The deputy director of the Forum Fisheries agency says there are no strings attached to a new line of funding from Japan.
Under the scheme, Japan's Overseas Fisheries Co-operation Foundation will provide up to 96 million US dollars in the form of a loan over a 10-year period.
The fourth ministerial meeting of the Forum Fisheries Agency members in Palau announced the signing.
Transform Aqorau says the money will help to support a variety of fishing projects, but measures have been to taken to ensure the management of the funds will be by the agency's member countries.
"We did negotiate in the Memorandum of Understanding and we made sure that the full control of the funding, the decision making, what kind of programme the funding supports, is made by the countries. Its there in black and white. Its a negotiated arrangement and we made sure that the control of the money was in the hands of the Forum Fishing community."
Transform Aqorau.
