A fishing company in Papua New Guinea has committed to promoting an ecosystem approach to fisheries management and reducing risks to threatened species, thereby supporting the goals of the CTI-CFF. On November 30, 2011, Fair Well Investment Limited, a longline tuna fishing company based in Port Moresby, signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the PNG National Fisheries Authority and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to initiate a trial use of circle hooks in its longline tuna fleet.

Two studies conducted by the US CTI Support Program through the Coral Triangle Support Partnership, in collaboration with the WorldFish Center, highlight the need for extensive planning as a critical step toward ensuring long-term food security and sustainable livelihoods for the people of Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands.

On December 8, 2011, Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort and Spa launched its first-ever sustainable seafood awareness campaign in Sabah, Malaysia, in collaboration with the Sabah government and USAID’s US Coral Triangle Initiative Support Program through WWF-Malaysia. During the launch, the management of the 492-room resort committed to sourcing its seafood from sustainable suppliers via local fishermen’s organizations in the nearby Tun Mustapha Park.

The Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange (CAKE) highlighted the Coral Triangle Initiative’s efforts to ensure climate change adaptation in the world’s most biodiverse marine environment by featuring the CTI Region-wide Early Action Plan for Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in its December 2011 newsletter. CAKE (www.cakex.org) noted that the early action plan sets forth urgent and immediate actions needed across the Coral Triangle to build coastal community resilience to climate change.

The CTI-CFF Financial Resources Working Group (FRWG) held its inaugural meeting in Kuala Lumpur from 12 to 13 October 2011. Chaired by Indonesia, the group has been mandated by Senior Officials and Ministers to develop a financial resources strategy for Phase 1 of the CTI. Phase 1 has been characterized as the “investment phase,” focusing on short-term funding needs to get the CTI up and running. Phase 2 will be the “sustainable finance phase,” which considers longer-term funding needs and explores ways to generate funds sustainably.

The CTI-CFF Interim Regional Secretariat reflects on the achievements of 2011 and urges all CT6 countries, partners, and stakeholders to continue their efforts to ensure that the major milestones planned for 2012 are achieved.

This is the second of the two-batch CCA training course developed based upon a similar course that fourteen CT6 representatives attended last year at the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island (CRC). The University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute, the hub of CCA Learning Network will be the lead trainer with support from CRC and the US CTI Support Program Partners.