the Atlantic

Editorial

Go and fish in

CONSULT whoever you like, but the fact is that the Pacific is today considered the most produc tive tuna fishery in the world. These fish thrive in over 30,000,000 square km of seas in the region and face little threat of extinction from people who live on only 550,000 square km of land (less than 2 per cent of the total area of the Pacific).

Unlike almost every other region in the world where overfishing has forced countries to reduce fishing fleets, the Pacific appears capable of sustaining increased catches and increased fleets.

But what is not wanted, judging by the mass disapproval of driftnet fishing (wall of death) not so many years ago, is that these huge fleets flock en masse to the Pacific region.

The only way to maximise the poten tial of the fisheries resource is for people in the region to participate in the industry, and in doing so, ensure that sufficient dol

lars (or Euros or pounds) earned through the industry remain in the Pacific. There does not have to be a single approach to the industry, but it will depend on the cir cumstances of the country involved - for Fiji, with its relatively extensive air freight and shipping capacity, the US and European markets would be lucrative.

For somewhere like Kiribati, where lack of extensive water supply may rule out value-adding factories and lack of capital restrains locals from owning fleets, the idea would be to have more control over licences with conditions such as the provision of jobs for locals on boats and a higher percentage return for the country.

What the Pacific cannot afford to do is allow foreign vessels to sweep through

the region, taking the fisheries resources without any significant return to the people in the region.

The Pacific fisheries stocks are healthy and if they are to stay that way, then stringent controls need to be enforced.

The Forum Fisheries Agency states, “as other tuna stocks continue to decline, or are brought under more restrictive fish eries management controls, and with world demand for wild-caught fish steadily increasing, fishing pressure on the tuna resources of the central and west ern Pacific will inevitably intensify”.

To meet this demand, the Pacific should not think of making a quick buck, but of managing the resource and getting the most they can out of it - sustainably.

If foreign fleets do not like the conditions imposed on them, then governments should say “tough, go and fish in the Atlantic.” ■