The U.S.-Pacific fisheries treaty expires in 2013, and will be the focus of discussions between the Forum Fisheries Agency and the U.S. State Department from Monday to Wednesday next week in Majuro.
The treaty has been in place since the late 1980s and allows up to 40 U.S.-flagged purse seiners access to fish in the 200-mile zones of Forum Fisheries Agency nations. The treaty provides $21 million annually. Fifteen percent of the money is divided equally among all island nations, while the balance is paid according to where tuna is caught by the U.S. fleet.
Marshall Islands fisheries Director Glen Joseph said Wednesday the treaty needs to be updated to bring it into line with fisheries changes implemented over the past three years. The FFA countries are meeting through Saturday in preparation for the talks next week.
Some island members of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement — which is a bloc within the Forum Fisheries Agency that includes eight of the 17 members — have called for major revisions to the U.S.-Pacific treaty to harmonize it with changes being instigated by PNA to increase access fees, reduce catch levels and ratchet up management controls.
U.S. State Department officials, however, say the current treaty remains a model treaty for the region.
