Frustrated over the Americans’ “stubbornness” following two years of negotiations, PNG has opted out of the multilateral treaty on fisheries with the superpower.
The PNG position will be taken up by Pacific Island nations that are members to the treaty.
The treaty allowed U.S. fishing vessels to fish without limit, catching in excess of 500,000 metric tons of fish which worked out to about $2 billion of finished fish products each year.
In return, Pacific Island nation members of the treaty received an average of $2 million each year in access fees and development components.
The PNG cabinet last Thursday considered and approved a submission by Fisheries and Marine Resources Minister Ben Semri to adopt this course of action.
Acting Prime Minister Sam Abal said the treaty is outdated and cannot accommodate recent economic partnership arrangements with other countries such as the European Union with which PNG recently ratified an interim economic partnership agreement.
The EU agreement allowed duty free access for unlimited fish products into the vast European market.
This hard-line stance by PNG, on behalf of smaller Pacific Island nations, will send direct signals to Washington that the multilateral fish treaty is unsustainable.
