US national security adviser said the US Coast Guard (USCG) was basing Enhanced Response Cutters in the western Pacific for maritime security missions, citing illegal fishing and harassment of vessels by China.
Jack mackerel stocks have plummeted from an estimated 30 million tons to less than 3 million in 20 years. An eight-country investigation of the fishing industry in the southern Pacific by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) shows that this phenomenon foreshadows progressive collapse of fish populations across the world's oceans.
Bolivian president Evo Morales is considering the purchase of naval vessels to operate from the port of Ilo on the South Pacific coast helping the country to develop for the first time in 130 years its maritime resources.