Pacific

PIC booth stirs much interest at Japan’s Marine Diving Fair

While cherry blossoms were in full bloom, despite bad weather, more than 50,000 visitors attended the fair with more anticipation than last year.

Among them were many enthusiastic divers and travel lovers who were looking for new ocean resorts.

A corner of the main aisle at the fair was almost completely occupied by Pacific islands booths from Palau, Papua New Guinea, Kosrae of the Federated States of Micronesia, the Cook Islands and Marshall Islands, which was a first-time participant on the initiative of tourism authorities and diver groups.

Pacific athletes to compete in the World Masters Games

The multi-sport event for athletes over the age of 35 kicks off today.

Held every four years, the World Masters is a global multi-sport event for athletes of masters age and of all fitness levels.

Nearly seven thousand athletes from Auckland will participate in the 2017 World Masters Games and among the lot are Pacific athletes who will represent New Zealand.

A Samoan grandmother will be competing in three sports: athletics, netball and touch rugby.

Agnes Boxall said she had always loved athletics and it was her daughter that got her back on her feet.

China likely to team up more on aid to Pacific

An expert on China's foreign aid programme, Denghua Zhang, said the Te Mato Vai project in the Cook Islands was helping China learn about aid delivery and monitoring.

According to his research, about four percent of China's total aid spend goes to Oceania, most of that in soft loans for new roads and other infrastructure.

Mr Zhang said China was increasingly teaming up with traditional donor countries and agencies like the UN Development Programme and it saw the Pacific as a good testing ground for such co-operation.

New book aims to get Pacific voices in mainstream

The book is a collection of best work initially published on the digital magazine website, e-Tangata .

As well as Pacific writing, it includes contributions from Maori and Pakeha writers on everything from politics to social issues and popular culture.

Co-editor and journalist Tapu Misa said their aim was to get mainstream New Zealanders accessing more Pacific writers and voices, and so publishing this book, titled The Best of e-Tangata was just one way to do that.

"We'd just like to do more," Ms Misa said.

Art exhibition relay messages on whales protection in the Pacific

Presenting during a side show at the ‘Whales in a changing Ocean’ conference at the Tanoa Dateline International Hotel in Nuku’alofa Wednesday, the Trusts rep, Ms Aline Schaffar said their current exhibition at the Tijibaou Gallery in Noumea reflects these important messages.

“The exhibition goes in line with the fact that we are celebrating Year of the Whales and we had artists from New Caledonia and the region come over to Noumea for three weeks and work on getting the messages out in art form,” she said.

NZ and China to co-operate more over fish and development

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.

NZ calls for Pacific applicants for immigration ballot

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.

SPC says Pacific coconut production limited

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.

Pacific countries to close gaps in coastal fisheries management

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.

WHO says dengue is spreading across the Pacific

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.