The Pacific Islands Forum's Forum Fisheries Agency maintains a Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre in Honiara, Solomon Islands. In 1982, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea gave all maritime nations, including the smaller Pacific Ocean nations, 200-nautical miles Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ). Monitoring their EEZs is a challenge for some of the smaller nations, where their maritime zones dwarf their landmass, making cooperation essential.
Member nations second officials to work at the Centre.
Since 2005 the Centre has coordinated an annual Operation Kurukuru, where member nations board and inspect suspicious fishing vessels.
In recent years larger nations, like Australia and New Zealand, have allocated aerial surveillance assets to fisheries monitoring.[1][2]
References
- ↑
"Operation Tui Moana". Scoop NZ. Honiara. 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
Over 10 days, the Cook Island Pacific patrol boat with two NZ fisheries officers, supported by a P3K Orion surveillance aircraft provided by the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF), conducted surveillance and boarding operations in the EEZ's of Samoa, Cook Islands and the surrounding high seas areas and the pocket adjacent to Cook Islands EEZ.
- ↑
"Integrated Aerial Surveillance as part of the Australian Government Pacific Maritime Security Program". United Nations. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
Through in depth cooperation and data sharing, and with the support of the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group (QUADS) of Australia, New Zealand, France and the USA; Pacific Island Countries have already made great strides towards the elimination of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) tuna fishing.