Protected Marine Area No More As Commercial Fishing Looks to Open
Kiribati Government Pushes to Open Protected Waters for Fishing Economy
On November 15 the office of the president of Kiribati, which is a country of a collection of islands near the center Pacific released a statement of notice to advise that a “no take” zone which was established in 2015 is going to re-open.
The zone, which sprawls an estimated 408,250 sq km (157,626 sq miles) labeled the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) was put in place to heed commercial fishing in the area.
Due to the large amounts of tuna in the waters surrounding the area, the government believes that by opening this area to commercial fishing, economically the country can benefit.
“It would need to be formally approved by parliament before going into effect, which would likely not be until next year at the earliest. There is significant geopolitics at play in the Pacific region, and as a sovereign nation, Kiribati has the authority to decide on the future of PIPA.”
