April 17, 2024 — On March 28, 2024, in Suva, Fiji, the United States State Department and the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) signed a tuna treaty that will allow the US purse seine fleet to continue fishing in the EEZs of 17 Pacific island nations that are party to the agreement.
The South Pacific Tuna Treaty originally went into effect in June of 1988, and the latest renewal will continue the agreement until June 2033. The memorandum of understanding allows the United States fleet operating under the Treaty to continue fishing in the EEZs of the Pacific Island Parties in 2024, pending the formal adoption of the agreed amendments and revised text of the Treaty for 2025 onwards. In exchange for access granted to US tuna vessels, the revised Treaty package includes an annual $60 million payment from the United States Government for the next ten years (2023-2033) and a further amount paid by the industry. In addition to this annual payment, the United States Government had agreed to provide US $10 million in 2023 to be distributed equally to the Pacific Island Parties for economic development, including climate change-related projects.