The kingdom sells commercial rights to fishing in its waters. Fishing vessels pay $14,000 for a licensee plus 5 percent of the value of their catches to Tonga. In addition, seven tons of fish must be offloaded from each vessel in Tonga to be sold locally by the Ministry of Fisheries at a subsidized rate for the people of Tonga. While this covers legal fishing, given the size of Tonga’s exclusive economic zone, much IUU fishing occurs, which the Tonga Maritime Force with roughly half a dozen vessels to cover.
