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Fisheries Fisheries

ity Act by the Nitijela in 1997 was a similarly groundbreak-
ing development for the Marshall Islands. MIMRA had been
relegated to the sidelines with little role in managing oceanic
fisheries development in its first two decades of existence.
The MIMRA Act changed this dramatically, placing MIMRA front
and center in fisheries management. The 1997 legislation and
the follow-on establishment of MIMRA’s Oceanic and Coastal
divisions began increasing MIMRA’s clout within government
and with the private sector for implementing fisheries initia-
tives and policies.

PNA membership is the game-changer
Just as the 1997 MIMRA Act was essential for changing the
fisheries management structure in the Marshall Islands, the
Marshall Islands membership and active participation in the
Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) has been the game-
changer for shifting the country’s oceanic fisheries program
from being a seller of licenses for distant water fishing fleets
to a rights-based resource manager that allows for island par-
ticipation in many aspects of the tuna “value chain.”
PNA was established in 1982, with eight members or “Par-
ties” including the Marshall Islands, and Tokelau, leading the
PNA to describe itself as “eight + one.” The primary aim of The LOS for the first time recognized a nation’s authority to
the PNA is to maximize economic returns from tuna resources enforce control over a 200-mile ocean economic zone around
while managing them in a sustainable manner. PNA’s Ves- its territory.
sel Day Scheme (VDS) was two decades in arriving. The VDS • Successful push by individual island countries to break up
established a “Total Allowed Effort” for the year, with a set the one-nation (Japan) control of the fishery by engaging with
number of fishing days that were divided among PNA members other DWFN fleets to expand the number of countries fishing
to sell. Although PNA faced opposition and resistance to the in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
rollout of the VDS from some distant water fishing nations, • Political emergence of self-governing and soon-to-be
by the early 2010s, the VDS engineered a paradigm change in independent nations in the Marshall Islands, Federated States
PNA waters, shifting control of everything from the cost of a of Micronesia and Palau. The Compacts of Free Association
fishing day to conservation management requirements from provided the government autonomy and the resources for
distant water fishing fleets to the PNA. these countries to launch their own domestic commercial
The opening of the PNA Office in Majuro in 2010 led to tuna fishing operations, as well as to begin playing a role in
improved coordination among PNA members, the first-ever regional and international organizations.
Presidential Summit on fisheries in the PNA region, develop- • Establishment and early days of the Forum Fisheries
ment of the VDS and its revenue-generating capability, expan- Agency as a regional force for all independent nations in the
sion of the Fisheries Information Management System that Pacific.
underpins the VDS and PNA control of its fishery, and numer- • Establishment in 1982 of the Parties to the Nauru Agree-
ous other initiatives including FAD tracking and management, ment, bringing together the islands that controlled waters
and achievement of Marine Stewardship Council sustainability where over half of the world’s supply of skipjack tuna is
certification of the “free school” skipjack tuna (and later yel- caught.
lowfin tuna) fishery in PNA’s waters. • Short-lived Soviet Union fishing access in Kiribati and the
“The importance of the VDS is that while it is conservation- US-FFA tuna treaty negotiations that resulted in a multilateral
based, it places control of this fishery in the hands of the agreement giving American purse seiners access to the region.
PNA, establishing sustainability limits and leaving it to the Not all of these were complimentary, of course. And for the
PNA members to decide who fishes in their waters and what Marshall Islands, fisheries negotiations and engagement with
the conditions of fishing will be,” wrote PNA consultant Les multiple DWFNs, participation in the PNA, FFA and the Secre-
Clark in 2009. tariat of the Pacific Commission, and political status change
from a UN Trust Territory to free association status with the
1980s brings global, regional and country changes United States taxed the country’s limited capacity.
The number of global, regional and individual country fac-
tors shaking up distant water fishing nation (DWFN) control editor@islandsbusiness.com
of the tuna fishery in the western and central Pacific was
unprecedented in the 1980s. These included: Our Ocean’s Promise: From Aspirations to Inspirations — The
• UN Law of the Sea negotiations that wrapped up in 1982. Marshall Islands Fishing Story is available at amazon.com.

Islands Business, November 2021 37