January 7, 2016 — Though there appears to be no immediate end in sight to a dispute over unpaid fees for fishing access that has seen the US tuna fleet grounded in the Pacific, one thing is clear: the parties involved agree that the existing treaty should be renegotiated in favor of a more flexible, permanent solution.
In statements to Undercurrent News, US State Department and the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), which manages access to the tuna fishery, both said they see serious issues with the existing system and would like to see reforms to the South Pacific Tuna Treaty.
“Longer-term, we are increasingly concerned about whether the treaty can remain operationally viable and believe a new approach is required,” a State Department spokeswoman wrote in a statement to Undercurrent.
She added that the US has told the PNA that it is weighing a pull out from the existing arrangement.
“The United States previously informed Pacific island parties that it was considering the possibility of withdrawal from the treaty as the terms offered in negotiations continued to deteriorate and commercial differences threatened to negatively affect our positive cooperation with the region,” the spokeswoman said.
Read the full story at Undercurrent News