10 Mar 2003

Tuna deal to be signed in Marshalls this week

7:32 am on 10 March 2003

United States and Pacific fisheries officials are expected to sign a ten year treaty in the Marshall Islands this week worth at least 210 million US dollars.

The agreement to be signed is the third extension of a treaty with the US government that allows up to 45 American purse seiners to fish for tuna in the exclusive economic zones of Forum Fishery Agency nations, with the exception of PNG.

The US payments are divided according to where the tuna is caught.

While PNG's waters are temporarily closed to American boats, those surrounding the Solomons will open in June this year.