The Forum Fisheries Agency says it hopes a new study examining the future of fisheries in the region will motivate Pacific leaders to do more to ensure the sector's sustainability.
The study, done with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, highlights threats which could become major problems within 15 years as the region's population is projected to increase by 50 percent by 2035.
For example, the study says there are signs of overfishing, low tuna stocks, and increasing pressures from foreign fishing fleets seeking access to regional waters.
The FFA Director of Fisheries Management, Wez Norris, says the study recommends that Pacific nations unite to ensure food security, government revenues, employment and sustainability of the sector .
"The Pacific Island leaders have been emphasising in their annual communiques for the last few years that fisheries represent one of the main prospects in the region for sustainable economic development so any threat to the viability of those fishery comes with huge socio economic consequences."
FFA's Wez Norris
