The eight members of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) group control waters where a quarter of the world's tuna is caught.

At a meeting in Majuro, in the Marshall Islands, they agreed to cut licensed fishing days from 40,000 to 28,469 next year.

"There is more urgency than ever to protect fish stocks in the Pacific," said Marshall Islands Resources Minister Mattlan Zackhras.

"If we don't do anything as the resource owners, then we're not doing our part for future generations to benefit from the resource."

The PNA nations -- Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Kiribati and Tuvalu -- operate a system known as the "vessel day scheme", selling "fishing days" instead of licensing a set number of vessels to fish in the region.

But during the three years the scheme has been in place the scattering of tiny nations has had difficulty enforcing it, reducing its effectiveness for conservation.

"The islands have set hard limits but have had difficulty in actually doing it," said Phil Roberts of Tri-Marine International, one of the world's largest suppliers of tuna, who attended the talks in Majuro.

"The proposal to cut to 28,000 fishing days in 2011 means they will have to cut back a lot of boats. If they don't, they will never get fishing under control."

Zackhras said there is determination to reduce the level of fishing as research showed bigeye and yellowfin tuna -- favourites for Japan's sushi and sashimi markets -- are being overfished.

"There is a strong commitment from all countries," Zackhras said. "We will see a lot of changes in the coming year."

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