The Oceanic Fisheries Programme (OFP), formerly known as the Tuna and Billfish Assessment Programme (TBAP) was established by the 1980 South Pacific Conference to continue the work initiated by its predecessor project, the Skipjack Survey and Assessment Programme (SSAP). The ongoing expenses of the Programme are currently funded by extra-budgetary contributions from Australia, France, and New Zealand, and, as of 1997, a contribution from the SPC core budget for one position.
Funding for specific projects during the past five years has also been received from the European Union (EU), the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), the University of Hawaii Pelagic Fisheries Research Program (PFRP), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Republic of Korea and the Government of Taiwan.
The OFP extends its appreciation to all of these governments and organisations for their valued support. The OFP mission, as drafted by the Fourth Standing Committee on Tuna and Billfish (SCTB) and endorsed by the Twenty-third Regional Technical Meeting on Fisheries, is "to provide member countries with the scientific information and advice necessary to rationally manage fisheries exploiting the region's resources of tuna, billfish and related species". The structure of the OFP recommended at the Fourth SCTB, i.e. Statistics and Monitoring, Biological Research, Stock Assessement and Modelling, Reporting and Liaison, has since been modified to better reflect changing work activities and priorities.