Cook Islands

Director of Fisheries, Kalo Pakoa, has confirmed that the flagged vessel, a Chinese flagged long liner ESSEN 108 entered into Cook Islands’ Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), in December 2015.
 
The matter was not reported in time and it was mid-2016 when Vanuatu got a report from the Cook Islands, and kick-started negotiations for a settlement.
 
“We have managed to get the ship owner or the operator to commit to a fine to pay the Cook Islands,” Director Pakoa told Vanuatu Nightly News’ Kizzy Kalsakau.
 

According to Islands Business, The Cook Islands has reported a Vanuatu flagged fishing boat for possible black listing in the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) Vessel List.

The ship, according to the latest report of the Technical and Compliance Committee (TCC) of the WCPFC, is identified as ESSEN No 108.

The report did say that the two countries are already in talks and hope to resolve the matter before the 13th session of WCPFC, which is due to start in Nadi, Fiji on Monday.

The pageant week begins with a church service and over the course of the week will assess each contestants through various activities planned.

Contestants representing eight Pacific Islands - American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Samoa and Tonga have all gathered in Apia, Samoa.

Contestants and their teams started arriving in Samoa last week for the 30^th anniversary of the Miss Pacific Islands.

The international newcomers secured the sixth and final berth, by default, after Fiji, Samoa and Tonga all withdrew from last month's Pacific qualifying tournament due to a lack of playing numbers.

The Cook Islands have been drawn in Pool A, alongside defending champions Australia and England, who finished third at the 2013 tournament.

They will also play a crossover match against the Kiwi Ferns and the President of Cook Islands Rugby League, Charles Carlson, said they will have to do it the hard way.

Better known as the Mitre 10 Mega man, Levi Vaoga spent a decade pulling trucks and flipping tractor tyres for the hardware franchise promoting the message "big is good."

But as the New Zealand-born Cook Islands filmmaker Jamie Aureka Maoate Dunn discovers in "The Life I've Lived," there is more to Levi Vaoga than meets the eye.

Levi Vaoga's journey from farmhand to competitor in eleven world strongman tournaments is an honest first-hand account and Jamie Dunn hopes it strikes a chord with young people.

Having lost their opening two matches of the tournament, Samoa won three straight to join Fiji and the Cook Islands as the top three teams in the Pacific.

 The Baby Black Pearls prevailed 42-37 and Coach John Glassie said, with five countries vying for three spots in Botswana next year, it sets them up well for the rest of the tournament.

"They're older and a little bit more mature so we knew we were going in for a tough game. If we win two out of the next three games that potentially puts us in the top two, which is where we want to finish - that automatic qualifier," he said.

Cook Islands position has been helped in part by rivals Tonga and Samoa playing out a 1-1 draw to claim just one of the three available points in their encounter.

Following their opener on Monday Cook Islands coach Richard Anderson spoke of his team’s need to show their best selves on the pitch and he says today’s first half was reminiscent of that nervy first match.

“I certainly wasn’t elated with the first half,” he says.

The government is set to sign a deal with the EU that would allow Spanish vessels to fish in its exclusive economic zone for at least eight years.

About 4,000 people have signed a petition against the move.

The opposition's finance and economy spokesman, James Beer, has written to Sweden's minister for International Development Cooperation, Isabella Lovin, to lobby the EU.

Ms Lovin is a former member of the EU parliament and experienced in fisheries.

RNZi reports currently, Cook Islands law does not recognise marital rape as a crime.

There are however, proposed Crimes Act amendments which include changes to make marital rape a criminal offence.