New Zealand PM outlines efforts to battle illegal fishing in Pacific

New Zealand is working with Pacific island countries to fight illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Pacific as part of a package of aid to protect the ocean resource, Prime Minister John Key said Friday.

Key and New Zealand officials were Friday briefing Pacific leaders at the annual Pacific Islands Forum in Pohnpei, Micronesia, on the strong progress made in combating IUU fishing in the Pacific.

"The Pacific's tuna fishery is the region's greatest natural asset and is currently valued at more than 3.2 billion NZ dollars (2.44 billion U.S. dollars)," Key said in a statement from his office.

"At last year's Pacific Islands Forum, New Zealand committed 50 million NZ dollars (38.2 million U.S. dollars) to support fisheries management in the region, to ensure as much benefit as possible is returned to its people," he said.

"This work is well under way, with almost 30 million NZ dollars (22.92 million U.S. dollars) now allocated to important projects including strengthening the management of coastal fisheries, improving long-line tuna management, and tightening monitoring and control of fishing boats in ports."

IUU cost the Pacific tuna fishery an estimated 850 million NZ dollars (649.48 million U.S. dollars) every year and affected the sustainability of the fishery.

Addressing IUU was critical to the success of the region's efforts, said Key.

"We are working with Pacific countries to increase controls at their ports to better monitor fishing vessels and to reduce the practice of fishers transferring catches between boats outside of ports, in order to under-report their total haul. This is a major problem in the region," said Key.

"These efforts sit alongside progress being made to develop a sustainable, catch-based management system for South Pacific albacore tuna to better protect the resource for future generations." Endit