PACIFIC ISLANDS COUNTRIES WANT TO DEVISE policies that will halt the decline of United States purse seine tuna fishing fleet in their region, according to the director of the Solomon Islands based Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), Feleti Teo.

Feleti Teo

He said fishing treaty talks between FFA's 16-member countries and the United States held in Tonga in March had the economic viability of the United States fleet as a key issue.

The United States pays millions of dollars of fees for fishing rights in the 200-mile exclusive economic zones claimed by FFA nations on the basis of the number of their vessels fishing in them.

“The gradual decline of the United States fleet in the western and central Pacific is a challenge for our members,” Teo told the talks in the Tongan capital, Nuku'alofa. We have to find a way, with the help of the United States government, to maintain interest in the treaty.”

Up to about 70 big United States purse seiners once fished the south and central Pacific for tuna from the 1980s. But rising costs, fluctuating fish prices and competition from Asian fleets have driven away many of them from the region.

FFA figures show that since mid-2004, the number of surviving United States vessels fishing the region has dropped from 22 to 17 registered vessels.

The American fleet reported catching a total of 52,024 metric tonnes of fish last year, 17,794 tonnes less than in 2003.

The United States paid US$21.93 million, lifting the total paid by it since the treaty began operating in 1988 to US$273 million.