This record describes, and links to a working paper produced through the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific (RMAP) Program based at The Australian National University in Canberra. The South Pacific is home to the world's largest and most valuable tuna fishery. Despite this, the Pacific island countries have found it tremendously difficult to capture significant economic rents from the resource. It is argued in this paper that poor economic policy partly explains this. However, poor policies are preventing the implementation of strong, cost-effective institutions for the governance of the fishery which, coupled with strong institutions for broad social and economic governance, are required for development of the industry. Opportunities for policy reform that is likely to lead to significant gains from the fishery are highlighted.

This record describes, and links to a working paper produced through the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific (RMAP) Program based at The Australian National University in Canberra. The tuna resources of the Western and Central Pacific (WCP) are the world's largest and most valuable fisheries of their type and are of significant economic importance to the Pacific Island countries (PICs), through whose waters of national jurisdiction the tuna migrate. Two major concerns exist with the current governance of the fishery. First, PICs are receiving only a small share of the resource rents from the tuna fisheries. Second, current management structure of the fisheries will not ensure the long-term sustainability of the resources. The paper presents a simple model to argue for increased resource taxation as a means of raising tax revenues and improving sustainability of the resource. Such an outcome is only possible when a single policy-maker has the prerogative to set taxes so that the government acts as a Stakelberg leader in this game. Institutional mechanisms to engender cooperation between PIC governments and with distant water fishing nations (DWFNs) to achieve the espoused outcomes of the model are also presented.

This record describes, and links to a working paper produced through the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific (RMAP) Program based at The Australian National University in Canberra. One of the most hotly debated issues of fisheries policy in the Pacific is whether or not public funds should be used to finance commercial tuna fishing ventures. Many commentators from within the region argue for public investment in the industry to stimulate domestication. In this paper we propose an alternative policy in which tuna fishing revenues are invested offshore through a trust fund, rather than re-invested in domestic commercial fishing activity. Trust fund earnings could then be used to stimulate and support private sector initiatives and alternative economic activities. We use the example of Kiribati, one of the poorer Pacific island countries, to illustrate how offshore investment through a trust fund has succeeded in generating substantial revenues, when most Kiribati government corporations, including a state-owned fishing enterprise, have performed poorly.

This record describes, and links to a working paper produced through the Resource Management in Asia-Pacific (RMAP) Program based at The Australian National University in Canberra. In this paper we examine the strengths and weaknesses of state-supported Customary Marine Tenure (CMT) systems in two independent Melanesian states in the context of burgeoning commercial and subsistence fisheries. Both Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands can be categorised as 'weak states' where access by foreign-owned fishing companies to state-owned resources (e.g. tuna) is typically easy to obtain by bribing the relevant politicians and bureaucrats at national and/or provincial level. By contrast, access to near-shore fishery resources necessitates negotiation with the landowners of adjacent coastal zones, and this in itself can provide some level of resource protection. However the expansion of markets and rapid increases in populations in the region are exerting pressures on subsistence and commercial fisheries that are already creating significant problems. In the Solomon Islands the recent collapse of the state in a militia coup has also meant that any escalation in marine resource piracy is likely to proceed unchecked and indeed in many cases unnoticed and unreported. The management tool of choice for multi-species fisheries across the world, and particularly in cash-poor developing countries is the Marine Protected Area (MPA), and this system has proved quite successful in many instances, particularly in rich, industrialised countries. However, with some exceptions, typical Melanesian CMT regimes make MPAs difficult to establish because many coastal zones are finely divided along clan boundaries, such that few clans would be willing to 'lock up' their own reefs for the benefit of neighbouring clans. How then can local communities in these countries most effectively manage their marine resources in an environment of escalating fishing pressure and weak governance? In this essay we analyse the social and institutional contexts of near-shore community-based fishery resource management, and explore options for the future. We look at the potential utility of educating reef owners about aspects of the life cycle of marine organisms that are mostly absent from local knowledge systems and how this information could empower villagers to better formulate their own management regimes.