Image: courtesy Marshall Islands Journal

Fish And Power Shifts: How The Marshall Islands Became A Fishery Superpower

MARSHALL ISLANDS
Wednesday, October 20, 2021, 16:00 (GMT + 9)

The following is an excerpt from an article published by civilbeat.org:

In “Our Ocean’s Promise: From Aspirations to Inspirations,” author Giff Johnson chronicles the history of fishing in the Marshall Islands, and forecasts an even more prosperous future.

Just how did a small nation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean become a major player in the fishing world?

Giff Johnson, editor of The Marshall Islands Journal, seeks an answer in his new book “Our Ocean’s Promise: From Aspirations to Inspirations.” It tracks the country’s fishery from its time under Japanese and American rule to now, as a nation with one of the busiest tuna transshipment ports in the world.

Johnson researched and wrote the book — which was formally launched on Oct. 8 — over the course of five months, parsing documents spanning almost a century.

The result tells a history of an ever-evolving power dynamic, from more powerful nations dividing and ruling the fisheries to successful regional cooperation through the Parties to the Nauru Agreement starting in 1982. That milestone agreement showed Pacific nations’ collective power and regional camaraderie.

“I think that’s the big story … how the islands have taken charge of the fishery that was historically controlled, totally controlled, by distant water fishing nations,” Johnson said.

The project was conceived by Glen Joseph, director of the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, to look at history and forecast the future.

The partnership meant unusually good access to MIMRA and Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency records, many of which were undigitized, in addition to Johnson’s many insider interviews.

And while the project was conceived by the MIMRA, there were no strings attached, according to Johnson.

Republic of the Marshall Islands Tuna Fisheries Management Plan  2020-2025 --->

Joseph “just gave me free rein to go and write the story, which really impressed me,” Johnson said. “A lot of times on something like this, when you’re dealing with a government agency, you get people who are like: ‘Well, you know, we’ve got to vet this.’”

The hands-off approach means there’s a full history of the fishery’s development, hiccups included. The fishery actually went bankrupt in the ’90s following its first attempt to make itself central to the tuna trade. Having set up an airline to send frozen skipjack to the U.S., via Hawaii, and setting up its own fleet, the operation hemorrhaged money.

The Parties to the Nauru Agreement are Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu and often are referred to as the PNA.

But with the Parties to the Nauru Agreement and after another attempt, the Marshall Islands found itself on the right track.(continues...)

Author/Source:  Thomas Heaton/civilbeat.org  | Read the full article by clicking the link here

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