The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has raised the issue in 2001 saying that the importance of fisheries to Pacific Island economies was not being fully appreciated by the countries of the region or by the donor community. After that there were debate among Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), and the World Bank which led to a study to improve the accuracy of the estimates of the contribution of fisheries to national economies.
The result of the study was the publication The Contribution of Fisheries to the Economies of Pacific Island Countries. The focus of that publication was the contribution of fishing to gross domestic product (GDP) and it provided an independent estimate of that contribution.
Presently there is a report which describes the scope which is expanded to include Pacific Island territories, aquaculture and freshwater fisheries, and some important factors likely to affect the flow of benefits from fisheries in the future. The report has al the information on benefits from fisheries is provided for each of the 22 Pacific island countries and territories in terms of (i) recent annual production and value for six categories—coastal commercial fishing, coastal subsistence fishing, locally based offshore fishing, foreign-based offshore fishing, freshwater fishing, and aquaculture; (ii) official and reestimated contribution to GDP and exports; (iii)government revenue; (iv) employment; and (v) contribution to nutrition.
