Tag Archives: Vessel Day Scheme
Ex-Parties to the Nauru agreement CEO says fish money wont last
Members of the Parties to the Nauru agreement are reaping large returns off fishing vessel licenses but the PNA says the windfall won’t last forever. The eight member countries of the PNA and Tokelau employ a vessel day scheme which charges foreign ships at least US$8,000 a day to fish in their waters. High demand for the limited number of fishing days has sparked a bidding war between companies with some paying as much as US$16,000 per day. The outgoing CEO of the PNA, Transform Aqorau, said the demand reveals the value that could be obtained from fisheries but it would not last forever. Dr Aqorau also adds those who want to change the vessel day scheme should think carefully. Read the rest here 11:58
Pacific Islands moving away from vessel day scheme
US tuna boat owners have decried the policy of the Pacific island countries which are party to the US South Pacific Tuna Treaty to charge for fishing days rather than the amount of fish caught under the treaty. The Parties to the Nauru Agreemen (PNA) , the grouping of countries with the largest exclusive economic zones where US purse seiners fish came up with the vessel day scheme promoting it as a more equitable way for the islands to be paid for their resource. While there’s an interim agreement in place for tuna boats to resume fishing in Pacific island waters,,Read the rest, click here 14:15
Tri Marine says South Pacific Tuna Treaty is obsolete
The owners of American Samoa’s second cannery, Samoa Tuna Processors, say the Treaty which allows US fishing boats to fish in waters of Pacific island countries is obsolete and needs to be revised. Tri Marine International says in a statement that the tuna treaty in its current form fails to retain the most value for the resource owners because the Vessel Day Scheme places value on fishing days alone, rather than the tuna itself. According to Tri Marine, calculating value based on fishing days is a shortsighted economic equation that doesn’t necessarily represent the long-term best interests of island communities. Read the article here 09:02
Vessel Day Scheme – US gives official notice to reduce fishing days
The United States is seeking to renege on an agreement it signed with the 17 member Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) member states, admitting it cannot afford to pay the full $89.2m deal it signed in Brisbane with Pacific Island nations. The agreement is important for American Samoa as it controls access to neighboring fishing grounds for US purse seiners that deliver to the local canneries. A statement from PNA says the US now says it cannot afford to fish in PNA waters under the Vessel Day Scheme. Read the article here 09:51
