Fiji, Nov. 27 -- Fiji's Minister for Fisheries and Forestry, Alitia Bainivalu, has issued a blunt warning that illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing is draining FJD$50 million (US$25 million) from the country's blue economy every year and says the Government is now moving to tighten laws, expand surveillance and push technology-driven enforcement across its vast ocean territory.

Delivering her ministerial statement in Parliament Tuesday, Bainivalu said Fiji's 1.3 million square kilometre EEZ remains highly vulnerable to organised illegal fishing.

"Fiji, being a large ocean state with an Exclusive Economic Zone of approximately 1.3 million square kilometres, primarily faces challenges of monitoring, control, surveillance, and...