 2021 tracking programme)
    SPC/PNA, via BMIS
  • Independent adjudicator's ruling halted the expansion of the MSC certificate to FAD fishing (2022)
    Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)
  • MSC re-certified the fishery in October 2024 for about 1.3 million tonnes, including FAD fishing and bigeye tuna
    Fiskerforum
  • Wageningen University article (2016) on the PNA's Pacifical partnership: PNA share of 50%
    Wageningen University
  • Phoenix Islands Protected Area: fishing ban reduced to 3.12% of the area; FAD fishing recorded
    IUCN World Heritage Outlook
  • Landed value of Western and Central Pacific catch about US$5 billion; final sales value about US$22.7 billion; island governments' access revenue about 2% of final sales value (calculation mixes years)
  • Purse seine observer coverage is 100%; unreported fishing has fallen by more than half since 2016, and 89% of the remainder is misreporting by licensed vessels
  • Deck worker pay about US$350 a month; at least 14 observers dead or missing since 2015; cannery workers had no collective bargaining right; less than 1% of the tuna catch is consumed in the region
  • US taxpayers pay about US$60 million a year for access by the US-flagged fleet

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
PNA access (licence) revenue, 2010$64m
As recorded in the record.
PNA access (licence) revenue, 2015$357m
As recorded in the record.
Currency: USD · Window: 2010 to 2015. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • kiribati-government (2015 to 2021): The record lists a government estimate of US$60 million to US$140 million in licence losses in 2015 to 2021 from the Phoenix Islands closure, and a compensation foundation of about US$7 million.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. 2022-10Outcome not on record
    Independent adjudicator's ruling on the MSC-certified PNA tuna fishery
    Independent adjudicator (ruling on the MSC-certified PNA tuna fishery) · Administrative · →

    A Pacific Islands News Association report dated 26 October 2022 on the ruling is the record's only source. The record states that the ruling halted the expansion of the certificate to FAD fishing in 2022. the sources reviewed does not name the objector or give the reasoning. Pacific Islands News Association (PINA)

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

Catch
3.06m t
Record total catch in 2024, up about 27% since 2010
Skipjack spawning biomass
About 90% to 51%
Of the unfished level; target redefined in 2022 against recent depletion
Tracked FAD buoys abandoned
44.1%
SPC/PNA analysis of the 2016 to 2021 tracking programme
Phoenix Islands fishing ban
3.12% of the area
IUCN World Heritage Outlook, October 2025

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Deaths reportedKey earnings undisclosed

Nature

  • Disputed Did the vessel day scheme limit fishing effort and catch?
  • Disputed Is the fishery's stock status consistent with its certification?
  • Disputed Should the FAD fishing closure and the certificate's scope be loosened?
  • Disputed Why was the Phoenix Islands area reopened to fishing, and with what result?

Court

  • Unclear Independent adjudicator's ruling on the MSC-certified PNA tuna fishery: outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed What share of the tuna value reaches the island states?

Record

  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the PNA's 2023 effort decision, known only, put fishing effort at the 2010 level of 45,033 days.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a PNA monthly update (July 2025), known only, put the July catch down 40% and the June catch rate down 33%; the record also gives a 15% fall in catch in 2025.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a PNA circular (November 2023), known only, raised the sea day and shore day rate from US$129 to US$158, the first rise since 2017.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: a PNA media release (December 2023), known only, welcomed the shortened FAD closure and expected a moderate rise in catch.
  • None on record Current country-by-country revenue series: not found in the record.
  • None on record Profitability of the fleets in PNA waters: not found in the record.
  • None on record The share Pacifical pays to the PNA: not found in the record.
  • None on record Cannery wages after 2017: not found in the record.
  • None on record No penalty is recorded in connection with the reopening of the Phoenix Islands area to fishing.

Did the harm stop?

Not stopped on the record: catch reached a record in 2024 and the certificate scope was widened in 2024.

Who paid?

Recorded costs fall on deck workers (about US$350 a month), observers (at least 14 dead or missing since 2015), cannery workers, coastal fishers and the stocks; US taxpayers pay about US$60 million a year for access by the US-flagged fleet.

Sources

Voices on record: — Company or project✓ Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers✓ International bodies

Government and regulators

  1. PNA Quarterly Report No 1
    PNA Office · 2011
  2. Proposed rule implementing CMM 2023-01
    US Federal Register, National Marine Fisheries Service · 2024-05-29

Press and investigations

  1. Independent Adjudicator's ruling on MSC certified PNA tuna fishery
    Pacific Islands News Association (PINA) · 2022-10-26

Researchers

  2. Tens of thousands of tuna-attracting devices are drifting around
    University of New South Wales · 2019-10-02

International bodies

  1. Bigeye tuna (extended summary)
    Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission · 2023
  2. Phoenix Islands Protected Area
    IUCN World Heritage Outlook · 2025-10-11

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Science and environment

Biomass, root-to-shoot ratio, carbon fraction
Biomass is the dry weight of living plants per hectare. The root-to-shoot ratio adds the weight of roots. The carbon fraction is the share of that weight that is carbon, about 47% in tropical forests.

Institutions

IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and its global list assessing species' risk of extinction.

Carbon and conservation finance

Standard-setter and registry
An organisation that writes the rules for carbon credits, approves projects, and records when credits are issued and retired. Such bodies typically charge fees per credit.
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