SOLOMON Islands Prime Minister Matthew Wale visited the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre on Wednesday ahead of the 55th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting, touring the facility as regional authorities confront illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and transnational maritime crime across the vast Pacific Ocean.
Wale, who is the current chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, met with FFA Officer-in-Charge and Fisheries Development Director Dr Chris Reid before touring the centre and hearing about its work supporting Solomon Islands and FFA’s other 16 members.
The visit gave Wale a first-hand look at how regional fisheries surveillance and intelligence support Pacific Island countries, including through vessel monitoring, satellite information, aerial surveillance, and intelligence and information from national authorities and regional partners.
For the Solomon Islands, the centre provides a regional layer of support that can help identify vessels of interest, check whether they are licensed and operating within the rules, and support national authorities when further action is needed.
The discussions focused on challenges facing fisheries enforcement and response, including the need to profile vessel compliance performance and beneficial ownership, identify the captains behind vessels and ensure accurate reporting.
The centre’s role is particularly significant for Pacific island countries that must monitor fishing activity across one of the world’s largest ocean regions while protecting fisheries as a major economic resource.
FFA’s broader role is to help Pacific island countries sustainably manage their fisheries and secure greater economic benefit from them.
“With such a vast ocean to cover, no country can do this alone,” the agency said in describing the regional approach, which relies on countries sharing information, expertise and resources and working together.
Wale is expected to deliver the keynote address at an FFA side event on the sidelines of the 55th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting in Palau, scheduled for Aug. 30 to Sept. 5.
The side event, scheduled for Aug. 31 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ngarachamayong Culture Centre in Koror, will focus on the role and future of the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre under the theme: “Securing Our Blue Pacific: Integrated Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) and the Future of the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC).”
The event will examine how integrated monitoring, control and surveillance can help Pacific countries respond to fisheries threats, strengthen compliance, and protect the region’s valuable marine resources.
