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The\u00a0Kiribati<\/a>\u00a0government has announced it will open up one of the world\u2019s largest marine protected areas to commercial fishing, citing economic benefits to its people.<\/p>\n The Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) spans 408,250 sq km (157,626 sq miles) \u2013 an area about the size of California \u2013 and was created in 2006 with the entire area declared a \u201cno-take\u201d zone in 2015, meaning that commercial fishing is forbidden.<\/p>\n Kiribati, a collection of islands in the central Pacific and which has an EEZ larger than the size of India, catches 700,000 tonnes a year of tuna. More tuna is caught in Kiribati\u2019s waters than in the waters of any other nation in the world.<\/p>\n In a press statement issued on Monday, the office of the president of the Kiribati government confirmed it was opening the protected zone citing the huge economic cost to Kiribati, a developing nation,\u00a0<\/strong>of the ban.<\/p>\n \u201cSimilar to any Government, our decisions, as we make them, put the livelihoods of our people at the fore and have been carefully considered and agreed to as a Government,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur decision as a sovereign country and Government is people-centric and commensurate with holistic options for marine protection and management, economic diversification, sustainable tourism and fisheries, to promote the growth of Kiribati\u2019s blue economy, and uplift the lives of all I-Kiribati.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr Richard Jeo, Conservation International\u2019s Asia-Pacific field division senior vice president, said that it was their \u201cunderstanding that this proposal has not yet been introduced to Kiribati\u2019s parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt would need to be formally approved by parliament before going into effect, which would likely not be until next year at the earliest. There is significant geopolitics at play in the Pacific region, and as a sovereign nation, Kiribati has the authority to decide on the future of PIPA.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeo said they remained hopeful that Kiribati would maintain PIPA\u2019s marine protected area designation and would choose \u201cto continue as a global conservation leader, standing lockstep with a global community that is committed to protecting 30% of land and sea by 2030.\u201d<\/p>\n But the Kiribati government said that when it established PIPA it was assured it would be able to recoup the revenues lost from fishing licences, which make up more than 70% of Kiribati\u2019s total annual revenue, but that this had not eventuated.<\/p>\n The government said years after PIPA\u2019s inception it was not sufficient to meet the present need of the people of Kiribati and the country\u2019s future development needs.<\/p>\n The statement also reiterated the Kiribati government\u2019s commitment to conservation efforts by investing in marine and biodiversity protection and promoting climate resilience.<\/p>\n The government said that since PIPA\u2019s closure to commercial fishing, there had been an 8% decline in demand for fishing in Kiribati\u2019s EEZ translating to a loss in revenue of up to USD$146m from 2015 to the present.<\/p>\n Former president Anote Tong, who was responsible for\u00a0overseeing the creation of PIPA<\/a>, expressed his strong disappointment with the announcement, but said the proper process, which involves a parliamentary vote on opening up PIPA to fishing, still had to be observed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very, very disappointed,\u201d he said. \u201cI never expected that this would happen. And this was precisely the reason that we put it into legislation. Because it had to be something that would remain regardless of any political changes.\u201d<\/p>\n