Reshaping International Fisheries Development: Assimilating the Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the United States under the PNA Vessel Day Scheme (VDS)

Abstract

Abstract Since June 1988, Pacific Island States and the United States have co-operated in fisheries management, conservation and development through the Treaty on Fisheries between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States. The renegotiation of the Treaty has presented challenges. The Treaty worked perfectly under an open and unrestricted access regime. However, changes instituted by Pacific Island States and the Commission for the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific have tested the utility of the Treaty. This article discusses these changes, and these challenges, including the implications of the Vessel Day Scheme. The article concludes that having unimpeded multiple-zone access is inimical to a rights-based system such as the purse-seine Vessel Day Scheme.