NATIONAL LEVEL ANNUAL REPORT
TO THE
OCEANIC FISHERIES MANAGEMENT PROJECT
REGIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE (OFM RSC)

Reporting Period, 1 July 2007 ­ 30 June 2008


1. Country: Nauru

2. Project Title: Oceanic Fisheries Management: Implementation of the Strategic
Action Programme of the Pacific SIDs (Pacific SAP II)

3. Period Covered: 1 July 2007 ­ 30 June 2008

4. Summary of Overall Project Progress
Nauru continues to receive benefits from the Oceanic Fisheries Management
projects through both initiatives on the regional and national level. The level of
assistance rendered through this project has relatively improved the capacity of the
Nauru Fisheries and Marine Resources Authority to address the issues raised by the
WCPFC Convention and to an extent discharge with some of the new responsibilities
as required under the Convention. The following is a list of the specific output/results
achieved for the current reporting period:

5. Specific Outputs/Results Achieved (as per annual work-plan):

National level activities
· Establishment of the GEF OFM National Consultative Committee (NCC) ­
NFMRA received funding support from the Program to help establish a NCC
to oversee and coordinate the implementation of national projects under the
program. The Nauru NCC has been established and has had two meetings
since its establishment in November last year. The reports for those two
meetings are being prepared for the Project coordinator.
· National Tuna Fisheries Status Reports ­ the SPC OFP and NFMRA project
collaboration is ongoing and is in its final stages before completion
· In-country consultations ­ for 2007 and 2008 several workshops for
stakeholder consultations under the national EAFM process were held with the
assistance from FFA and SPC staff. Consequently the EAFM report will be
ready for completion by end of this year.
· Training attachments ­ opportunities for attachments to train in operating the
TUFMAN system was made available to the Nauruan participant at the SPC
Tuna Data Workshop in Noumea during 2007.
· Ecological Risk Assesments (ERA) ­ the ERA report was completed for
Nauru in 2008 in conjunction with the work being progressed with the EAFM.


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Regional level activities

· Training Workshops ­ Nauru received several training opportunities under
during the reporting period and these included the a) Tuna Data Workshop -
SPC Noumea 2007, b) Stock Assessment Workshop -SPC Noumea 2008, c)
Regional Evidence Training Workshop- Kavieng PNG 2007
· Legislative review ­ reviews on national fisheries legislative gaps in relation
to the WCPFC Convention were provided as part of a regional initiative to
assess existing fisheries legislations amongst member countries.


6. Challenges/Issues Encountered

Increasing level of obligations by the WCPFC Convention has strained the capacity of
small island states such as Nauru and the level of support needed from the regional
agencies such as FFA and SPC has often been stretched due to the fact that there are
many members of the FFA who rightfully rely on the limited resources of these
agencies and hence not all needs can be catered for.

Some examples include the review and amendments of national fisheries legislations
to meet obligations under the WCPFC Convention where there is only a limited level
of personel at the FFA to cater for such services. Nauru is also in need to establish a
National Observer program and training opportunities have been very hard to come by
as they are focused on states that already have National programs in place. The 3rd
Implementing Agreement recently adopted by the PNA as a proposed Conservation
and Management Measure for WCPFC generally requires 100% observer coverage.

7. Solutions Applied (to address issues and challenges)
An Institutional Strengthening Project ( ISP) with Ausaid Donor support is being
implemented to strengthen the governing process within the Authority and to
specifically address some of the shortcomings being faced in relation to WCPFC
Obligations. The ISP includes support for training and short term consultancies that
can be utilized to meet those needs that cannot be sufficiently addressed by the SPC
and FFA.


9. Recommendations for Future Action

The GEF OFM should take a more proactive approach and look at the outsourcing of
essential services to member countries where support from traditional service
providers is in high demand and therefore strained e.g. legal and scientific fields, so
that members can strive to meet the growing demands and obligations being imposed
by the WCPFC Convention. Nauru is confident that the upcoming ISP project will
achieve a greater part of this objective and encourage the GEF OFM to continue
looking at ways or means of supporting members that would relief some of the burden
from the traditional service providers which in turn may provide more efficient
services to the members.



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10. Report Prepared By: Peta Gadabu- Chairperson Nauru National Consultative
Committee and Terry Amram (OFM Project) Focal Point.


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