Fiji, Sept. 2 -- Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) Director-General Noan Pakop has called for stronger regional surveillance and monitoring to protect Pacific fisheries, saying the future value of the region's tuna resources depends on keeping illegal fishing under control.

Speaking at a Forum Fisheries Agency side event in Palau on "Securing Our Blue Pacific: Integrated Monitoring, Control and Surveillance and the Future of the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre," Pakop said Pacific countries could not meet the growing surveillance challenge alone.

"Our ocean is our life, our economy, and our shared inheritance.

"Our fisheries give daily meaning to that connection. They feed our communities, sustain livelihoods and generate revenue for...