Islands Business - We Say: PUTTING THE FOCUS BACK ON THE ISLANDS

'...more recently, many of the Islands nations have come in for praise from international organisations for the way they have successfully managed their marine and littoral ecosystems in terms of conservation and even replenishment of their biosphere..'

For far too long has the Pacific Islands fisheries environment been run according to the dictates of the global fisheries industry by powerful players situated outside the region for the most part.

Other big oceans of the world have borne the brunt of the runaway growth in the demand for marine products and many traditionally rich oceanic regions are today largely bereft of their once teeming fish stocks.

The islands have a long way to go before realising the full potential of their fisheries industry. Photo: Dev Nadkarni

Small wonder then that the world’s attention is now focused on the Pacific Ocean—the world’s last resource rich marine region. Of the US$2 billion worth of fish that is farmed from the Pacific Ocean, the Pacific Islands Forum member nations get just about US$400 million. And despite a range of initiatives at different levels—both international and regional—to bring about sustainability and a sense of fair play especially from the point of view of the Pacific Islands over the years—the scenario has continued to look bleak from the islands’ perspective.

Recent reports from here too have raised fears of over-fishing. Two species of tuna—the yellowfin and the bigeye—are already believed to be getting scarce. Some agencies have thought it fit to blame the islands themselves for not having had the resources, policies and expertise to manage the fish stocks in their exclusive economic zones (EEZ).

This is a half-truth that has been touted to justify continuing to let the levers of the industry to be in the hands of powerful nations and organisations.

It is true that the islands’ small economies and infrastructure are woefully inadequate for managing their own EEZs especially from policing activities against the growing menace of pirate shipping. But this is not the only reason, as some would have us believe.

It is equally true that following wide research, the Scientific Committee of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) has stated that the decline is attributable to the distant water longline fleets. Rampant fishing on an industrial scale using purse seiners and longline fleets is what has been primarily responsible for fish stock depletion, according to this research.

On the contrary, more recently many of the islands nations have come in for praise from international organisations for the way they have successfully managed their marine and littoral ecosystems in terms of conservation and even replenishment of parts of their biosphere.

However, encouragingly, some recent developments are putting the focus back on the islands in giving them a well deserved and long-denied greater say in the way their fisheries industry is run. One of these is the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS), which kicks in on the first of next month.

Imposing pre-set limits on the total number of days that purse seine vessels can fish ensures Pacific Islands Countries control the surface fishing of skipjack—one of the region’s most vital fisheries over the past decade. Though there has been pressure brought to bear on the region’s leaders against the scheme by big international players, good sense has prevailed and the scheme is all set to go ahead.

But given the size of the industry, the global players involved and deep vested interests from a range of players, the challenge in giving themselves a bigger role in policy-making is far from over for the Pacific Islands. Good governance, pursuit of the common good of the region and sound business practice should guide the region’s leadership and regional fisheries organisations—notably the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency—towards achieving this goal.

Meanwhile, another significant development in favour of the region’s fisheries industry is the European Union’s agreement at the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Tonga last month to change the rules of origin regime for fish exports from the islands nations, giving the industry a vital advantage.

Scarce investment in infrastructure for downstream facilities like processing and canning has led to billions of dollars worth of missed opportunities for value addition to marine farmed products. New trade rules have further sought to put the region at a disadvantage and the islands’ small fishing and canning industry has languished over the past few years.

The Solomon Islands, for instance, straddles one of the most tuna-rich regions of the world’s oceans but earns only a pittance in terms of licence fees with all profits from value addition skimmed by nations outside the region. It does have its own small canning industry, but it is in urgent need of an upgrade.

The agreement is part of an interim trade deal that has been cobbled together following recent discussions between the Pacific Islands, Caribbean and African nations and the EU mainly to meet the December 31, 2007 deadline to bring their commercial ties in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules.

The WTO-compatibility factor built into the interim deal is expected to form the basis of a new, longer term Economic Participation Agreement (EPA) that will be signed before the end of next year.

The prospect of this new EPA —foreshadowed by the interim deal agreed to—spells a great opportunity for revitalising the region’s fish processing industry.

This opens up big investment and joint venture opportunities with islands governments across the South Pacific region—particularly the smaller nations like Tuvalu and Kiribati whose exclusive economic zone sprawls across a broad swathe of the equatorial Pacific.

Relatively low costs of setting up industries, cheap and plentiful labour and the 10-year window that the new regime will operate in are factors in favour of any new investment in the sector in the islands region.

The 10-year window is important. For within a decade, the EU is set to lower its external tariffs from 24 to about eight or nine percent. That will level the field for Pacific-based processed fish exporters and those outside, narrowing the difference in the margins—and the advantage—that the new regime now assures.

These developments do indicate that the tide is at last turning in favour of the Pacific Islands fisheries both in terms of farming and value addition.

It will now be up to the region’s leadership, its fisheries organisations and private enterprise to take advantage of these developments to ensure the prosperity of the region based on its rightful ownership of its natural resources while also ensuring the sustainability and growth of fish stocks.