Pacific

Pacific tuna fishery well placed for 2016

Transform Aqorau says the highlight of the meeting was coming away with agreement on target reference points which is a tuna management strategy that incorporates biological, ecological, social, and economic considerations.

But Dr Aqorau says the meeting was not without its disappointments and hit back at critics who say the PNA is making the Pacific fishery too expensive for some boats to operate in.

Sentences shortened in Pacific courts due to gender bias

The International Centre for Advocates Against Discrimination says its analysis of hundreds of sexual and gender-based violence cases in seven Pacific island countries provides crucial evidence that women are not accessing justice on an equal basis with men.

Food festivals have potential to boost island economies

Research shows that the light is now beginning to shine on our Pacific Islands as a source of super foods.

Destination Gold Coast for South Pacific Tourism Exchange 2016

SPTE organisers, the South Pacific Tourism Organization’s (SPTO) Chief Executive Ratu Ilisoni Vuidreketi said the popular tourist destination was chosen due to the request and feedback from private sector members in the Pacific region.

It’s the third year for the event to be held and coincides with other major events such as the Australian Tourism Exchange that will take place a week prior.

Super El Nino risk to lives in South Pacific: aid agencies

The Red Cross has been working with governments since May when meteorologists began warning that this southern summer could see a major El Nino - a disruptive oscillation of the weather patterns brought about by a coupling of warmer than usual waters and atmospheric pressure changes in the Pacific.

Food security problems could affect Pacific island nations for the next 18 months, Red Cross international and disaster management manager Andrew Mackie told Xinhua.

Global outsourcers looking to Pacific

A World Bank study suggests the region has the potential to create thousands of jobs in the offshoring, online outsourcing and other IT-related industries.

Optimistic scenarios in the report found that as many as 27,000 jobs could be created across Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.

Polynesian athletes face stresses and strains in order to give back to families

Fa'alavelave is the Samoan tradition where family and friends contribute money or gifts to major events – pulling together to support those closest to you.

Far from a Samoan concept alone, many of the Pacific Islands adopt this communal culture based on everyone chipping in. 

Call for end to fishing subsidies

He and a number of colleagues from around the world released a statement at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi, saying fishing subsidies need to be eliminated, as they impact on trade, the environment and development.

McClay says fishing subsidies is particularly a development issue in the Pacific.

Record growth for rugby playing numbers in Pacific

Total playing numbers throughout Oceania in 2015, including New Zealand and Australia, reached one point one million.

The Get Into Rugby program was rolled out in the Pacific last year after being initially piloted in Tonga.

Improved import conditions for woven mats and tapa into New Zealand will facilitate Pacific trade

These handicrafts are often bought by tourists as a cultural memento of the Pacific Country they visited.

Irrespective of size, woven mats and tapa cloths are permitted into New Zealand. However, up until recently, a requirement for these goods to be accompanied by a Phytosanitary Certificate verifying the absence of live insects and other materials of quarantine concern. This requirement attracts additional costs which have discouraged tourists from purchasing these handicrafts.