The action taken by the Pacific nations, known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, was announced at a meeting of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
The ban is the latest move in a long-running battle to protect stocks of bigeye and yellowfin tuna. The ban is aimed at the powerful distant water fishing nations such as China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States.
From 2011, their purse seine fishing vessels will be excluded from the high seas in an area of the central Pacific, stretching between 10 degrees north of the of the equator and 20 degrees south.
Vessels that fail to comply will be refused a license to fish in the much larger exclusive economic zones of the 8 countries.
