REGION
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| FSM
President Joseph Urusemal opening the Tuna Commission meeting
at the country’s capital in Palikir, Pohnpei. Photo:
Giff Johnson |
Tuna Commission
Launched With All On Board
Much
of the hardest work is still to come. But after more than seven years
of tough and often tense negotiations, Pacific Island and Pacific
Rim nations meeting in Pohnpei in early December officially launched
the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention, which for the
first time establishes a Tuna Commission to regulate tuna fishing
on the high seas.
Seventeen countries
have joined the convention, including China, South Korea and Taiwan.
Japan and the United States are expected to complete approval processes
early next year, with the European Commission and others joining
up soon after.
"The Tuna Commission
is a very important institution, but it can only work through the
joint effort of everyone-island nations and fishing countries,"
Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Gerald Zackios told Pacific Magazine.
Akira Nakamae,
director general of Japan's Resources Enhancement Promotion Department
in the Fisheries Agency, says that the new commission "is very significant.
(It is filling) the last vacuum area that had no management system
for tuna and other fisheries resources."
The toughest
issue-how the commission will actually enforce conservation of rapidly
depleting tuna resources on the high seas-was not directly addressed
in Pohnpei. Decisions about fishing vessel quotas, restrictions
on catch tonnage and limits on fishing days-all contentious issues-will
be dealt with at later sessions of the Tuna Commission.
Michael Lodge,
who has been head of the interim secretariat for the preparatory
conference that negotiated the establishment of the Tuna Commission,
was selected to head the new commission. Glen Hurry, general manager
of the Australian government's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Forestry, was named chairman of the commission, and Liu Xiaobing,
director of the People Republic of China's Bureau of Fisheries International
Division, was named vice chair.
Fishing nations
will shoulder the largest portion of the estimated $1.8 million
cost to operate the Pohnpei-based Tuna Commission. Launching a major
stock assessment this year of the four highly targeted tuna species-big
eye, yellowfin, South Pacific albacore and skipjack-was also identified
as a priority.
"There is the
high likelihood that big eye is being fished above sustainable levels,"
says a U.S. official who asked not to be named. "The situation is
possibly more dire (than believed). The Tuna Commission needs to
move quickly on big eye through quotas or other mechanisms, such
as closed seasons or gear restrictions. Early action is needed."
"Cooperation
for managing the resources is essential if the distant water fishing
nations are to continue reaping the benefits of the tuna," says
Zackios. That cooperation was in abundance at the Pohnpei meeting.
The Tuna Commission's challenge is to maintain it.
-Giff Johnson
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Fiji
L.A-Based Roll International Acquires Fiji Water
A month after Fiji Water received the U.S. Secretary of State's excellence
award, the company's ownership changed hands. While financial details
of the takeover were not made public, media speculated that Roll International,
a privately held company in Los Angeles bought Fiji Water for around FJD$81.22
million (US$61.5 million).
Roll International is owned by one of Hollywood's richest couples, Stewart
and Lynda Resnic. They also own Teleflora and the Franklin Mint. Fiji
Water is the second biggest imported water brand in the U.S. after Evian
from France.
General Manager of Natural Waters of Viti Limited, Ian Lincolne, told
Pacific Magazine that Fiji Water expects enormous opportunities from the
new owners. "We see accelerated growth in production and sales and marketing
and also our community commitment.
"Roll International will also continue very significant investment in
Fiji Water in the near future. This demonstrates the new company's faith
in the ability of our employees, the strength of the brand and the political
and economic climate of Fiji," Lincolne says.
Stewart Resnick says Fiji Water is "a premium brand and is the finest
water in the world. We are committed to growing the business and we embrace
this exciting opportunity."
The Los Angeles Business Journal listed the Resnicks on its "LA's 50
Richest" list, estimating their net worth at $US590million.
-Makareta Komai
REGION
End Of An Era In Education
After 40 years of educating Micronesian teenagers from the Marshall Islands
to Palau, Ponape Agriculture and Trade School in Pohnpei has held its
final graduation. The school, known popularly as PATS, has been the cornerstone
of vocational education in Micronesia, having graduated over 1,000 students
since its founding in 1965. Citing financial difficulties and declining
levels of student enrollment, the decision to close the school was made
in mid-October by PATS' Board of Trustees.
From its inception the school's mission was to turn out skilled workers
in specialty areas of construction, mechanics, agriculture, and most recently,
marine science. As a residential boarding school, student schedules were
carefully balanced to include not only trade courses and hands-on experience,
but also the English and mathematical skills graduates needed to compete
in the job market. During PATS' peak years in the early-1990s, an impressive
95 percent of its graduates were employed, 62 percent of whom were working
in their chosen trade.
However, as U.S. Compact assistance declined through the late '90s, so,
too, did job growth in the FSM and Marshalls. Unable to find work in their
home islands, PATS graduates followed the path of so many other Micronesians,
migrating overseas to Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland in search of
employment. Enrollment at PATS has dropped from 160 students in the early
1990s, to 80. Perhaps more significantly, over half of the students presently
attending the school are from Pohnpei, indicating a growing lack of interest
from other island groups.
While the fate of PATS has been decided, its Board of Trustees plans
to entertain proposals for the future of the campus. Its closing will
make Xavier High School the only remaining Jesuit school in the region.
-Jason Aubuchon
CNMI
Earhart Search Unsuccessful
The disappearance of famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred
Noonan in July 1937 will continue to remain a mystery as the latest attempt
to find their grave sites on the island of Tinian failed after three days
of searching in early November 2004.
The search began with the memories of a former U.S. Marine who was told
by a Hawaiian on Tinian in 1944 that he helped bury the bodies of an American
couple, believed to be Earhart and Noonan. Saint John Naftel's efforts
to tell the story led to the formation of the Tinian Earhart Expedition
Team. Excavation of the site in question began on Nov. 12, but with no
result. John Mark Joseph, staff archaeologist for the CNMI Historic Preservation
Office told Pacific Magazine, "the landscape of the island has changed
dramatically making it difficult to pinpoint exactly where something was
60 years ago."
-Frank Rosario
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