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Pacific Island States

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Lani
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Pacific Island States

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Post by Lani »

How Eight Pacific Island States Are Saving the World’s Tuna
They have created a strikingly successful scheme that prevents overfishing and raises local incomes at once.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/05/tu ... tpcc=30792
They control the richest tuna waters on the planet, an area of the Pacific roughly one-and-a-half times the size of the United States. But 10 years ago, eight island states in whose waters most of the world’s canned tuna is fished were seeing almost none of the profits. In 2011, however, they scored a striking success for small-state diplomacy when they devised a system to raise the fees foreign fleets were paying them for the privilege of fishing in their exclusive economic zones, which extend 200 nautical miles off their coasts. At the time, all they got was a scandalously low fraction of the tuna’s value—as little as 2.5 percent.

Today, the eight island nations have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They increased their take tenfold—from $50 million in 2010 to around $500 million last year. Not only did they grow their income, but they also imposed controls that stabilized catch rates and prevented overfishing, a rare success story in a world where ravaging the oceans is still the brutal norm. “They’ve been very clever,” said Glen Holmes, an officer for the Pew Charitable Trusts’ international fisheries program.

Six members of the agreement are microstates scattered between the Philippines and Hawaii: Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Tuvalu. The other two are much bigger: Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, both closer to Australia.

The tuna fees have turned from relatively small change to serious income—and for some of the smaller states, it’s virtually the only non-aid source of foreign exchange. They were therefore highly motivated to make the system sustainable in the long run. For that, they had to make sure the foreign fleets did not do in their waters what they have done almost everywhere else: take too many fish, thereby reducing some populations like the bluefin tuna to 3 percent of their original numbers.

As a result, the group—formally known as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA)—have become a global model showing how poor, culturally disparate, and isolated small countries can take on the likes of the United States, China, and the European Union—and win....
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Dave from down under
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Re: Pacific Island States

#2

Post by Dave from down under »

Samoa faces political crisis as Prime Minister-elect blocked from Parliament, caretaker PM accused of holding onto power

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-24/ ... /100159880

Samoa has been plunged into fresh political turmoil, with two rival political leaders claiming they are prime minister of the Pacific nation.

Key points:
The parliamentary sitting would install FAST's Fiame as Samoa's first female prime minister
The Supreme Court overturned an attempt to cancel today's sitting
Caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa has held power for 22 years, and insists he still has the numbers
It comes after the majority FAST party, that was expected to form a new government for the first time in almost four decades on Monday, was blocked from entering Parliament this morning to begin the swearing-in process.

Party members decided to instead conduct their own ceremony in a large tent outside the Parliament, with leader Fiame Naomi Mata'afa declaring herself as Samoa's first female prime minister.

Caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi deemed the move unlawful, and has said his Human Rights Protection Party (HRPP) remains the government.
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keith
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Re: Pacific Island States

#3

Post by keith »

The Sa'amoan situation is interesting, but unlikely to blow up. The story seems to be that the two parties have equal numbers, with the 1 independent giving their vote to FAST. But then there is something in the rules about gender equality that I dont understand, but it appears the argument is whether the party leader should be counted or not in the gender balance equation. So they are dickering.
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