THREE top officials in the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR) will join other 21 Pacific fisheries leaders at the 9th Pacific Community (SPC) Heads of Fisheries meeting in Noumea, New Caledonia from March 14 to March 17, 2017.

The trio includes Deputy Director Inshore Fisheries Division, Rosalie Masu, Deputy Director of Provincial Development and Extension Division, Francis Tofuakalo and Ronnelle Panda the Deputy Director of Policy, Planning and Project Management Division.

The biennial Heads of Fisheries meeting will also bring fisheries and aquaculture experts from regional and global research and development agencies.

A statement says mapping the future of sustainable fisheries and aquaculture management with assistance from the SPC will be a priority for the fisheries leaders.

Pacific people are custodians of around one quarter of the world’s ocean resources – including the world’s biggest tuna fishery – so what happens in the region also has global implications.

SPC’s Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division (FAME) is tasked with providing scientific advice and technical assistance to SPC’s 22 member countries and territories to help inform decisions on the management and development of their aquatic resources, and  build the capacity needed to implement these decisions.

“The Heads of Fisheries meeting plays a strategic role in providing guidance to the Pacific Community’s Coastal and Oceanic Fisheries programmes. In essence, it determines our priorities and work plans, and how we can best utilise our expertise to effectively assist the region,” SPC’s FAME Division Director, Moses Amos, said.

“It also gives us an opportunity to discuss emerging opportunities and challenges for the Pacific region across a range of issues including economics in both coastal and oceanic fisheries, future data needs and directions, and upcoming fisheries initiatives that SPC will undertake with respective governments and partner agencies,” Mr Amos said.