PNA launches search for a new CEO

MAJURO, Marshall Islands—The fisheries management organization Parties to the Nauru Agreement announced Friday it has launched the search for a new chief executive officer.

The CEO is based at Majuro, capital of the Marshall Islands, and is responsible to the eight member nations of the PNA for the overall management, strategic direction and operation of the PNA Office and coordination of cooperative efforts of the Parties.

Dr. Transform Aqorau, who has directed the PNA Office since it was established in 2010, will be leaving the organization in early 2015 as he wraps up five years as CEO of PNA.

The waters of the eight-member nations of PNA account for approximately 70 percent of the total catch of all species of tuna in the Western and Central Pacific and 30 percent of the world’s raw canning material, making PNA a powerful fisheries management organization.

“The PNA has led the way in establishing sustainable fisheries conservation measures and managing tuna stocks for the benefit of its members,” said Aqorau. “The PNA is now seeking to hire a new CEO who can continue and build on the progress of this important organization.”

Among key initiatives PNA has taken since 2010 include:

– Establishment of a “Vessel Day Scheme” capping the number of fishing days allowed annually as the mechanism for managing the purse seine tuna fishing industry in the Western and Central Pacific region.

– Achievement of Marine Stewardship Council Certification for the only purse seine “free school skipjack tuna fishery” in the world with a certified chain of custody. It is a Partner with Sustainable of the Netherlands in Pacifical, a retailing and marketing brand that markets MSC-caught tuna from PNA waters.

– Management of the PNA Observer Agency, which supplies trained observers who monitor catches aboard fishing vessels in the region.

– Adoption of conservation and management measures prohibiting fishing in the two western pockets of high seas surrounded by PNA member 200-mile exclusive economic zones in the Western and Central Pacific, prohibition on setting on whale sharks, prohibition of fishing on fish aggregating devices for three months of the year, retention of all tuna species on board purse vessels, 100 percent observer coverage on all purse seine vessels, and establishment of minimum mesh size for purse seine nets.

– The CEO oversees this work from the Majuro-based office.

“The role of the PNA in the global tuna industry is significant and is expected to grow,” said Aqorau in announcing the recruitment process for a new CEO.

Details of the CEO position can be obtained from www.pnatuna.com. Applications close September 1, 2014.

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement are eight Pacific Island countries that control the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery. Member nations are Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Tuvalu. (PNA)