Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Pacific nations get ready for Tuna Commission gathering

Posted at 22:36 on 25 November, 2012 UTC

Pacific nations are meeting this week in Manila to prepare their positions ahead of the major annual meeting in the same city of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, or Tuna Commission.

It is seen as a particularly critical meeting between the distant water fishing nations and the Pacific Islands countries because conservation measures put in place 4 years ago have now expired.

The spokesperson for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, Anouk Ride says one issue they want progress on a ban on setting nets for whale sharks.

But she says primarily they want to see the distant fishing water nations step up and take conservation measures.

“In the Pacific, we have been taking a lot of measures to control tuna fishing to control some of the by-catch issues and also looking at compliance. What we haven’t seen so much is the willingness from some of the big fishing nations to take action on these issues.”

The spokesperson for the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, Anouk Ride .