Fishing deal nets Pacific nations $US12M a year

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 10

Fishing deal nets Pacific nations $US12M a year

NZPA-AAP Nukualofa A SUS6O million ($l2O million) agreement giving American tuna boats access to South Pacific fishing zones should be in force by March. The five-year treaty was agreed on Sunday after the tenth round of negotiations during the last two years by teams from the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency and the United States Government. The outstanding issue, that of the access fee, was settled when agency officials accepted an "absolutely final” American offer of an annual SUSI2 million ($24.12 million). The compromise was “greeted on both sides as a very satisfactory outcome,” according to an official communique. While agreement has been reached, much remains to be done in the political arena before the treaty can be effected. It must be approved by the 16 member nations of the Fisheries Agency, including Australia and New Zealand, and also by the United States House of Representatives. Agency members must decide how to slice up their annual fee “catch.”

The agreement is expected to be signed late this year or early in 1987. Officials hope it will end years of acrimonious debate and charges of “piracy” against American tuna boat operators, who have angered a number of island Governments by illegally fishing in their zones. They plyed under the shelter of the Magnusson and Fisheries Protection Acts, which allowed the United States to ban trade and withhold aid to countries which confiscated trespassing American boats, up to a sum equivalent to the cost of redeeming the boats and of the fish lost. South Pacific nations have hailed the agreement, with some saying they hoped it would not spur Soviet competition in the region. Officials said the deal would not give exclusive rights to American tuna boats. They must still contend with rivals from Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and the Soviet Union. The Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Sir Peter Kenilorea, said: “The agreement must not be seen as a vehicle for super-Power rivalry in the

region.” The fishing rights dispute with the United States had allowed the Soviet Union to clinch a one-year agreement with Kiribati last year. Western diplomats considered it threatened their interests in the region. Kiribati did not renew the contract when it expired earlier this month because of disagreement over fees, but has left the door open for renegotiation.' The Soviet Union has started talks with Vanuatu on a fishing agreement, a move seen by United States officials as an attempt to gain a strategic foothold in the region. Vanuatu officials said the United States agreement would have no impact on the island nation’s independent, non-aligned stance. A senior Australian official said: “South Pacific countries are conservative and pro-West-ern. But American tuna fishermen had angered them by ignoring their interests.” Sir Peter said: “The United States has been in the South Pacific for a while. The fishing agreement is just another way of showing its presence.”