The Oceanic Fisheries Division (OFD) is a division within the Ministry of Fisheries & Ocean Resources (MFOR) that oversees the management of oceanic fisheries to ensure continued maximizing economic return from the fishery, in particular tuna, promoting and implementing pragmatic measures advocated at the national, regional and international level for long-term conservation and sustainability of fishery resources.
Licence Unit
Responsible for formalization of access agreements, certification and licensing of fishing vessels and revenue collection. It focuses on the licensing of fishing and supporting vessels, and the collection, management and analysis of offshore fisheries data such as fishing effort, catch composition, weekly position, revenue, port calls and transhipment activities from licensed fishing vessels.
Compliance Unit
Ensures compliance by licensed vessels in accordance with international, regional and national laws, including boarding and inspection, surveillance, observer placement and other MCS activities. It is the enforcement arm of the division for non-compliance issues within Kiribati's EEZ, working in conformity with licence conditions, laws, regulations and measures adopted at fisheries bodies to which Kiribati is a member.
The division also works in collaboration with other Government ministries and agencies such as the Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Ministry of Communication Transport Tourism Development (MCTTD), Customs, Police Maritime Unit (PMU), Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Immigration, Ministry of Health & Medical Services (MHMS) and the Ministry of Environment Lands Agricultural Development (MELAD), as well as external bodies such as the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), the Pacific Community (SPC), Parties to Nauru Agreement (PNA) and international tuna commissions like the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), to ensure sustainability of offshore marine resources and promote responsible fisheries.
OFD is also represented at two national border security and law enforcement bodies: the Combined Law Agency Group (CLAG) and the Fisheries Administrative Penalty Committee (FAPCOM).
The division is headed by the Director and assisted by Principal Fisheries Officers, Senior Fisheries Officers, data and enforcement officers. The total number of staff in the division is 25 (excluding observers). The Vessel Monitoring Scheme (VMS) and Kiribati Observers (KIOB) play vital roles supporting these units, concerned with border security issues and illegal fishing activities — globally termed Illegal Unreported Unregulated (IUU) fishing.