Page 27 - IB December 2021

Kiribati

KIRIBATI’S BUSINESS

BUT OPINION STILL DIVIDED ON PIPA OPENING

By Bernadette Carreon government revenue.
“I don’t see any other way to rationalise this decision be-
Kiribati’s decision to open the Phoenix Islands Protected cause it seems very unlikely that we would be able to get any
Area to commercial fishing is their “business,” says Parties to additional revenue by opening… given the existing fisheries
the Nauru Agreement (PNA) CEO, Dr Sangaalofa Clark. management, regional management arrangements.”
PIPA has been a no-take zone since 2015. When it was first UNESCO says it is also deeply concerned by the decision.
proposed, revenue forgone was to be offset by a conservation However ocean governance expert, Hugh Govan says marine
contract. But that never really got off the ground and the sanctuaries are not the best way to save migratory species,
government says the PIPA endowment fund had only raised and that Kiribati’s decision is based on robust studies. Govan
about $10m (US$7.1 million), a fraction of what Kiribati gets says Pacific ambitions to have 30% of the land and sea to be in
through fishing. reserve by 2030 is unworkable.
Dr Clark says while she wouldn’t comment on the details of Dr Clark said in general, “there will highly likely be a drop
PIPA announcement, closing a substantial area of prime fish- in the access value of an EEZ from large scale closures of
ing ground within an EEZ in the Pacific region can have other prime fishing grounds. Conversely, opening up a closed area
consequences. of prime fishing ground, like the PIPA, would be expected to
“Some of that fishing may be diverted to other areas of the increase the access value and revenue for an EEZ.”
EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zone], presumably with lower catch Kiribati’s government said the PIPA closure had had signifi-
rates and, therefore, lower access values and lower prices for cant implications on future allocations of Kiribati’s Vessel Day
fishing days, ” Dr Clark told Islands Business. Scheme (VDS) share under the Parties to the Nauru Agree-
“The increase in fishing effort on the high seas is likely to ment. It estimated a loss of US$60million for purse seine fish-
undermine any conservation gain from the closure, if there is ing from 2015 to the present.
any. It is hard to see any value in large-scale closures in EEZs Under the PNA arrangement, each member’s total alloca-
when the WCPFC [Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Com- tion of fishing days is based on fishing history.
mission] doesn’t effectively manage the high seas. A closure Dr Clark said the Vessel Day Scheme is designed to adjust to
on the scale of the PIPA may increase fishing on stocks if it changes in fishing patterns “and to be able to manage a fish-
diverts effort to the less effectively managed high seas,” she ery in an ecosystem that is substantially affected by climatic
added. variability caused by the El Nino phenomenon.”
Kiribati Fisheries Minister Ribanataake Tiwau said the “So, opening a closed area like the PIPA would be expected
government is aiming for US$133 million in fisheries revenues to attract increased effort and increase the allocation of days
when PIPA opens to commercial fishing next year. within the VDS for that EEZ, over time,” she said.
Following last month’s announcement, former Kiribati
President Anote Tong, a crucial figure in the creation of PIPA editor@islandsbusiness.com
said he believed opening up the area would not generate

Orono Atoll , Phoenix Islands. Photo: Richard Brooks/Lightening Strike Productions

Islands Business, December 2021 27