Protecting Tonga's maritime security: Yoichiro Sato comments on the mismatch between Tonga's resources and responsibilities and its ability to prevent illegal action.

• Author: Sato, Yoichiro
• Position: Country overview

Tonga's territory consists of three main island groups (Niua, Vavau, and Tongatapu groups) and the territorial waters around these islands. The vast distance between its northernmost island and southernmost island--more than 600 kilometres, further extended by the country's exclusive economic zone-requires a sizable maritime patrol and enforcement capability. Although overlapping exclusive economic zone claims with neighbouring countries have not yet been resolved, active disputes are absent, except with Fiji over ownership of the Minerva Reefs.

Tongan waters host tropical tuna fish stocks, but the resource has largely been under-utilised by Tonga. Seabed mining has potential as Tonga's EEZ covers the world's second deepest water, known as the Tonga Trench, between the Pacific and the Australian tectonic plates; the chain of islands and the two parallel submarine ridges that run along the trench are partly volcanic. (1) The tuna resources in Tonga's under-patrolled EEZ waters are vulnerable to unlicensed fishing by foreign vessels.

Tonga's archipelagic territory is connected by sea commerce via the main island of Tongatapu. Ferry boats shuttle between Tongatapu, Eua, Haapai, and Vavau transporting both cargoes and people. Tourism in Tonga is under-developed. However, as the country explores new sources of tourism revenue, protection of tourists against all forms of maritime threat becomes essential. Illicit trade and human smuggling into Tonga or through Tonga into a third country have been identified as continuing problems. Tongas weak law enforcement on and off the outer islands exposes the entire country to such transnational criminal activities as drug, arms and human smuggling.

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Tonga has also been exposed to periodic cyclones and tsunamis. Disaster relief in Tonga requires large maritime logistical capability, as large aircraft cannot land on short unpaved runways on the country's outer islands.

Tonga has limited capability to protect its broad maritime security interests in the archipelagic territorial waters. The mismatch between Tonga's vast potential natural resources and its patrolling capability allows illegal exploitation by foreign entities. The shortfall in maritime safety and disaster response capability exposes both Tongans and foreign visitors alike to risks. Poorly governed maritime and land spaces in the Tongan peripheries have been exploited by trans-national criminals.

Maritime areas

The Royal Proclamation of 24 August 1887 defined the kingdom of Tonga as a square-shaped area (approximately 395,000 square kilometres) between 15[degrees] and 23[degrees]30' South and 173[degrees] and 177[degrees] West that included all islands, reefs, foreshores and waters. (2) The Royal Proclamation of 15 June 1972 extended Tonga's claims by establishing 200-mile (320 kilometres) exclusive economic zones around its island possessions and the sea floor within the 200-metre deep shelf, as recognised by the UN Law of the Sea Convention. The 1972 proclamation also established Tonga's claim to 'the islands of Teleki Tokelau and Teleki Tonga [the Minerva Reefs] and all islands, rocks, reefs, foreshores and water lying within a radius of 12 miles thereof, extending to 179[degrees]W. (3) As final settlement of the EEZ boundaries with neighbouring countries is pending, Tonga limits enforcement of its fishery laws to the 1887 proclamation area and the 12-mile zone around the Minerva Reefs.

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Tuna species caught in the area include yellowfin, big eye, albacore, and skipjack, as well as several types of swordfish. During the early 2000s, when more than twenty vessels operated in Tongan waters, the main catch was albacore. (4) In recent years, however, long-line fishermen have avoided schools of the smaller and cheaper albacore, whereas smaller boats operating within territorial waters catch skipjack to be sold, along with other reef fish, in the local fish market. Some big eye and yellowfin tuna and swordfish are airlifted to Japan, and so is the occasional catch of the more expensive bluefin tuna. The rest of the tuna is mostly supplied to upscale local restaurants. Only three Tonga-registered boats catch tuna using long-line gear, mostly within the country's EEZ.

Some twenty foreign fishing vessels were licensed to operate in the Tongan EEZ until the government placed a moratorium on foreign fishing operations in 2004. Licensing of foreign vessels for EEZ fishing resumed in 2011, and one Taiwanese vessel has been licensed since then. During the moratorium period, some violations were confirmed. In 2008, a New Zealand aerial patrol identified a Taiwanese vessel illegally fishing inside the Tongan EEZ (though outside the 'Proclamation' area), and in 2010 a Tongan patrol boat identified a Korean fishing vessel in a similar non-enforced part of the EEZ. The extent of actual violations during this period is unknown, however, because of a shortage of routine patrol capacity.

Primary responsibilities

Two governmental agencies assume primary responsibilities in fishery management. The Fishery Ministry is responsible for the licensing of foreign vessels and monitoring of all fishing vessels more than six metres in length inside the Tongan EEZ. Monitoring of these fishing vessels relies on the vessel monitoring system (VMS), which is centralised through the Pacific Islands Forum Fishery Agency. The Tongan Defence Services (TDS) is mandated to...