Fishing for Development? Tuna Resource Access and Industrial Change in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is an island state with sovereign rights over valuable tuna resources. Historically, PNG captured value from tuna only by charging licensing fees to foreign fishing fleets, which relegated PNG as a source of raw material for the global tuna industry. To capture more value from tuna – including much‐needed jobs and infrastructure – the PNG government now offers firms that invest in domestic tuna processing plants strategic, long‐term fishing licences. This strategy of ‘obligating embeddedness’ enables PNG to reorder the international division of labour in the canned tuna sector, but socio‐economic outcomes are shaped by competition within the global tuna industry, the core business strategies of foreign firms and domestic conditions in PNG. Ultimately, a state's right to control the terms of access to tuna is not synonymous with its ability to shape the local‐level consequences that emerge as firms comply. These findings reveal the peculiar nature of state sovereignty over pelagic marine resources and the complications of exploiting them to achieve domestic economic and social objectives.