Pacific Regional Ocean Policy and Governance Dialogue
Minister Victor Statement
21 August 2023
Nadi, Fiji
Salutations
Fellow Ministers, High Government Officials, Representatives from CROP Agencies, and Ocean Advocates………Alii and warm greetings to you all.
I am honored to be representing my Government at this inaugural Regional Ocean Policy and Governance Dialogue, convened by the Office of the Pacific Ocean Commissioner under the able guidance of our new Commissioner, Dr Filimon Manoni.
Our Micronesian region proudly hosts a couple of key fisheries institutions—the WCPFC in the Federated States of Micronesia and PNA Office in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. We look forward to the addition of OPOC to our sub-region and to welcoming Dr. Manoni and his team to Palau as the office transition from PIF secretariat to Palau.
As a Pacific, we have demonstrated our enduring commitment in our stewardship of the ocean, and we will afford the same commitment to the Office of Pacific Ocean Commissioner.
Palau, as Chair of the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) has collaborated with OPOC in carrying out our role within the recently concluded BBNJ negotiations and other global processes. We thank the support from OPOC’s team to Palau and other Pacific Island Countries negotiators during this process.
While, the success of concluding BBNJ is a win for the ocean, we fully recognize the critical need for coordinating and advocating for broader ocean issues across our Blue Pacific—work that sits at the core of OPOC’s mandate. The significance of hosting such an important institution in the Pacific, especially at this point in time, speaks to the critical commitment that we as Pacific have toward our stewardship of the blue pacific continent for our people and for nature.
As we welcome Dr. Manoni and his team to Palau, we are committed to support OPOC in fulfilling its mandate under the Forum Leaders’ Suva Agreement. We bind ourselves to this same mandate–of working across multiple ocean sectors and at all levels of governance to add value to ocean policy and governance in the region.
As OPOC transitions from PIF secretariat to Palau to establish its new presence and grow its team, it maybe necessary to explore independence of the office as institution may allow it to grow and evolve to effectively coordinate support for our region’s growing ocean and policy governance needs.
As Pacific we have shown our solidarity to each other and we need to call on upon the same solidarity to collaborate on our ocean dialogues.
The convening of this dialogue and the diversity of ocean stakeholders present here today, I hope, is telling of our collective commitment– to each other, to our Pacific people, and to the ocean—to work collaboratively, to grow genuine and meaningful partnerships, to find strength in diverse perspectives, and to stay anchored in our shared ocean heritage.
As we move our ocean agenda forward, I emphasize the importance of science that is contextualized in the Pacific and takes into consideration our diverse Pacific traditional knowledge of resource management to help guide how we develop our own policy and governance mechanisms.
We have the opportunity now with the new dedicated Pacific Ocean Commissioner whom we can expect to stanchly lead and coordinate this discourse with CROP agencies and partners as we continue to forge forward. However, OPOC as an institution will need to grow, evolve, and be shaped to the extent of our resolve to continually engage, coordinate, and share our perspectives, experiences, and lessons.
As Pacific people, the importance of ocean has always been People-centered, our ocean Policy and Governance needs to be place based for it to be effective and impactful.
Over the coming days, as we deliberate the many critical issues and challenges of ocean governance and policy, it is my hope that our Pacific people remain at the center of our dialogue and of the potential solutions we seek. What are our unique values, experiences, realities, and aspirations? And to what extent do our proposed strategies reflect where we are and who we are as a people? How can we continue to work together to unlock the prosperity of the blue pacific that provides benefits to our people and safeguard nature.
As a region, we draw strength from the collective and I am confident that this dialogue will provide a platform to engage in an open and honest dialogue that can only emerge out of an atmosphere of respect and decorum that is genuinely the Pacific. I look forward to your active participation and the eventual outcomes of this dialogue.
Mesulang, Vinaka, and Thank you!
