Shifting Currents in US-Pacific Islands Fisheries Relations

March 6, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Mānoa Campus, John Burns Hall room 3121/3125, East-West Center Add to Calendar

US-Pacific Island relations have been defined by the Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America, which has been in operation since 1988. This treaty is the only international agreement between the United States and the Pacific Island states whose waters account for about 70 percent of the world’s tuna stocks. The US engagement with the Pacific Island states under the treaty has come under scrutiny because of declining stocks and the introduction of new conservation measures, which has impacted on the free-roaming nature of US tuna fleet. Demands for new approaches to tuna development and the establishment of strategic investment partnerships with processors are testing US-Pacific Island relations. The emergence of Chinese investments in the region will also test the US-Fisheries relations.

Dr. Transform Aqorau is the chief executive officer of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) office based in Majuro, Marshall Islands. He was previously the deputy director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA). Prior to that, he was the legal counsel for FFA and the Pacific Islands Forum. Dr. Aqorau started his career as legal counsel for the Solomon Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Aqorau has an undergraduate degree in law from the University of Papua New Guinea, an LLM from the University of British Colombia in Canada, and a PhD in international law, with a focus on the Law of the Sea, from the University of Wollongong in Australia. He has published widely and presented in many forums on fisheries issues in the Pacific Islands. He is a Solomon Islands citizen.


Ticket Information
Open to the public

Event Sponsor
Center for Pacific Islands Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Katherine Higgins, 956-2652, khiggins@hawaii.edu, Shifting Currents (PDF)

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