European Commission recognises Curacao efforts combating illegal fishing

European Commission 

Commission lifts 'yellow cards' for Curaçao 

and Solomon Islands

The European Commission has lifted...the 'yellow cards' for Curaçao and Solomon Islands, recognising the significant progress both countries have made in the fight against illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. 

Speaking on the margins of the Economist's World Ocean Summit in Bali, EU Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, said: “This is a good day for Curaçao and Solomon Islands, and good news for sustainable fisheries around the globe. Countries worldwide have a shared duty to fight illegal fishing, protect law-abiding fishermen, and keep our oceans healthy. I encourage others to join the European Union in this fight and contribute to better ocean governance." 

Under the IUU Regulation, the European Commission warned Curaçao in November 2013 and Solomon Islands in December 2014 that they were not doing enough against IUU fishing. Since then, both countries have embarked on a series of reforms to bring their fisheries legal and administrative frameworks in line with international law, and are now equipped to tackle illegal fishing effectively. 

Working closely with the European Commission, they have strengthened their sanctioning system, and have improved monitoring and control of their fleets. The IUU Regulation is the EU's main tool in the fight against illegal fishing. It encourages countries to work with the European Commission to improve their fisheries governance and retain access to the EU's market. 

The EU is the world's biggest importer of fisheries products. IUU fishing threatens global fish populations and penalises fishermen who play by the rules. The global value of IUU fishing is estimated at approximately 10 billion euros per year, up to 15% of catches worldwide.

American Samoa Governor complains of U.S. longline fishing in its waters

"The unilateral application of U.S. laws against the wishes of the elected government of the territories is standard practice. In this case, such unilateral measures are in direct opposition to the "rule of law" through United Nations legal opinions, decisions and resolutions which have consistently recognized that marine resources belong to the territory - not the administering power. But, then, when have the big powers adhered to international law as it relates to their "territory or other property?"  Following international law is for other countries, apparently. 'Do as I say, not as I do.'  But, then, it is colonialism. What do we expect? At some point, we will recognize it for what it is." Them just maybe, we can begin to have a real dialogue on a genuine process of decolonization. - a Pacific specialist

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Excerpts from U.N. Resolutions on American Samoa

"Urges the administering Powers concerned to take effective measures to safeguard and guarantee the inalienable rights of the peoples of the Non-Self-Governing Territories to their natural resources and to establish and maintain control over the future development."

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Samoa News

Am. Samoa entitled to protect its resources says Lolo

Cites protections promised in Deeds of Cession to oppose LVPA petition

By

 Fili Sagapolutele

fili@samoanews.com

Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has informed US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker that the American Samoa Government opposes the proposal which would allow large US flagged longliner vessels to fish in portions of the Large Vessel Protected Area (LVPA) in the waters of American Samoa.

In his five-page letter released late Thursday by the US National Marine Fishery Service, the governor outlined his reasons for opposing the proposal made by the Western Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Citing the Deeds of Cession — the first deed is for the islands of Tutuila and Aunu’u and the second one is for the Manu’a islands — Lolo says both prohibit the Council's action.

“In each deed, the leaders of these islands peacefully ceded control of their lands, including the vast body of water surrounding those lands, to the United States.” He says total area ceded by the leaders of Tutuila, Aunu'u, and Manu'a to the US measures more than 28,000 square miles.

The United States, in consideration of the peaceful cessation of this vast area, “made a solemn promise to the people of these islands to protect their rights in the lands and other property within the Ceded Area,” Lolo said, adding that the Ceded Area is affected by the Council’s proposal.

He says the Council approved the proposed LVPA amendments, while ignoring his request to delay their decision. In his view, said Lolo, this violates the United States' solemn promise to the people of Tutuila, Aunu'u and Manu'a.

By allowing large longline “fishing vessels to invade the LVPA, the Council’s proposed action threatens to rob the people of these islands of the opportunity to nurture and practice their culture— let alone access the natural resources surrounding their islands,” he said.

Furthermore, these large vessels, with larger catch capacity, could easily deplete the fishing stock; and their presence in these waters will likely discourage local fishermen from practicing traditional fishing methods for fear of being run over by the larger longliners.

ALIA PROGRAM

The governor also said that ASG has started a program to encourage natives of American Samoa to fish the waters around the islands. This program involves a significant investment in the building of new traditional fishing boats (alias) with capacity to prolong the fishing trips of local fishermen, he said.

ASG, through the federally funded American Samoa Small Business Credit Initiative, will provide funding to successful applicants from villages to encourage local fishermen to take up the practice of fishing as a method to earn a living, he said.

According to the governor, ASG plans to roll out this new plan in fiscal year 2016.

Additionally, ASG received a technical assistance grant from US Interior Department’s Office of Insular Affairs for the development of a prototype fishing vessel, called a super alia.

Lolo said the Council’s proposed action will stifle ASG's alia initiative and will likely kill the program before it becomes effective, as the incentive to fish these waters will be extinguished as bigger boats fill the waters where these alia would have thrived.

INCOMPLETE DATA

When the Council held a public hearing on Jan. 28 this year in the territory, Lolo said the Council’s staff stated that the data showed no alia longline fishing activities in the last few years.

However, the Department of Marine & Wildlife Resources (DMWR) has data that shows one local alia has been fishing longline since the establishment of the LVPA in 2004, and is still fishing up to this day, Lolo said.

“The Council based its decision to reduce the LVPA solely on the decrease of the [small] alia longline fishing activities,” he said. “However, there are about 30 alia that have switched from longline fishing to trolling and bottom-fishing activities.”

He said large longline vessels target albacore tuna, they also by-catch other pelagic species, which are the target of the other 30 local alia.”

Lolo pointed out that local alia fishing occurs predominately in the LVPA zone, and therefore, allowing large longline vessels into this area will create competition and gear conflict.

DMWR has data that shows the catches of the indigenous alia fishing fleet, he said, and these data include longline fishing, trolling and bottom-fishing on the off-shore banks.

Lolo also said the Council's decision did not take into consideration the growing sports and recreational fishing that occurs within the LVPA.

Lolo, in his letter opposing the LVPA exemption, also said that the recent trend of US policies, “including the usurpation of our fishing grounds for the sanctuaries, the creation of monuments, and the suggested invasion of our 50-mile zone by large [longline] fishing vessels, suggests that the United States is forgetting its promise to the people of this territory.”

“While American Samoa does not necessarily oppose allowing certain longliners to temporarily fish within its 50 mile zone, it strongly opposes the procedure,” he said. “American Samoa should be allowed to decide, or at least have a say in, the use of its resources, especially given the Deeds of Cession.”

In closing Lolo said ASG requests that the Council’s proposal be rejected and denied.

Niue establish Diplomatic Relation with Kosovo

GOVERNMENT OF NIUE OFFICE OF THE PREMIER 

PRESS RELEASE 

 The Government of Niue has established Diplomatic Relations with the Republic of Kosovo (on) 23rd June 2015. 

The newly forged relationship is the first Diplomatic Relation Niue has established with a country from the Southeast Europe region. The Republic of Kosovo becomes the 12th country to establish Diplomatic Relations with Niue.

 Facts about: The Republic of Kosovo is a state that was established in 2008 in the central Balkan Peninsula. It is bordered by the Republic of Macedonia and Albania to the South, Montenegro to the West and Serbia to the North East.

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PREMIERS OFFICE

The Premiers Office holds the Niue Legislative Assembly, Cabinet, Central Agencies, Commercial Agencies and Statutory Boards.

A full description of the divisions under the Premiers Office can be located in the Cabinet Page. 

The Niue Legislative Assembly is within the Premiers Office, and 

is headed by the Speaker of The House of Assembly. The Niue Public Service has recently made a Transformation, after lengthy 

planning and architect of the long standing construction. 

The previous structure contained different departments within the Niue Public Service, however the new transformation involves the collective of all departments under 3 Ministries and 2 Agencies.

Ministry of Social Services, Ministry of Natural Resources and Ministry of Infrastructure, Central & Commercial Agencies.

The new structure is designed for efficiency and to expedite delivery of Services.

The Government of Niue continues to encourage the Development of Niue for the Benefit of ALL Niueans in Niue as well as Abroad.

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Niue impoverished by global nations

RNZI/PACNEWS

The Premier of Niue says other nations are making it poor by not sharing returns made off of Niue's resources.

US$3.4 billion worth of tuna was caught in the Exclusive Economic Zones of Pacific Countries last year with an additional 400 million dollars worth of tuna estimated to be taken illegally.

Pacific owners receive around 14 per cent of the market value of the resource.

Toke Talagi told the United Nations Security Council Niue is often described as poor despite having plenty of fish and sea-bed minerals.

He says other countries need to rethink their behaviour in the Pacific.

“Give us a fair share if the returns from the fish that you catch in our waters. You need to do that to help us. You need to do that with the minerals that we're looking at at the present moment under the sea. We are not poor, we are rich, but you make us poor, some of you.”

Talagi says true partnerships need to be developed that endorse sustainable harvesting of resources in Niue.

Talagi is in New York for an open debate on the peace and security challenges faced by Small Island Developing States

Free trade agreement between U.S. & EU could spells trouble for American Samoa canneries

Tri-Marine working with U.S. trade Reps in DC to include territory in agreement

Samoa News

By Fili Sagapolutele

fili@samoanews.com

Tri Marine International is targeting the European markets for export of its canned tuna products and the company is currently waiting for authorization from the European Union (EU), which at this point does not recognize that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the authorized federal regulator for exports from the U.S. territory.

With free-trade negotiations ongoing between the U.S. and the EU, Tri Marine along with ASG wants to make sure that American Samoa is not excluded, because such exclusion will mean tuna products from the territory would pay a 24% duty fee in Europe.

Tri Marine’s cannery operations will be launched on Jan. 24 at its local Samoa Tuna Processors Inc., facility in Atu’u and the target market is duty-free export to the U.S. with its canned tuna carrying the “Made In USA” label.

It is also targeting the European markets where there are “export impediments”, which Tri Marine and the American Samoa government are collaborating to have removed.

Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga mentioned this issue briefly during his State of the Territory address to the Fono on Monday.

Responding to Samoa News questions, Tri Marine chief operating officer Joe Hamby said the company and ASG are collaborating to “remove tariff and non-tariff trade barriers” to expand the markets that are economically accessible to the American Samoan tuna industry.

“The reason is simple. More markets mean more production and more jobs for our new cannery,” he said through the company’s communication office.

He also said that the non-tariff trade barrier “we are trying to overcome" is with the European Union, "which does not recognize the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as the competent sanitary authority for tuna exports from the territory.”

FDA director Camille Brewer has written to the European Commission “to clearly explain that the FDA is in fact the competent sanitary authority for the Territory,” he said, adding that while the EU has acknowledged Brewer’s letter, it “has not yet recognized the authority of the FDA over tuna exports from American Samoa to the EU.”

Asked how lifting the EU restrictions will benefit Tri Marine tuna product exports, Hamby said that lifting the restrictions “will allow all exporters in the Territory to sell tuna products to the EU.”

“Having additional markets can only be seen as positive for the Territory’s tuna industry,” Hamby said. “The more markets we can reach, the more ability we have to meet a growing demand for tuna and the more opportunity we have to create new jobs in American Samoa.”

Hamby went on to point out that on a global basis, the EU is an important market for Tri Marine, which intends to start exporting to the EU as soon as the FDA’s authority is recognized.

“The other critical issue is the potential free trade agreement that the US is currently negotiating with the EU,” he said. “Currently, canned tuna shipped to the EU includes a duty of 24 percent.”

According to the Tri Marine official, current free trade negotiations have introduced the real possibility that the duty on canned tuna will be reduced to zero and if that happens, EU canned tuna producers will be able to sell their canned tuna in the US without duty and US canned tuna producers will be able to do the same in the EU.

“However, American Samoa is currently excluded from those negotiations. So even if a free trade agreement is reached between the US and the EU, American Samoa tuna products will still have to pay 24 percent duty in the EU,” Hamby explained.

“This is a significant disadvantage for American Samoa as we anticipate that we would see a lot of new European canned tuna producers exporting their canned tuna duty-free to the US in direct competition with American Samoa,” he said. “Those producers export very little to the US market currently because they have to pay 12.5 to 35 percent duty.

“Once that duty is eliminated, we would expect their products to be competitive, and that they would be able to take market share away from the American Samoa canneries,” he said, adding, “It’s critical that the US negotiators understand that American Samoa needs to be included in their free trade agreement discussions.”

Tri Marine is working with the U.S. Trade Representative in Washington D.C. and with ASG to make sure that they are aware of the potential negative impact on American Samoa of the free trade agreement being negotiated between the US and EU.

“Our request is that they treat tuna as a sensitive commodity and it either be excluded from the agreement or that the American Samoa leadership find a way to include the Territory in the agreement so that the American Samoa tuna industry can have the opportunity to export duty-free to the EU,” he said.

“This will give us a level playing field. EU products would be able to come to the US duty-free and American Samoa tuna products would be able to go to the EU market duty-free,” he said.

Polisario Front urges European Court of Justice to annule EU-Morocco Fisheries Agreement

Luxembourg, March 26, 2014 (SPS) - The Polisario Front has presented last week, through a law firm, to the European Court of Justice a recourse providing for the annulment of the fisheries agreement, signed in 2013 between the EU and Morocco, said Mr. Mhamed Khaddad, member of the POLISARIO National Secretariat.

In this recourse, Polisario Front recalled to the legal status of Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory, whose partial occupation by Morocco constitutes a violation of the right of peoples to self-determination enshrined in the Articles 1 and 2 of the UN Charter and in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.

The Polisario Front called on the European Court of Justice to annul such agreement and to reject any decision or cooperation with Morocco affecting the international status of the territory of Western Sahara.

On November 2012, the Polisario Front filed an appeal in the same court against the EU-Morocco Agreement on agricultural, processed agricultural and fisheries products.

The Official Journal of the European Union published the appeal in February 2013 and the proceedings are already underway with the memoranda submitted to the Court by the European Council and Commission. (SPS)