An Analysis of the Tuna Diplomacy between Pacific Island Countries and EU -Take Kiribati as an example

¹ Liaocheng University
² Qinghai Normal University

^* Corresponding author: fanxuandelib@outlook.com

Abstract

Abundant tuna resources have important economic and political significance for Pacific island countries, and obtaining more benefits from tuna resources is the consistent pursuit of Pacific island countries. This article selects Kiribati as an example, mainly for consideration of its national conditions. Kiribati is a maritime country, it’s the world’s largest coral atoll, and it is famous for the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA). Kiribati’s water area is larger than land, its citizens mainly rely on fishing for their livelihoods and commercial activities. Kiribati declared its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in 1978, it currently has 3.55 million square kilometers, which is equivalent to the area of India. Besides, no other resources can make a huge economic contribution to Kiribati. Therefore, obtaining economic and political gains from abundant tuna resources is an urgent need for Kiribati. The EU has a huge tuna consumer market in the world, and there is a huge demand for tuna. The Atlantic fisheries are affected by overfishing, which has led the EU to seek new fisheries around the world. In addition to that, participating in the tuna affairs of Pacific island countries will also have a positive effect on enhancing the EU’s influence in the Pacific island countries. The two sides immediately started cooperation on tuna affairs. This article takes Kiribati’s tuna diplomacy with the European Union as an example and take the fishery partnership agreement signed by the two sides as the starting point to discuss the cooperation between them in tuna fishery and some frictions in the cooperation. In the end of this article, the authors briefly summarize the way Kiribati can further benefit from tuna resources in the future.