R 010347Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY SUVA
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 1447
INFO AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 
AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON 
AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY 
AMEMBASSY MAJURO 
AMEMBASSY KOLONIA 
AMEMBASSY KOROR 
AMEMBASSY LONDON 
AMEMBASSY PARIS 
AMEMBASSY TOKYO 
AMEMBASSY APIA 
AMEMBASSY BEIJING 
AIT TAIPEI 0044
USEU BRUSSELS
USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 
HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
CCGDFOURTEEN HONOLULU HI
SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SUVA 000347 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIS SENV PREL KR
SUBJECT: Shiprider Agreement Nets Four Million Dollars for Kiribati 
 
REF:  08 SUVA 000453 
 
 
¶1.  The High Court of Kiribati advised Deputy Chief of Mission 
Pruett on August 27 that it had upheld AUD 4.7 million (USD 
3,967,743 million) of a lower court's judgment of AUD 5.1 million in 
fines against a fishing company for unlicensed fishing near 
Kiritimati (Christmas) Island in the Northern Line Islands.  The 
hefty fines are the tangible first fruits of the shipriders program 
between Kiribati and the U.S. Coast Guard (reftel). 
 
¶2.  Discussing the then-impending judgment, Kiribati Permanent 
Secretary for Fisheries and Marine Resources Development Ribanataake 
Awira had told DCM Pruett on August 24 that fishing vessels 
operating in Kiribati are much more cooperative and compliant with 
Kiribati law and regulations than before.  He directly attributed 
the improvement in compliance to the now-proven effectiveness of the 
shipriders program, which allows Kiribati law enforcement officers 
to patrol Kiribati waters embarked aboard certain transiting U.S. 
Coast Guard vessels and aircraft. 
 
¶3.  Awira noted that his ministry has a memorandum of understanding 
with Kiribati police to defray related police expenses and to 
reinvest a share of all shiprider proceeds in a trust fund 
established by Tarawa to help finance the operation of Kiribati's 
lone patrol boat. 
 
¶4.  U.S. Coast Guard District Fourteen in Honolulu, Hawaii, has 
entered into shiprider agreements with the Cook Islands, Marshall 
Islands, Micronesia, Palau and Tonga, in addition to Kiribati. 
Nauru and Tuvalu have expressed interest in concluding  a shiprider 
agreement with the United States, even though we cannot yet promise 
patrols.  These countries see immense value in having an agreement, 
both as a deterrent factor and to increase revenue from fishing 
licenses. 
 
¶5.  In addition, Australia, New Zealand, and France are reportedly 
considering  initiating their own shiprider programs, embarking 
local law enforcement shipriders aboard their patrol vessels 
transiting the region.  Their programs would not displace the 
State/USCG initiative or limit the countries with which we want 
shipriders but would co-exist with the U.S. program to expand sea 
and air coverage throughout the Pacific. 
 
MCGANN