October 8, 2014 — Pacific Island countries and the United States have reached a $90 million tuna deal, which is believed to be the world's most lucrative fishing access agreement.
The deal was secured in the final minutes of a three-day negotiating session in Hawaii.
Under the agreement, the 17 member countries of the Pacific Island Forum Fisheries will receive $US90 million from the US government and its tuna industry in return for 8,300 fishing days in 2015.
"We have been renegotiating this treaty since 2009, when its total value was in the order of $21 million," said James Movick, director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA).
"During that time, the Pacific Island parties were able to secure an increase to $42 million in 2011, and then again to $63 million in 2012."
As tuna stocks in the rest of the world dwindle, the Pacific has become the global epicentre for the industry.
More than 60 per cent of the world's tuna is caught in the Pacific by vessels from powerful distant water fishing nations such as China, Japan, Taiwan South Korea, Spain and more from North and South America.
For many Pacific Island nations, tuna licence fees are a budget mainstay.
Read the full story from the Australian Broadcasting Company