Fisheries in the Pacific

Kanak coastal communities and fisheries meeting new governance challenges…
which supported New Caledonia and the French MPA Agency in the implementation
of the Coral Sea Natural Park, and now has one representative on the management
committee. Pew is one of the major promoters of large-scale MPAs in the Pacific
Ocean (see also Giron in this volume), but is also known for its conservative values,
liberal policies and economic “lobbying” 69 methods in relation to marine scientists
and small insular states looking for income from their natural resources and this
new “Ocean Business” (see Giron et al. 2012 and in this volume; Le Sann 2012,
2013b). A particular question raised is whether large-scale MPAs and fisheries
prohibitions could be the first steps towards the privatization of oceans to be followed
by the deep-sea exploitation of rare minerals (see Giron et al. 2012 and in this
volume)? The loss of income from fishing licences ensuing from the establishment
of MPAs obliges small insular states to find new sources of revenue. Pew’s environmental
lobbying combined with its affinity for multinational mining and petrol
companies, the so-called “mineral hunters”, nourish the suspicions of Action Biosphere
and EPLP. Pew’s ambivalence is reflected in part in its internal organization: the
Pew Centre on Global Climate Change, in charge of studies on the implementation
of MPAs, has recently been transferred to the Centre for Climate and Energy Solution
(C2ES), 70 in charge of studies aiming to develop innovative processes for energy
supply, which reinforces the suspicions of Pew’s detractors.
At another level, the French government’s interests in the Coral Sea Natural Park
and the support of the French MPA Agency reflect national maritime strategic
issues and illustrate the “regulatory state administration” (Féral 2011). Indeed, the
Coral Sea Natural Park constitutes almost 12% of French marine territories and is
helping to expand the coverage of the French MPA network from 4 to 16% of these
territories (French MPA Agency 2014). If the marine territories of the Austral archipelago
(French Polynesia) are also declared an MPA, in partnership with Pew (Salvat
et al. 2015), by the end of 2015 or the beginning of 2016, 20% of France’s marine
surface will be protected. This nation will thereby meet the objectives defined in the
Convention on Biological Diversity and the “Grenelle de la Mer” agreement,
reinforcing its international leadership in the field of marine conservation and
MPAs. Without French overseas territories, which represent almost 90% of France’s
marine spaces, and the support 71 of Pew as a mediator for the creation of large-scale
MPAs, the task would have been difficult to achieve.
69. The Pew Charitable Trust’s funds are estimated to generate US$300 million in dividends per year,
resulting from investments valued at US$6 billion. Almost US$100 million per year are dedicated to
ocean conservation and a large part to its ocean science division (See Giron et al. 2012 and Giron in this
volume).
70. See the website of C2ES for further information on the subject. URL: http://www.c2es.org
(Accessed on July 20, 2015).
71. Estimations about a global network of MPAs protecting 20 to 30% of the world’s marine ecosystems
may cost between US$5 and 19 billion and create more than one million jobs. It gives an idea of the
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