Summary

What Australia is doing to help regional fisheries in the Pacific, what Regional Organisations are working in this area and recent developments

Description

The Importance of Fisheries to Pacific Island Countries

Nearly one-third of the world's marine resources are found in the Pacific Ocean. Pacific Island Countries' Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) cover nearly 75% of this area, over 12 million square kilometres.

Tuna fishing in the Central and Western Pacific is an industry worth an annual US$1.7 billion, with US$60-70 million being collected by South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency members. This resource represents the most important development prospect for many island countries in the Pacific and they derive the vast majority of resource rental from their fisheries through the imposition of access fees. Individual agreements are negotiated bilaterally with Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China, and in one instance through a multilateral agreement with the United States.

If you would like to find out more about what Australia is doing to help, what Regional Organisations are working in this area and what the recent developments have been select one of the links above.

What is Australia Doing?

Australia's objective in providing assistance to key regional fishery programs is to encourage the adoption of national and regional strategies for the conservation and management of fish stocks and to maximise the economic return to island countries from their fisheries resource.

In 1997, Australia will spend A$2.8 million in assistance to the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the Fisheries Program of the South Pacific Commission (SPC).

In addition to ongoing funding, on 3 March 1997, as part of the Government's Oceans Policy Statement, Australia's Prime Minister, the Hon John Howard MP announced a range of initiatives totalling $A1.15 million over three years aimed at further enhancing the capacity of key institutions to assist in the conservation and management of the Central and Western Pacific fisheries. Australia will also contribute $780,000 through its bilateral aid program, in order to strengthen the fisheries departments of individual Pacific Island Countries.

Regional Organisations: the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Fisheries Program of the South Pacific Commission

The Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) is the major forum for the development of fisheries policy in the Central and Western Pacific. It is made up of 16 member countries including: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, The Republic of the Marshall Islands, The Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Samoa.

The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), as Secretariat for the FFC, is based in the Solomon Islands, and whose functions include:

• collect, analyse, evaluate and disseminate to Parties relevant statistical and biological information with respect to the living marine resources of the region and in particular the highly migratory species;
• collect and disseminate to Parties relevant information concerning management procedures, legislation and agreements adopted by other countries both within and beyond the region;
• collect and disseminate to Parties relevant information on prices, shipping, processing and marketing of fish and fish products;
• provide, on request, to any party technical advice and information, assist in the development of fisheries policies and negotiations, and assistance in the issue of licences, the collection of fees or in matters pertaining to surveillance and enforcement;
• seek to establish working arrangements with relevant regional and international organisations, particularly the South Pacific Commission; and
• undertake such other tasks as the Forum Fisheries Committee may decide.

The South Pacific Commission, based in New Caledonia, administers a fisheries program which assists in developing the capacity of member countries to survey, assess, harvest and manage access to their marine resources, through encouragement and training by skilled fishermen, post-harvest specialists, scientists and planners.

The Fisheries Branch is divided into two separate programs, the Coastal and Oceanic Fisheries Programs. The Coastal fisheries program provides support for the development and rational management of small to medium scale inshore and domestic coastal fisheries; a wide range of vocational training programs; and the coordination of training efforts in the Pacific. While the Oceanic Fisheries Program provides scientific advice covering the collection and analysis of fishery data; and scientific research on the tuna and billfish stocks of the region.

Recent Developments in the South Pacific Fisheries Sector

The focus of attention in the sector since 1994 has been the development of conservation and management arrangements for regional fisheries. In September 1996, South Pacific Forum Leaders called the second Multilateral High Level Conference on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks of the Central and Western Pacific (MHLC2), which was held in Majuro, Marshall Islands, on 10-13 June 1997.

The conference brought together member countries of the South Pacific Forum, other coastal states and territories, and those Distant Water Fishing Nations with legitimate interest in the regions tuna fisheries, with a view to developing cooperative conservation and management measures consistent with international law.

The outcomes from the conference exceeded expectations, as participants displayed a solid commitment to a Declaration of Principles (the Majuro Declaration) setting a framework on which future negotiations, resulting in the formation of a Regional Fisheries Management Arrangement, can be based.

Majuro Declaration

Second Mulitlateral High-Level Conference on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific, Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, 10-13 June 1997

The States, territories and fishing entities represented by Ministers and senior officials at the Second Multilateral High-Level Conference on the Conservation and Management of the Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific meeting at Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, from 10-13 June 1997,

Recalling the relevant provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ('the Convention') and the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 4 August 1995 ('the Implementing Agreement'),

Recalling also that the Multilateral High-Level Conference on South Pacific Tuna Fisheries, held at Honiara, Solomon Islands, from 5-9 December 1994, reached a common understanding on the need for sustainable development of the tuna resources of the region, the importance of fishing responsibly in the region, the importance of effective enforcement in the conservation and management of tuna stocks and the need for effective cooperation between coastal States and territories and distant water fishing nations,

Recalling further that South Pacific Forum Leaders at the 26th South Pacific Forum held at Madang, Papua New Guinea in 1995 considered that comprehensive regional fisheries management arrangements and a structure consistent with the outcomes of the United Nations Conference on Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks should be developed as a matter of urgency and should be based on a precautionary approach to ensure the sustainable exploitation of the region's tuna resources,

Recalling also that South Pacific Forum Leaders at the 27th South Pacific Forum held at Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, from 3-5 September 1996 called upon the Forum Fisheries Committee to continue with urgency its development of comprehensive arrangements for the sustainable management of the region's fisheries across the full geographical range of the stocks, including the high seas, and endorsed the initiative of the Republic of the Marshall Islands to convene a ministerial meeting to help advance this process,

Bearing in mind the outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development of 1992, in particular Agenda 21, and the importance placed by the international community on sustainable utilisation of living marine resources,

Determined to ensure the effective conservation and management and sustainable use of highly migratory fish stocks of the western and central Pacific throughout the range of their distribution,

Conscious of the need to avoid adverse impacts on the marine environment of the region, preserve its biodiversity, maintain the integrity of the marine ecosystem and minimise the risk of long term or irreversible effects of fishing operations,

Decide to hold further sessions of the Conference in 1998 and 1999 to address, inter alia, the following matters:

(a) species and stocks to be covered by the arrangement;

(b) geographical area to be covered;

(c) membership and participation by observers;

(d) mechanisms for decision making and procedures for the settlement of disputes;

(e) mechanisms for the collection and exchange of fisheries data, scientific research and stock assessment;

(f) determination of conservation and management measures, including the application of the precautionary approach;

(g) relationship with other regional and global fisheries organisations and arrangements;

(h) procedures for monitoring, control, surveillance and enforcement; and

(i) financial and administrative arrangements;

Decide also to hold consultations on certain technical matters during the intercessional period;

Request the Chairman of the Conference to transmit this Declaration to the Chairman of the South Pacific Forum;

Further request the Government of the Marshall Islands, as host of the Conference and Chairman of the South Pacific Forum, to bring this Declaration to the attention of the 19th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly to be convened in New York in June 1997 to review the implementation of Agenda 21;

Express their appreciation to the Government of the Marshall Islands for hosting the Conference.

Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands