Fisheries-Led Development in the South Pacific: Charting a 'Pacific Way' to a Sustainable Future

41 Pages Posted: 18 Oct 2006

See all articles by Tim Stephens

Tim Stephens

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law

Date Written: October 2006

Abstract

Considerable debate surrounds the appropriate mix of policies to drive fishing-led development among developing nations in the South Pacific. While South Pacific Small Island States have since the 1970s been committed to a policy of tuna-industry domestication, serious doubts have emerged as to whether it can deliver any meaningful improvements to the well-being of Pacific peoples. An alternative approach has been suggested by development economists which would see Pacific Island nations largely abandon direct involvement in the industry and return to collective efforts to secure reasonable access fees from distant water fishing nations that take the majority of the region's tuna catches. This article argues that one reason that this policy-shift has not been taken up by Pacific capitals is that tuna-industry domestication policies remain bound-up within the influential discourse of "resource nationalism." It is contended that any movement towards a more environmentally and developmentally sustainable ocean fisheries policy will require close engagement and transformation of this sovereignty-focussed narrative in a way that retains its attributes as a distinctive "Pacific Way" for the achievement of economic and social development.

Keywords: marine policy, South Pacific, fisheries, sustainable development, discourse theory

JEL Classification: Q22, K23, K39, L50, O13

Suggested Citation

Stephens, Tim, Fisheries-Led Development in the South Pacific: Charting a 'Pacific Way' to a Sustainable Future (October 2006). Sydney Law School Research Paper No. 06/32, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=938027 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.938027

Tim Stephens (Contact Author)

The University of Sydney - Faculty of Law ( email )

New Law Building, F10
The University of Sydney
Sydney, NSW 2006
Australia

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