Pacific Fisheries Ministers welcomed to NZ

Foreign Minister Murray McCully has welcomed the upcoming visit to New Zealand by 10 Pacific Fisheries Ministers.

“The Pacific’s largest asset economic asset is its fisheries and we are committed to helping Pacific nations to manage this resource in a sustainable way,” Mr McCully says.

“Next week Ministers from the Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu, will be in New Zealand to gain a first-hand understanding of our approach to fisheries management.

“At last year’s Pacific Islands Forum, we announced $50 million to support the development of a catch-based management system in the Pacific and this visit by Pacific Ministers builds on that commitment.

“A regional catch-based management regime will provide Pacific Governments with the information they need to address illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, and more effectively manage the resource,” Mr McCully says.

The Ministers’ four-day programme will include a visit to the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology as well as meetings in Auckland and Wellington.