Cook Islands

The Cook Islands news reports the Ministry of Marine Resources believes a 24 nautical mile buffer zone for all commercial fishing vessels is the most beneficial option and will ensure long term sustainability of local fishing.

The MMR's Tim Costelloe briefed cabinet on the effectiveness of buffer zones to be considered under the new Marae Moana Bill.

Currently, purse seiners are not permitted to fish within 24nms of any island, while the buffer zone for longliners is 12 nm for all islands except Rarotonga, which has a 24nm zone.

Cook Islands News reports the Infrastructure Water Works Division has received a number of complaints about people swimming in restricted areas which store drinking water on Rarotonga.

The most recent complaint involved two tourists swimming in the Takuvaine water intake area.

The division manager, Wilson Rani, said signs clearly indicate swimming is banned and he is asking the public, including tourists and locals, to stop swimming at water intakes.

He said swimming could contaminate the water and cause serious health problems for people drinking it.

They said tap water in much of the Cook Islands comes straight from the mountains and with recent heavy rainfall it was possible it could be contaminated.

Health protection officer Charlie Ave said they have a simple message for friends visiting from across the Pacific.

"When they come here they boil the water and let it cool down before drinking, or otherwise we have UV treated water stations around the islands where they can get their water from, or buy it from the shop," said Charlie Ave.

They say the Cook Islands is currently free of mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika which are present in some neighbouring countries.

But a programme has been identifying properties with a variety of waste, animals present, and overflowing septic tanks, where mosquitoes could breed.

Tutaka programme co-ordinator Charlie Ave said the next step is to spray the sites as a precaution against the spread of disease.

The Green Climate Fund, a United Nations fund to help developing countries adapt to climate change, has granted the Cook Islands US$12 million to expand the main island's energy grid.

The announcement is the first of a series of projects, which will be led by the Asia Development Bank, to expand renewable energy around the Pacific.

The Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister's office, Elizabeth Wright-Koteka, said the current grid cannot handle the current uptake of renewable energy, and the expansion will help solve that.

This comes after the importation of avocado trees from New Zealand and Australia seven years ago was believed to be the source of the destructive black twig borer now present in the country.

Minister Kiriau Turepu said both the ministry and private individuals had brought in the plants but he said it was a problem he had only been made aware of in the past two weeks.

Mr Turepu said the problem in the Cook Islands was the lack of a post quarantine facility to ensure the plants were disease free.

But he said he expected this to change quickly.

Cook Islands Associate Minister of Environment, Mr. Mona Ioane shared the actions undertaken by the island nation to mainstream biodiversity into the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

This was one of four theme different High Level Roundtable Discussions that took place. One of these themes is the integration of biodiversity into cultural and traditional planning of locally managed marine areas.
"Ra'ui is our way to protect the harvest of our fisheries through cyclic fishing bans in certain coastal areas at different times.

The pageant week begins with a church service and over the course of the week will assess each contestants through various activities planned.

Contestants representing eight Pacific Islands - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga have all gathered in Apia, Samoa.

Contestants and their teams started arriving in Samoa last week for the 30^th anniversary of the Miss Pacific Islands.

The international newcomers secured the sixth and final berth, by default, after Fiji, Samoa and Tonga all withdrew from last month's Pacific qualifying tournament due to a lack of playing numbers.

The Cook Islands have been drawn in Pool A, alongside defending champions Australia and England, who finished third at the 2013 tournament.

They will also play a crossover match against the Kiwi Ferns and the President of Cook Islands Rugby League, Charles Carlson, said they will have to do it the hard way.

Better known as the Mitre 10 Mega man, Levi Vaoga spent a decade pulling trucks and flipping tractor tyres for the hardware franchise promoting the message "big is good."

But as the New Zealand-born Cook Islands filmmaker Jamie Aureka Maoate Dunn discovers in "The Life I've Lived," there is more to Levi Vaoga than meets the eye.

Levi Vaoga's journey from farmhand to competitor in eleven world strongman tournaments is an honest first-hand account and Jamie Dunn hopes it strikes a chord with young people.