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(Narrator) It's shortly after daybreak in the Tarawa Lagoon.
The men of the family have returned from fishing.
Less than three per cent of our land is arable
the rest is coral and sand - it's like living on a beach.
It's the ocean that our people turn to as they harvest food and protein for our families and communities.
As a male,
that's one of the skills I had to learn.
I had to learn how to fish - from my father.
He had a small canoe and I used to accompany him to go out fishing.
In all our legends and dances, you can hear about, you know, the fishing expeditions of our ancestors.
(Music playing)
(Narrator) However, in the modern context the picture is very different.
The Exclusive Economic Zone for these tiny islands is almost three and a half million square kilometers
roughly half the size of Australia.
With the decline of fish stocks worldwide, these waters have also become a major attraction for very large vessels
from North Asia, America and Europe.
And as a nation in our aspirations to become more and more economically independent in terms of getting more and more revenue from our fish.
And I emphasise our fish because it is our fish that has been fished by the Japanese, Tiwanese, Chinese, now the Spanish, you name them.
(Narrator) In 2008, an estimated 650 tuna boats were licensed to fish in this, the second largest E-E-Z in the world.
What we get now from fishing licences is about five to ten per cent and that is not fair. That is not fair.
I think the current revenue for licences for Kiribati is in the reion of -
it fluctuates from 25, 30, 35 million Australian.
But that pales in comparison to the take that potentially comes our of this water, which is in billions of dollars.
So you can see that they're got this fantastic resource on their doorstep
but unfortunately they're only getting a small amount out of it.
(Narrator) The Australian Government's Pacific Partnership for Development approach lays considerable emphasis
on economic growth.
And the Government of Kiribati turned to Australia for support.
Upon that request the Government of Australia took the initiative to come to Tarawa
and help out and assist with the identifying priorities.
(Narrator) The fruits of these discussions was the Fisheries Performance incentive Scheme.
We then wanted to look at are there more effective ways of delivering aid.
And we think yes, performance linked aid is something that we would like to trial in the program here.
Setting up some pre-agreed targets, designing some milestones around those targets with the ministry.
And then working closely with the ministry integrates their sector plans, their strategic plans.
(Narrator) The first of milestones was a major review of the legislation covering Offences and Penalties for illegal fishing activities.
Drafting support came from the Australian Attorney General's Department.
We have been very successful since we amended the penalties clause.
First we were able to get a substantial amount of money in terms of penalties.
And secondly, there is an increase in the compliance.
(Narrator) Two of the other milestones include an independent review of all future negotiations
regarding access, licensing and joint venture arrangements
and policy guidelines on how these will be carried out.
The University of Woollongong is providing their experience and technical support.
That also calls into play new ways of monitoring and evaluation reviewing.
We also get some independent assistance to do that. We need to have confidence in the Governments systems.
And we need to have confidence that the milestones really are being met
and were getting those targets so that we can then pay on tangible results.
(Narrator) On the final completion of each milestone the ministry receives a 25 per cent part payment.
Some of these funds will be used to compete the training of ten fisheries officers for the outer islands.
(Narrator) The patrol boat, gifted by the Australian Government in 1994
plays a critical role in surveillance and monitoring activities.
There's a need, a lot of fishing vessels are fishing without a license.
Last year Kiribati earn more than five and a half million in fisheries penalties.
(Narrator) Milestone five will be used to increase the number of days at sea and update the satellite vessel monitoring system.
(indistinct)
(Narrator) Islands with no lagoons face special problems, often involving lengthy ocean trips to catch fish.
The ministry will use its milestone funds to create Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs) for these islands.
A float or pontoon is anchored close to shore.
Organic matter is dropped to the sea floor.
It grows and attracts small fish. They in tun attract bigger fish.
And down comes the hook.
It also means less time at sea and a saving in fuel.
Let's chat about these new fisheries guidelines.
So these administrative guidelines are now what the ministry of Fisheries is going to use.
(Narrator) In charge of coordinating all these complex arrangements is local AusAID Employee Naunta Taatu.
Hello, is that Quentin?
I try to work to try and negotiate well with the Ministry of Fisheries
and the technical assistance from Australia
mainly the University of Woollongong
to try and push things together so that everything is finished.
(Music playing)
We spend a lot of our time in South Tarawa working very closely with our government counterparts.
It really is important to get out to the outer islands to see things for yourself
to really understand the challenges that people on the outer islands face on a daily basis.
(Music playing)
(Narrator) On arriving on an island for the first time a small offering is required at the local shrines.
This is some candy - I hope she likes sweets.
(Music playing)
Not only is fisheries extremely important as a resource for the country
but also it engages a very large part of the community, both fishermen who go out fishing and netting in the foreshores
and right through to ice plants like this one.
We buy the fish from fishermen.
We ice the fish in the cooler box and leave it for a while.
Some of the people who are not fishermen come to buy the fish.
As a food source, as a livelihood it is the most valuable resource that Kiribati has,
apart from its people.
(Narrator) Other donor partners are also looking to see how better management of the EEZ will create
more job opportunities for young school leavers.
The New Zealand Government is looking into a major upgrade of the local Fisheries Training Centre.
It's in their blood, there's no doubt that they're world class at it.
So why not just tap into that and add on to what already is a marketable skill.
The idea would be that you'd have two or three of these highly trained I-Kiribati *** allocated to a boat.
And if you've got five or six hundred boats, then you've got overnight twelve hundred people working on these boats.
I'm excited about that and I think it provides a real opportunity for Kiribati
to finally start getting some of the value back out of what is rightfully theirs.
This is a hugely important program for Kiribati
and I think there's some challenges for the Ministry and for us
but we're working together, I think.
The early signs, the commitment, is really strong.
A program like this that focuses on such a key sector is going to have a significant impact on the future of this country.
(music)