19 Jul 2011

Environmentalists in Cook Islands hope for stong management of fisheries

1:34 pm on 19 July 2011

Environmentalists in the Cook Islands are hoping the country's marine resources can be well managed, once the government approves a proposed marine park.

The government has announced it is developing the ocean reserve, which is tipped to be the largest in the world, covering one million square kilometres of the country's exclusive economic zone.

An environmentalist from the NGO Island Sustainability Alliance, Imogen Ingram, says while her group supports the idea, it is concerned about how the area will be policed.

"What we would like out of it is a management plan that's enforceable. And that permits us to have our subsistence fishing as well as earn some income or revenue from commercial fishing but without damaging the fisheries."

Imogen Ingram says overall the idea has attracted wide support from the general public.