Pacific

The deals were signed in Wellington as part of the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to New Zealand.

New Zealand Foreign Minister, Murray McCully, said these arrangements would strengthen and expand the co-operation with China even further.

He said New Zealand and China were committed to protecting sustainable fish stocks in the Pacific, and both support efforts to combat illegal fishing.

Each year up to 1100 Samoan citizens, 250 Tongan and Fijian citizens and 75 Kiribati and Tuvaluan citizens are selected by ballot to be considered for residence in New Zealand.

RNZ reports the ballot under the Samoan Quota and Pacific Access Category takes place throughout April.

Those who are successful then have eight months to lodge their resident visa applications, the critical part of which is an acceptable job offer from a New Zealand employer.

Coconut industry representatives from a number of Pacific countries were in Thailand last week to learn how Asian countries have formed their coconut industries.

RNZ reports the head of the SPC's coconut industry development programme, Karen Mapusua, said the Pacific's coconut production is currently very limited, and expanding it could prove very lucrative.

She said beyond coconut oil - the Pacific's main export - it was increasingly being used as gluten free flour, cosmetics, as well as hi-tech extracts for the health industry.

Over the years, coastal fisheries have not enjoyed the political attention or funding accorded to the massive offshore tuna fishery.

RNZ reports but the heads of fisheries from 27 countries who met last week in New Caledonia have renewed their commitment to correcting this imbalance.

The assistant chief executive of Samoa's fisheries ministry, Magele Etuati Ropeti, said while it was true tuna brings in the most government revenue, the value of coastal fisheries is immeasurable.

Fiji has now confirmed 143 cases, Nauru has confirmed more than 50, and 13 have been confirmed in American Samoa.

That follows outbreaks in Solomon Islands which has had more than 10,000 dengue cases in the last seven months, and in Vanuatu which has had more than 1700 cases since November.

RNZ reports in New Caledonia three people have died and a health emergency has been declared as more than 1-thousand cases have been recorded since September.

Trans-shipping means fishing boats can stay at sea for an extended period of time, in some cases more than a year, by transferring their stock to another boat and receiving fuel and supplies.

The US-based group, Oceana, said that practice could often involve the laundering of fish, human rights abuses, and labour violations.

Its senior campaign director, Beth Lowell, said trans-shipping was a huge problem around the world and it was also likely to be happening in the Pacific due to its large tuna fisheries.

“It is no secret that the United States federal administration under President Trump appears to be less enthusiastic about the Paris Agreement,” Mr Bainimarama told the Fijian Parliament.

He said during their meeting with United Nations top climate change administrator, Patricia Espinosa last week in Suva, both agreed that the world cannot afford to drop the ball at this critical stage.

Tuvalu's Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga spearheaded the plan, which aims to enshrine human rights in the country's development priorities.

The Pacific Community's senior human rights advisor, Romulo Nayacalevu, said Tuvalu is the first country in the Pacific to launch such a document.

Mr Nayacalevu said human rights include not only civil and political rights but also access to water, education, and health care.

Fiji Times reports the first phase of the project kicks off with a free energy report offered by SCS to businesses interested in calculating how much they can save if they switched to solar.  This report is targeted at commercial and industrial customers who pay commercial rates for electricity. The report, which is accessed after filling in a small online survey, shows the savings a solar system will generate for an organisation.

Just over $US11 million will be provided annually by Australia over the next 30 years to support the Forum Fisheries Agency in its management of the world's largest tuna fishery.

FFA director general James Movick said under the programme his agency will have access to surveillance aircraft pretty much all year round.

"With one or several aircraft that we will be able to utilise around the region," Mr Movick said.