Civil Service and Public Enterprise Ministry permanent secretary Amena Yauvoli says Pacific nations must do more to enforce existing maritime laws if they are to protect their ocean resources from growing security threats.

Speaking during a high-level panel at the 2025 Pacific Regional and National Security Conference in Suva this week, Mr Yauvoli noted that several regulatory instruments were already in place which could guide action in protecting maritime zones.

“There are a lot of legal frameworks that we can refer to, and of course in our maritime zones we have the Maritime Zones Act, we have the Offshore Fisheries Management Decree, we have the Climate Change Act, we have the Environmental Management Act,” he said.

“These are pieces of legislation that are there and that we should be utilising effectively.”

He stressed the need for coordinated government action to address biodiversity loss, pollution and seabed mining.

“What we’ve been trying to do is look at the whole of government approach. When you talk about this issue, it’s not only a Ministry of Environment issue or Ministry of Fisheries issue — it’s all our issue.”

Panellists included Dr Filimon Manoni, Mr Noan Pakop, Dr Raijieli Taga and moderator Dr Philippa Louey.

The conference ended on Wednesday.