France has invited Australia and New Zealand to join with it in extending surveillance capability for spotting illegal fishing in the 30 million square kilometres of ocean that lies within the South Pacific's 200-mile exclusive economic zones.

The invitation was extended during talks held in Paris in April between Bridget Girardin, the French minister in charge of France's three Pacific dependencies, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna and French Polynesia, and the Australian minister for fisheries, forestry and conservation, Ian Macdonald.

Girardin said since the three countries already had an agreement to cooperate in dealing with natural disasters in the region the idea was to extend it to fight illegal fishing.

The idea could be developed by exchanges between experts from the three countries. It could involve the use of a dedicated satellite used by patrol boats from the three countries to monitor fishing activity in the South Pacific.

Macdonald responded that cooperation between France and Australia was already a reality, in terms of shared resources and the exchange of naval officers between their patrol boats.

In February, the Australian foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer, on an official visit to France, met his counterpart Michel Barnier to discuss the strengthening of existing cooperation, particularly against illegal fishing, through a maritime cooperation treaty. Downer also met Girardin.

Downer, in a speech at the French Institute for International Relations, said the two countries enjoyed high-level strategic dialogue on security, foreign policy and economic issues that were supported by a broad framework of treaties and agreements, including maritime surveillance and the prevention of illegal fishing in the southern Pacific.

All three countries already operate occasional air patrols of some of the region's EEZs with the consent of the countries concerned.

Foreign fishing vessels on the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) register of vessels-about a thousand in number-authorised to fish in the EEZs of FFA members are required to carry radio beacons to enable the FFA to monitor their movements.