Pacific fish agency gets $2.4M from U.S.

Press, 12 January 1987, Page 4

Pacific fish agency gets $2.4M from U.S.

NZPA special correspondent Suva The United States Agency for International Development has provided a grant of SUSIJ million ($2.4 million) to the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency, said the United States Embassy in Suva.

The four-year grant agreement was jointly signed in Nuku’alofe, Tonga, recently by Mr William Paupe, the director of USAID’s regional development office for the South Pacific, based in Suva, and Mr Philipp Muller, director of the fisheries agency.

It will be used to provide grants: to the small island countries of Niue, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Palau, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Cook Islands to finance fisheries development projects.

The first year’s $U5315,875 ($631,750) have already been transferred to agency for financing projects in those island countries to improve fisheries infrastructures, develop processing and marketing schemes, increase exploration for fish resources, finance procurement of computerised fisheries manage-

ment systems, and training. During the signing ceremony Mr Paupe explained that the grant was part of a new four-year, SUS6.S million ($l3 million) USAID fisheries development programme which would also provide grants to FljL Tonga, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Western Samoa. He explained also that the programme was designed by fisheries officers and development planning officials representing the Pacific island countries receiving development assistance from the USAID regional development office.

The programme funding is in addition to the cash grants to be provided to the forum fisheries member countries under the terms of the recently agreed upon tuna treaty with the United States Government