In South Fly District of Papua New Guinea’s Western Province, a community-based fisheries management plan is being implemented through close collaboration between the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and Western Province Fisheries. This partnership builds on efforts initiated under the ATSEA-2 Project and forms part of a broader strategy to ensure sustainable and inclusive fisheries governance across the Arafura and Timor Seas region.

As the host province of the ATSEA initiative in Papua New Guinea, Western Province has been actively involved since the development of the Fore-Coast Artisanal Fisheries Management Plan (FAFMP), which was developed under the ATSEA-2 Project. The province continues to play a central role in the plan’s implementation. The FAFMP has been adopted into the annual work plans and budgets of both the Western Province and South Fly District Fisheries Offices. By embedding the plan into local structures, the province is reinforcing its continuity and sustainability beyond the project period.

While NFA provides ongoing technical support, including through annual management committee meetings and on a need basis, implementation is now led by provincial teams. A joint Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) trip is scheduled for July, with representatives from the ATSEA PNG Secretariat joining Western Province Fisheries to assess progress on the ground.

This monitoring effort is expected to generate valuable lessons that will inform the long-term implementation of ATSEA’s Strategic Action Programme (SAP) and Papua New Guinea’s National Action Programme (NAP). NFA also plans to replicate the community-based management model across 13 other maritime provinces, adapting lessons learned from South Fly to new contexts.

This collaboration is part of a broader set of joint activities under an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between NFA and Western Province Fisheries. These include joint Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) patrols in the border region, and the ongoing construction of a new MCS command centre in Daru, the provincial capital.

These efforts align with ATSEA’s strategic focus on addressing key transboundary environmental concerns in the Arafura and Timor Seas Large Marine Ecosystem (ATS), which spans approximately 167 million hectares. The programme prioritises action on marine plastic pollution, oil spills, small-scale illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUUF), and the decline of endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species. The SAP provides a regional framework for coordinated action across four littoral countries, Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Timor-Leste, supporting their commitments to environmental sustainability at local, national and international levels.

By Kenneth Yhuanje