The Pacific Ocean is New Zealand’s ‘back yard’
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Sustainable oceans The Pacific Ocean is New Zealand’s backyard. It connects us to our neighbours, and forms a major economic resource for all. Our trade all passes through it. And its sparkling waters attract international tourists in their millions and provide habitats for unique flora and fauna. We give priority to projects targeting economic and environmental sustainability, such as our support for sustainable fisheries management. Tuna provide a good example of this. The Western and Central Pacific Ocean is home to the world’s last thriving tuna stocks – and the larger part of the fishing of these stocks takes place
in the zones of small island states. Fish resources are under growing pressure as tuna elsewhere become much harder to access. This brings a challenge, but also an opportunity for Pacific nations. The challenge is that the fishing fleets of Asia, the Americas, and Europe are now interested in exploiting these resources – and fishing activity is already at levels that could threaten the sustainability of some stocks. Around US$4 billion of tuna is harvested in Pacific waters each year. Yet only about 10% of that amount, by value, makes its way back to the Pacific nations – the rightful owners of the resource. Some of the wealthiest countries on the planet are profiting at the
expense of some of the poorest. The opportunity for Pacific nations is to take advantage of the competition for a scarce resource to increase their long-term returns, without compromising the sustainability of the fishery. This will mean building and strengthening fisheries management regimes, tackling the problems of overfishing; illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; and improving monitoring and surveillance.
The New Zealand
Government is doing its part to assist our island neighbours in this regard. Since 2009, licence and access fees paid to Pacific nations have nearly trebled to $245 million. And a recently appointed Pacific Economic
Ambassador, former New Zealand Member of Parliament Hon Shane Jones, has already started working with many small islands states to look for more opportunities to grow the value of this resource.
We have committed over $70 million for fisheries management and development in the Pacific. Sharing and analysing fisheries data is vital for monitoring and enforcement. Our funding will implement national fisheries information management systems in all Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency countries, setting up electronic reporting and monitoring of catch and stocks, and facilitating better co-ordination across the Pacific region. Recently New Zealand
The Parliamentarian | 2015: Issue One | 19
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