The Senate committee on Resources, Commerce and Trade and Development chaired by Sen. Santy Asanuma endorsed the measure which will change commercial fisheries, as this will change the multi-licensing regime to a single fishing license.
The foreign nation which will win the bid will get the license.Palau’s Senate is considering legislation that would dramatically change the country’s approach to commercial fisheries.The measure when approved will go into effect on January 1, 2012 and would require foreign nations to bid for Palau’s sole fishing license.The winning country would then designate a commercial fishing firm to manage the license, and negotiate a final fisheries agreement with Palau.Palau presently approved fishing license to four foreign fishing companies harvesting tuna in Palau’s waters, three from Taiwan and one recently from South Korea.The legislation makes it the responsibility of the winning country to assist and cooperate with Palau maritime authorities to assure that all appropriate laws are followed.The proposed effective date of January 1, 2012 is also when all existing foreign fishing licenses will have expired with a provision of no renewals or extensions being allowed.
