Fiji should not devolve its responsibilities to Australia and New Zealand.

This was stated by the National Federation Party vice president Seni Nabou during their submission to the Parliamentarian committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence on the Ratification of the Agreement on Port State Measures to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

Ms Nabou said illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing was not limited to fisheries alone.

“The normal pattern is that other illicit activities are also associated to it and until very recently, some very harrowing incidents of human rights violations on crew of vessels exposed in the international media,” she said.

“As a Port of State receiving foreign flagged vessels into our borders, these circumstances beyond IUU specific alerts alone, must also form a key part of our intelligence.

“If vessels fishing either arriving to transit or fish in our waters, cannot respect human rights or criminal laws, it is vanity on our part to expect that they will abide by IUU reporting standards.”

She also said our naval surveillance patrols should furthermore be set with a 300-day at sea patrol target, and the appropriate investment of public funds prioritised, “hopefully in the upcoming budget session.” Edited by Naisa Koroi

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