Fisheries Resources Profiles: Kingdom of Tonga

Abstract

The Kingdom of Tonga consists of 170 scattered islands of which 36 are inhabited. There are three main groups of islands and the estimated total land area is 747 km2. The islands are mainly elevated coral reefs with some having volcanic origin. The coralline and limestone islands, consisting of those in the Tongatapu, Ha’apai and Vava’u groups, are immediately west of the Tonga Trench, while further west is a line of small volcanic islands some of which are still active. The area of the inshore fishing grounds of Tongatapu has been estimated to be 947 km2, of which reefs and mangroves make up 11.2 and 0.36 per cent respectively, with the remaining consisting of shallow and deep lagoon with an outer shelf less than 160 m deep. The potential Exclusive Economic Zone of Tonga covers an area of approximately 700,000 km2 as compared to about 395,000 km2 under the 1887 Royal Proclamation. The total human population recorded in 1976 was 90,098 and 94,649 in 1986. This represented an intercensal growth rate of 5.0 per cent or an annual increase of 0.5 per cent. The projected 1996 population for Tonga is 101,107.