Kiribati’s Fisheries Marine Resource Development Minister Taberannang Timeon announced the signing last week during a subregional workshop of Forum Fisheries Agency and its Northern members held in Tarawa.
The FFA is coordinating subregional workshops so that all its 17 members have information and informal discussions to prepare for their participation in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and at its next meeting in December in Korea.
The workshops are an important part of FFA’s ongoing efforts to increase national capacity and strengthen regional solidarity so that member countries can manage their fisheries for the benefit of people today and for future generations.
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement — Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu — in May 2008 agreed, in an act of regional cooperation, to take measures to conserve their valuable tuna stocks
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement 3rd Implementing Arrangement came into effect on June 15, 2008 and will develop and agree on a schedule to put these measures into force.
“In the Pacific, we cannot shy away from the responsibilities we have for the tuna resources important to our nations, our region and indeed the world. We must work together to control price and supply of tuna to the advantage of our people.” Taberannang said. “We cannot do that if we act separately. We must act together as one voice to enable us to share ideas and information to better protect the joint resource that is the Pacific’s strength of our fish.”
FFA Director of Fisheries Management Moses Amos said: “We commend the Minister and government of Kiribati for signing this key regional agreement and I am pleased to be here with FFA representatives and member representatives to celebrate this important moment in Kiribati’s regional and national efforts to manage and develop tuna resources.”
