Fiji, Dec. 4 -- Australia and the Pacific Community (SPC) have urged the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) to reset its crowded harvest strategy timetable, warning that without a smarter schedule the Commission risks bottlenecks and stalled progress on key tuna stocks.

Their joint paper, tabled at WCPFC22 in Manila, lays out a wider set of planning challenges that sit beyond the existing harvest strategy workplan including clashing timelines, technical workload pressures, and a looming congestion of critical decisions in 2026.

The paper calls for a coordinated rethink.

It argues that harvest strategies for all key tuna stocks must be planned holistically, not in isolation, noting the Commission "requires adequate...