Pacific States Move to Protect “Plundered” Tuna Areas
Text of report by public broadcaster Radio New Zealand International on 21 May
Environmentalists have hailed a decision by eight Pacific nations to block tuna fishing in pockets of international waters in the region. A meeting in Palau of 17 Pacific nations with the Forum Fisheries Agency [FFA] noted the plan to stop boats from fishing for tuna in two large areas of international waters.
Those areas, one north of Papua New Guinea and the other further east, are identified as having been plundered by tuna fishermen acting beyond the restrictions of nearby countries.
The Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu agreed on new measures to protect these areas. There will be a catch retention scheme, no fishing with fish aggregating devices, as well as moves towards 100 per cent observation on purse seine vessels.
The countries have also decided not to license vessels that fish in exclusive economic zones to operate in the high seas. These measures, designed to ensure the sustainability of yellowfin and blue-eye tuna, will come into effect from 15 June.
Environmentalists like Greenpeace oceans campaigner Jason Collins has called it an historic moment in fisheries management in the Pacific. But Mr Collins says Australia needs to take more of a leadership role in ensuring that these international waters are closed to fishing, to support these Pacific countries in their efforts.
Meanwhile, the deputy director of the Forum Fisheries Agency says there are no strings attached to a new line of funding from Japan. Under the scheme, Japan’s Overseas Fisheries Cooperation Foundation will provide up to 96m US dollars in the form of a loan over a 10- year period.
The fourth ministerial meeting of the FFA members in Palau announced the signing.
Transform Aqorau says the money will help to support a variety of fishing projects, but measures have been to taken to ensure the management of the funds will be by the agency’s member countries.
[Aqorau] We did negotiate in the memorandum of understanding and we made sure that the full control of the funding, the decision making, what kind of programmes the funding supports, is made by the countries. It’s in black and white. It was a negotiated arrangement and we made sure that the control of the money was in the hands of the Forum fisheries community.
Originally published by Radio New Zealand International, Wellington, in English 1300 21 May 08.
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