The head of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement says Pacific nations could reduce their dependency on international aid by retaining more value in their fishery.
The PNA members have agreed that from next year, the fishing day fee for foreign fishing vessels will rise from
$US6,000 to a minimum of $US8,000 per boat.
The chief executive of the PNA, Dr Transform Aqorau, says if foreign companies want to fish in the Pacific they must pay what is asked of them.
He says the fishery is increasing in value and the price hikes reflect that.
"The challenge is to ensure that the governments and our political leaders support the endeavours that we are doing to capture an increasing share of that value and if I can just say that we are actually not quite there yet and if we did that then I am sure that we could reduce our dependancy on aid."
Dr Transform Aqorau says rising fees are not an unreasonable demand as the major beneficiaries of the fishery continue to be those companies who catch the fish and process it.
