France has warned Vanuatu about infringing on its territory around the Mathew and Hunter Islands.
Both countries claim the islands which are to the south-east of Vanuatu and east of New Caledonia.
The Daily Post newspaper reports France saying that any Vanuatu registered trawlers caught fishing in what it calls its exclusive zone could risk upsetting the friendly relationship that exists between the two countries.
Both nations have long been in talks over the ownership of the islands, which Vanuatu claimed on the eve its declaration of independence in 1980.