"JAPAN threatens to quit whaling forum." It's a headline we have got used to reading, but behind the rhetoric this year's meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) saw a shift in power that has put Japan in a bind.

This article reviews the importance of tuna fisheries in the western and central Pacific Ocean to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) and examines whether current and proposed institutional mechanisms for tuna management are sufficient to promote long-term tuna-led development. Potential gains exist from cooperation on tuna management; however, it seems unlikely such benefits will be realized in the short or medium term despite the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.

For more than a decade, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) has provided critical support to developing countries for fighting global environmental problems such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity. But recent developments do not bode well for the ability of the GEF to continue playing its pivotal role in support of implementing multilateral environmental agreements.