New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key arrives at the Pacific Islands Forum Photo: Koro Vaka'uta / RNZ
New Zealand is to provide NZ$50 million over the next three years to help the region change the way it manages declining fish stocks.
Fisheries ministers from around the region have been invited to New Zealand to check out its quota management system which New Zealand has been pushing at the Pacific Islands Forum.
New Zealand's prime minister John Key says Pacific island countries agree their fisheries are going to be challenged if they stay on the present system of limiting fish takes via the daily scheme.
"That fifty million will be used in areas like transitioning to a quota management system away from a daily catch and that requires far more sophisticated ministries. It requires equipment. It requires scientific research. We think actually we'll end up spending more than that."
John Key says Pacific leaders have endorsed a plan "A Roadmap for Sustainable Pacific Fisheries" which promotes a move towards a catch-based management system for tuna by 2025.
The funding will go towards investment in monitoring and enforcement and improving legal and management systems around fisheries.
