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U.S. to pull out of South Pacific tuna fishery

Xinhua, January 20, 2016 Adjust font size:

The United States plans to pull out of one of the Pacific's most important aid, trade and geopolitical treaties governing access to the world's largest tuna fisheries, saying it is no longer viable.

The 17-nation Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) governs one of the world's largest - 322 square kilometres - and most productive tuna fishery, granting access to the United States' commercial fishing fleet via the South Pacific Tuna Treaty.

In return, the U.S. provides much needed aid to the region via the purchase of "fishing days," or fishing effort, as well as fisheries surveillance via its military.

However, the United States gave notice to the Pacific Islands it intends to withdraw from the treaty over the weekend, less than two months after reneging on an 89 million U.S. dollar agreement for its fisheries access that was agreed to in August 2015.

"Rather than serving as a means of facilitating opportunities for the US fleet to fish in the region, the treaty itself prevents the fleet from doing so," U.S. State Department director of marine conservation William Gibbons-Fly said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday.

The treaty will expire 12 months from the date of the formal notice of withdrawal once it has been delivered to the treaty's depository, Papua New Guinea.

However, FFA deputy director general Wes Norris said on Wednesday the organisation has been well aware of the treaty's limitations and is disappointed by the U.S. moves to put the Pacific Islands in their current financial predicament.

"The frustrating thing is the pacific island parties have been trying to change that over the last couple of years and the U.S. has been resistant to it," Norris said.

"Now issues have come to a head."

The impacts of the U.S. withdrawal on the 17-member states are quite varied with some reliant on selling their fishing access under the treaty's mechanisms, while others need the associated U.S. government assistance packages.

The 17-member states will be meeting in early February to discuss the next course of action in the 2016 impasse and future treaty negotiations. Endit