Breaking ranks on

Political Currents

Fisheries

Breaking ranks on the Nauru pact?

The Foreign Minister of Papua New Guinea, Rabbie Namaliu, and his Solomon Islands counter part, Dennis Lulei, had lengthy talks in Port Moresby in March.

Subjects covered included a sug gested “Melanesian alliance” between PNG, the Solomons and Vanuatu under which they would share patrol boats to protect their fishing grounds from foreign trawlers, improved arrangements governing border crossings bet ween Bougainville (PNG) and the Shortland Islands (Solomons) by nationals of both countries linked by strong family and tradi tional ties, expansion of trade between the two countries, and a common front in dealing with the American Tuna Boat Association in negotiations for fishing licences.

Both ministers said negotia tions between their countries and the American association in Feb ruary had ended with the Ameri can delegation going away empty-handed.

They also recalled that in early 1982 seven Island countries, in cluding PNG and Solomon Is lands, had agreed at a meeting in Nauru to adopt a joint approach towards foreign fishing nations attempting to exploit the fish resources in their combined 200mile economic and fishery zones.

Separate agreements which the Tuna Boat Association had with Papua New Guinea, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Republic of Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau, expired last year and have not been renewed.

Meanwhile, Te Uekera, na tional weekly newspaper pub lished by the Kiribati Govern ment’s Broadcasting and Publi cations Authority, reported in its March 4 issue that in recent negotiations in Honolulu bet ween the American Tuna Boat Association and representatives of the FSM, Palau and Kiribati, an “access agreement” was reached “whereby the association

member vessels will be licensed to fish within the zones of the three coastal states”.

Another report which suggests that the FSM, Palau and Kiribati may have broken the Nauru pact in reaching agreement with the Tuna Boat Association comes from the FSM Information Ser vice which quotes Mike A.

McCoy, executive director of the Micronesian Maritime Authori ty, as saying that an agreement was reached between the three countries and the association, which agreed to a 20 per cent increase in fees over the next two years.

The agreement is subject to

approval by the FSM Congress,

Palau Legislature and the Kiribati Cabinet.

The association will be al lowed to increase its fishing fleet which, under the previous agree ment with the FSM, Palau and Marshall Islands, numbered 24 purse seiners which paid a total of just over SUSI million in fees to the three Micronesian governments.

Representatives of the Mic ronesian Maritime Authority went to Japan in March for pre liminary talks on a new agree ment with the Japanese Fishing

Association following the laps

ing of the old agreement on April 30. Further talks were scheduled to begin in Guam on April 21.

“Neglect”

says Pago’s

man in

Washington

President Reagan has announced his Fiscal Year 1984 budget to talling $848.5 billion, but with a decrease in funding to American Samoa. According to American Samoa’s Congressman Fofo Sunia, the president recommend ed a $2.6 million decrease in funds going to Samoa, and the country as a whole faces severe

cuts in social programs. The pre sident’s budget shows that the

largest reduction affecting

American Samoa involves opera tions grants and a small portion of High Court grants. Economic

development and special prog

rams grants have been complete

ly eliminated.

“This reduction amounts to a major setback for American Samoa,” Fofo said. “Not only do we lose various program fund ings, but we lose decision

making authority,” he continued.

Fofo was referring to the Interior Department’s decision to insti gate an Insular Development Bank in Washington upon which Samoa would have to draw its federal allowance after proper authorities approve local re quests. This is to replace the old grant system where Samoa re ceived a lump allocation and utilised it on its own accord for

capital improvements.

Fofo indicated that this cut back comes as no surprise to him after having seen Secretary of the Interior James Watts’ lack of concern for the territories in the past. “I saw it in fine print in Interior’s annual projection re port, and I had a feeling it was

coming in the president’s

budget,” Fofo said. This particu

lar Interior report instigated Fofo’s contention that the De partment of Interior has ac cumulated many examples of ter ritorial neglect.

Final figures

on Palau

plebiscite

The U.S. State Department has released the final tally of votes in the Palau plebiscite on February

10. They show a marginal gain

for the pro-compact vote over earlier returns.

In the first part of the ballot, on question A, which asked whether or not the voter ap proved of the Compact of Free Association with the U.S., 4452 votes were in favor, 2715 against. Out of the total 7167 cast, 62.1 per cent were in favor,

37.9 opposed.

On question B, which asked the voters whether they were willing to amend the Palau con stitution ban on nuclear materials in Palau territory, there were 3717 yes votes against 3309 nos.

Out of a total of 7026 votes cast on this question, 52.9 per cent were in favor, 47.1 per cent

opposed.

This fell short of the required 75 per cent approval vote neces sary to amend the nuclear clause of the Palau constitution.

In the second part of the bal lot, where voters were asked to indicate alternative preferences should free association fail, 2250 voted for consideration of a clos er relationship with the United States, 1800 voted for a consid eration of independence. Of the 4050 votes cast on this question, 55.6 per cent favored a closer relationship, 44.4 per cent

independence.

Only 55.9 per cent of those voting on the first part of the ballot voted on this question.

A State Department press re lease on the plebiscite said of the outcome of the vote on the nuc lear issue that “the Palauan au thorities must now devise an ac ceptable method of reconciling their constitutional provisions to comply with the mandate of the Palauan electorate for free as sociation with the United States

Solomon Islanders on fisheries patrol duty: A growing area of responsibility.