An office has been opened in the Marshall Islands for an organisation to help oversee part of the region's fisheries.
The Parties to the Nauru Agreement, PNA, office in Majuro was established on January the 1st and is to have as its Interim Director Transform Aqorau, who has been working for the parent body, the Forum Fisheries Agency.Dr Aqorau says the Office represents a major milestone in regional fisheries co-operative action especially given the importance of the PNA region to the tuna fisheries.
Most of the tuna caught in the region is taken in the waters of the PNA countries, which include the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Dr Aqorau says these countries want to take greater control of the region's tuna fisheries by ensuring that they are managed effectively, and also by ensuring that their citizens enjoy the economic gains from the resources.