A new World Bank report says better management of tuna fisheries can help Pacific countries earn up to $344 million annually.
It says this could create up to 15,000 jobs by 2040.
Called ‘The Pacific Possible: Tuna Fisheries report’ it has been released at a meeting of Forum Fisheries committee in Port Vila.
It outlines a best-case scenario for the year 2040, where tuna fisheries will play a greater role in the region’s economic growth.
The report recommends five policy strategies: more regional integration; efficient fishing practices and catch limits; flexible access and harvest rights for fleets; investment in skills and labour; and the inclusion of coastal communities in fisheries planning.
A Duke University researcher, John Virdin, says the key challenge for Pacific countries is to sustainably harness a greater share of the benefits from their tuna fisheries without depleting stocks.
He says this can be achieved by maintaining firm and shared catch limits, and by increasing economic value through collaborative access regimes such as the vessel day scheme.
The general secretary of the Congregational Christian Church of Samoa has been dismissed and stripped of his ministerial title.
The reverend Dr Afereti Uili is believed to have been dismissed by church elders on Tuesday.
Island Business reports Dr Uili is thought to have angered the elders by refusing to sign off on payments for an Apia church building renovations.
It says the church official is understood to have refused the endorsement because the invoices were presented before the work was done.
