PNA day fee hike puts pressure on fishing fleets

States want greater share of income The Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) continue to set the pace in fisheries management in the western Pacific and the group’s latest decisions are upsetting tuna fishing

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SPC wins satellite imaging awards

Team covers activity costs with workload Many eyes will be focused on the Pacific Islands Forum and the upcoming Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States. But there are also smaller happenings

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The ‘Olympic Games’ for Micronesia

Guam to dominate track and field events Majuro — Twenty years ago, the only way to get a report on a Micronesian Games competition—or even just a baseball or basketball score—was to have someone ring

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Australia hails its Samoan World Cup star

Cahill wears his Pacific heritage with pride The only Pacific islander playing in the FIFA World Cup is not only representing Australia and his Samoan heritage. He’s also holding his own against the world’s

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Do many hands make light work?

The reality is that, with the greatest goodwill in the world, many of these countries are too small to be viable in the normal understanding of that expression and we really have to develop an approach that I could

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21 years of serving the environment and peoples of the Pacific

Pacific history was made twenty one years ago on June 16, 1993. On that day Pacific island countries signed an agreement to establish SPREP – the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme –

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NZ reaps rewards from cash cows

Soaring demand for $NZ10 billion New Zealand milk and dairy products from the South Pacific region and parts of Asia has prompted producers to expand plant facilities in Christchurch last month. There are also

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Experts warn of good quality kava exports

With a German court ruling last month to lift a ban against Pacific kava exports, one of the region’s experts on the traditional commodity has warned about the need to monitor and maintain product quality.

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Goodman Fielder sold

Goldman Fielder’s new owners, Singaporebased Wilmar International and Hong Kong’s First Pacific Company have yet to reveal their plans for their Fiji and Pacific operations. Manufacturer of renowned brands

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Fiji cannery partner expands tuna loin contract to Samoa

Fiji’s Pacific Fishing Company – operator of the country’s main tuna cannery – believes it won’t be affected by Bumble Bee’s interest in expanding its tuna loin business to Samoa.

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Kina Weakens, Cost of Living Increases in PNG

Papua New Guinea’s economy continued to grow for the 13th consecutive year in 2013 and inflation remained below forecasts. On account of low international commodity prices and high demand for imported goods and

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Carsasses’ out, Natuman’s in

I t had all the guile and secrecy of a commando raid. And as much impact. This was the demise of Vanuatu Prime Minister Moana Carcasses after 14 months in the top job. He entered parliament on May 15 confident he had

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Lack of data affects tuna stock assessments

Foreign fishing nations who benefit immensely from fishing in the Western and Central Pacific region’s US$7.2 billion fishery are not releasing valuable tuna stock data needed to manage and sustain the industry.

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Donations to flood victims in Solomons mount

The two-day flash flooding that began on April 2 struck at the heart of Solomon Islands The two-day flash flooding that began on April 2 struck at the heart of Solomon Islands’ administrative and business and

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Mr. Nickel

SMSP’s Andre D ang transforms New Caledonia’s nickel industry It’s just days before New Caledonia’s elections and Andre Dang is angry. The conservative majority in the Southern Province Assembly

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Andre Dang

President & CEO of New Caledonia’s Société Minière du Sud Pacifique (SMSP) At his office in Noumea and on a trip to the Vavouto smelter, Andre Dang spoke to Nic Maclellan about the origins

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The rush to Fiji

So much to do, so little time, but Fiji’s Elections Office is optimistic By first June, the countdown clock on the Fijian Election Office’s official website would read 107 days to poll day. That website

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New Caledonia elections reaffirm divisions

Philippe Gomes is a happy man. His anti-independence party Calédonie Ensemble has done well in New Caledonia’s elections, gaining more seats than the conservative RassemblementUMP (RUMP) Party that has long dominated

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Three Opposition MPs suspended in Nauru

Crackdown against critics continues Police intervention was required twice in Nauru’s parliament as government and opposition MPs clashed over the suspension of three Opposition members last month. The standoff

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LNG project absorbs skilled workers in PNG

Calls for more job training Operators of Papua New Guinea’s new liquefied natural gas export company have trained nearly 10,000 locals for production and delivery roles as the region’s biggest commercial

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Selling the Pacific to the world under one roof

SPTE 2014 a ‘success,’ says organisers Pacific’s national tourism offices have given thumbs up to efforts by the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) to organise a regional tourism buyer and

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Big construction project in Chuuk in limbo

Legal wrangle holds up road work After huge cost overruns, major delays and problems with faulty designs, the largest construction project ever undertaken in the Federated States of Micronesia is now at a standstill

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10,000 foreign workers to go in the Marianas

US Labour Secretary has until July 4 “It will be a disaster,” said Juan T. Guerrero, general manager of the largest and oldest bakery in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, as he ponders on the

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Air Marshall Islands’ ongoing downward spiral

Lack of money fuels air woes In 2003, an ADB report said: “The financial position of Air Marshall Islands is precarious—it has never made an operating profit and depends heavily on government

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