Tag Archives: South Pacific Tuna Treaty
AFT Holdings to Withdraw from Direct Investment in Tuna Vessels
AFT Holdings, Inc. today announced its intent this year to withdraw its direct investment in the U.S. Flagged Ocean Global and Sea Global Fleet of Tuna Seiners. Going forward, the international investment group will focus its resources on its current portfolio of companies, as well as in creating new opportunities in the functional and healthy food space. In 2007, AFT and its principals were one of the original investors to commit to the resurgence of the U.S. Tuna Fleet in the Western Central Pacific. In 2006, the U.S. Fleet had been reduced to 13 vessels,,, >click here to read<19:27
South Pacific Tuna Treaty renegotiation session concluded successfully
The most recent South Pacific Tuna Treaty renegotiation session concluded successfully on Saturday, June 25, 2016. Negotiators from the United States and representatives of the 16 Pacific Island parties reached agreement in principle on changes to the 27-year-old Tuna Treaty and the terms of fishing access for the U.S. purse seine fleet to Pacific Island waters through 2022. The proposed agreement would establish more flexible procedures for commercial cooperation between U.S. industry and Pacific Island parties. The outcome reflects strong cooperation between the parties to the Treaty and relevant stakeholders, and a mutual commitment to the broader positive relationship between the United States and the Pacific Island region. Read the rest here 09:46
Companies Express Disappointment in Slow Progress of South Pacific Tuna Treaty Negotiations
“The has been unable to operate at full capacity due to ongoing Treaty negotiations since August of 2015. Our Fleet was forced to cease fishing operations entirely in the first quarter of this year. Even so, we have not wavered and have been working against the clock since the U.S. announced a formal withdrawal from the existing Treaty in January. As I have stated before, a dissolution of this Treaty would be devastating to the U.S. Fleet and the tuna industry as a whole, collapsing the vessels operating under U.S. Flag, as well as the commercial operations that depend on their harvest. This has a direct effect on thousands of jobs in the Islands Nations, American Samoa and in the continental U.S. Read the story here 08:34
Congressman Hunter calls for a ban on some American aid tied to South Pacific Tuna Treaty
This follows the end of the treaty arrangements when the US failed to pay its first quarter levy and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency is no longer issuing licences to fish for tuna in the island countries’ waters.Hunter wants the US Congress to stop the US Government using congressionally approved funds as aid to the Pacific countries involved – which includes all the independent island nations in the region. Congress allocates about US$21 million dollars each annually to the US State Department as part of the federal government’s under the Tuna Treaty. Hunter said it’s important to stress economic assistance does not occur on its own; it had always been tied to United States boats fishing in the Treaty area. Read the rest here 10:59
Canneries look for a list of concessions from American Samoa
Faced with a decline in their competitive advantage, the governor’s executive assistant Iulogologo Joseph Pereira says the canneries are seeking concessions from the government and a response is being formulated to help the canneries — the largest private employer in the territory. The canneries and fishing industry in American Samoa are facing serious challenges with the fishing restrictions imposed in June — and since the beginning of 2016, the Forum Fisheries Agency or FFA is no longer issuing fishing licenses to the U.S. fleeting to fish in waters of 17 Pacific island countries under the South Pacific Tuna Treaty. Read the article here 13:58
Tri Marine International not surprised by US withdrawal from Tuna Treaty
Tri Marine International is not surprised by the US Government’s announcement its withdrawing from the South Pacific Tuna Treaty. In a statement issued this afternoon the owners of local cannery Samoa Tuna Processors say it remains focused on ensuring the long term stability of its operations in American Samoa. The cannery said the current Treaty is tied to a reality that no longer exists and needs to be rebuilt from the ground up to meet the needs of both the Pacific Island Parties and the U.S. boat owners as Asian interests continue to expand their reach into the region. Read the article here 15:00
US announces withdrawal from crucial fisheries treaty with Pacific nations
The United States has given Pacific Island nations notice that it plans to withdraw from the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, one of its most important aid, trade and geopolitical arrangements with the region. The 27-year-old treaty is set to expire 12 months from the date of the withdrawal notice. The announcement came after Washington agreed to pay $128 million ($US89m) for its 2016 fishing days, but within months reneged on the deal saying its fleet could not afford to pay. The US action risks its boats being shut out of hundreds of thousands of square kilometres of ocean as other global fishing powers, including China, gain more access. Read the article here 11:18
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter to Secretary of State John Kerry: Help save US tuna jobs
U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter wants the U.S. State Department to step in to assist American tuna boats — many with ties to San Diego — that are shut out of a large area of the Pacific Ocean for the first time in nearly 30 years. In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, Hunter writes that the U.S. government must act fast to help the tuna fleet. Last week, administrators of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty — a 27-year-old accord among 17 nations governing waters in the western Pacific — refused to issue 2016 licenses on Jan. 1. It said American boats must pay millions of dollars in fees, they agreed to in August, to fish international waters. Read the article here 08:42
