News

The Geoscience team recently completed a field mission to Nikunau Island from 27 October to 3 November 2025 as part of the Solar Salt Preliminary Assessment. The visit focused on testing salinity levels in local ponds and conducting household surveys to better understand the community’s salt consumption, market demand, and interest in locally produced salt.

Nikunau, located in the southern Gilbert Islands, experiences a hot and humid climate with limited rainfall conditions similar to Beru, where a pilot study has already shown promising results. These shared conditions strengthen the potential for sustainable solar salt production as a local livelihood initiative.

Special appreciation goes to the Nikunau Island Council and community members for their cooperation and local guidance throughout the fieldwork, and to PROP for their ongoing support of this important project.

Kiribati fisheries officials participated in the pre-Management Options Consultation (MOC) meetings, MOC meeting and the 140th Forum Fisheries Committee Meeting (FFC140) held in Honiara, Solomon Islands, from 20–31 October 2025. The meetings assembled representatives of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) to deliberate and consolidate their position before the upcoming meeting of the 22nd Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC22) in Manila in December 2025.

High on the agenda during this year’s MOC meeting is the agreement on the South Pacific Albacore Management Procedure (SPA MP) – one of the important tuna species for certain FFA members including Kiribati – to be tabled at the WCPFC22. This is to ensure the development of long-term management plans and sustained economic benefits from this particular tuna species. Kiribati's participation in these meetings underscores its commitment to the Secretariat's work in managing our shared tuna resources vital for our present and future development aspirations.