Caught tuna of various sizes hanging on a boat.

Pacific island nations face tuna crisis as warming ocean drives fish east

A warmer Pacific Ocean is pushing tuna eastward, threatening food security, government revenue, and livelihoods across small island nations dependent on the migrating fish.

Nathan Eagle reports for Honolulu Civil Beat.

In short:

Tuna populations are shifting east due to warming waters, forcing Pacific island nations like the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, and Papua New Guinea to confront economic losses as access to these fish declines within their exclusive zones.
Tuna is a major pillar of Pacific economies, supplying up to 71% of some nations’ government revenue and sustaining tens of thousands of jobs, particularly in local canneries like SolTuna in the Solomon Islands.
A $107 million grant from the Green Climate Fund aims to help island nations adapt by funding scientific research to track fish migration and expanding nearshore fishing through devices that attract tuna closer to home.

Key quote:

“The best scientific advice available says that climate change is expected to reduce the tuna biomass in our waters to an extent that will remove a substantial share of the gains that we should be expecting from the sustainability of our fisheries.”

— Sangaa Clark, chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement

Why this matters:

As waters warm and tuna chase cooler currents eastward, Pacific small island states are losing out. Their exclusive economic zones are emptying out of fish, and high seas fishing — unregulated and often unprofitable for local communities — does little to replace what’s lost. The Pacific has long been praised for strong fisheries management, but climate-driven changes are outpacing policy. Meanwhile, foreign powers like China, Australia, and the U.S. are eyeing tuna as both a commodity and a geopolitical lever, financing infrastructure and canneries in hopes of influence. The result: an unstable mix of ecological displacement and international competition, in places already battered by rising seas and coral collapse.

www.civilbeat.org

Smoke billows from an industrial chimney at sunset near several homes.

Credit: Tanner Messenger/Unsplash

Judge rules EPA overstepped in cutting pollution grants

A federal judge has blocked the Trump administration from canceling $600 million in environmental justice grants aimed at helping underserved communities reduce pollution.

Rachel Frazin reports forThe Hill.

In short:

The grants stem from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which set aside $3 billion for environmental justice programs.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden had planned to distribute the $600 million through regional groups, which would fund local efforts, before the Trump EPA terminated the grants earlier this year.
Judge Adam Abelson ruled the EPA's cancellation exceeded its authority “precisely because they are ‘environmental justice’ programs."

Key quote:
The move included a “lack of any reasoned decision-making, or reasoned explanation.”

— Judge Adam Abelson, U.S. District Court

Why this matters:
Underserved communities often face the greatest environmental health risks and climate impacts. These grants were designed to help local groups respond to long-standing environmental harms and health risks, and canceling them would have cut off vital support just as cleanup efforts were beginning to gain traction. The Trump administration has also attempted to cancel a similar $20 billion program that would fund climate-friendly projects.

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