Letters
Letters To The Editor
Tuna commission
Please allow me to respond to your commentary in the January 2003 issue of Islands Business on the Tuna Commission headquarters. Though not wanting to revisit what is now water under the bridge, it is important to put to rest any misunderstanding on the approach of Papua New Guinea in bidding for the Tuna Commission.
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Put simply, the Government of Papua New Guinea decided that it could not support the Forum Fisheries Committee (FFC) approach and exercised its sovereign right in submitting a bid to the Manila Preparatory Conference.
As it is now history, the Preparatory Conference resolved to recommend to the Tuna Commission that its headquarters be located in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia.
Contrary to your commentary, Papua New Guinea accepted that decision and announced it will make a contribution of K100,000 to support the participation of Pacific Islands States in the Preparatory Conference. This was done to signal the commitment of Papua New Guinea towards the Preparatory Conference process.
Papua New Guinea remains committed to the FFC and particularly to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement in the management of tuna stocks and the development of the fisheries sector in the region.
We are also examining options to work together with the Federated States of Micronesia to develop opportunities for both our tuna longline industries.
—Norman Barnabas,
National Fisheries Authority,
Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Correction
Oops! We got it wrong. In our December 2002 issue, we reported in our Regional Briefing section that Hawaii’s first woman governor is Mazie Hirono. This is incorrect. Hawaii’s first woman governor is Linda Lingle and she is also the first Republican governor in 40 years.
