US and Pacific agree on new rules for tuna fishery Featured
28 June, 2016. The United States and several Pacific countries have agreed to a new fishing deal which governs US access to the region's billion dollar tuna fishery.
The deal, which will govern US fishing vessels' access to the region's exclusive economic zones, has been seven years in the making.
It provides more flexibility for US fishing boats to pick and choose the number and type of fishing access days they want, while at the same time giving the countries of the Pacific Islands Forum more control of their respective EEZs.
The director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency, James Movick, said the deal was a huge achievement for the region.
"It has restructured the way in which we are licensing the US boats," he said.
"It has allowed us to continue the strategic political relationship between the Pacific and the US on amicable terms and it has reinforced and reaffirmed the commitment to regional solidarity and cooperation that has really under-pinned the success of the entire Pacific Island region to date."
The deal comes after the United States pulled out of a short-term deal which led to the entire US fleet being grounded earlier this year.
The new six year agreement is due to be signed off by the Pacific Island Forum leaders in Pohnpei in August, and will come into effect in January 2017.
-RNZI
