The Marshall Islands is gearing to launch a multi-year, World Bank-supported pilot project to strengthen governance and sustainability of the fisheries department and its programmes.
The Marshall Islands is one of four Parties to the Nauru Agreement members, joining the Federated States of Micronesia, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands in the new World Bank-funded project.
The Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority Director, Glen Joseph, says the World Bank is expected to provide about $US1 million dollars annually to the Marshall Islands to raise the bar for fisheries management work in the country.
It is expected the new project, which will be launched before the end of the year, will impact both local coastal fisheries operations as well as the management of the oceanic commercial fishery.
The Marshalls fisheries department director Glen Joseph said he is happy to see that the purse seine fishing industry has begun taking action to modify fishing gear to reduce by catch of bigeye tuna. Here, a purse seiner off loads its tuna catch in Majuro. Photo: RNZI / Giff Johnson
