New Zealand is giving the Forum Fisheries Agency $US3.3 million dollars to help stop illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing in the Pacific.
Yellowfin tuna inside a purse seine net Photo: Supplied / SPC
This funding, signed over last Thursday, will be used by the FFA to improve catch documentation schemes for the agency's members over the next five years.
The FFA deputy director general, Matthew Hooper, said this project would help members to access high value export markets while tackling illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
Mr Hooper said it aimed to ensure the member countries could maintain market access, by improving traceability along supply chains through the integration of fisheries monitoring, control and surveillance systems.
It will also improve the implementation of electronic reporting and the development of technological solutions to strengthen national capacities.
The Forum Fisheries membership includes 17 Pacific Islands countries and territories including Australia and New Zealand.