Business briefs: State Department tries to resolve tuna-fishing dispute

U.S. tries to resolve dispute over tuna fishing

SAN DIEGO -- The U.S. State Department has stepped in to help American tuna boats that have been shut out of a vast area of the Pacific Ocean controlled by a cluster of island nations.

A department official said this week that it was communicating with the island nations in hopes of coming up with a resolution, asking that they revise the terms of the agreement for 2016. The boats have been locked out since Jan. 1.

The 37-boat U.S. fleet had used the waters for nearly 30 years. In August, under terms of the South Pacific Tuna Treaty, the boats agreed to pay $67 million to fish the waters. Seven weeks ago, some boat operators said they could not pay, so the entire fleet was denied fishing licenses.

The PNA is an intergovernment agency that issues licenses and sets fishing days. It is made up of the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu. It falls under the larger 17-nation Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency.

Twitter slumps to all-time low; product changes loom

SAN FRANCISCO -- Twitter is at an all-time low just months after co-founder Jack Dorsey took the helm as chief executive officer.

Since its 2013 initial public offering, the company has disappointed investors with slowing user growth and sales. While Dorsey aims to turn it around with product improvements, the moves haven't yet affected the company's numbers.

Twitter shares fell 1.4 percent to $19.98 at the close in New York, their lowest since the company's initial public offering in November 2013. The stock fell 35 percent in 2015.

Dorsey said this week that Twitter is looking at new ways to display text, including letting people post longer tweets. He noted that people are already sharing longer messages by posting screenshots of text, although he added he expects most tweets to remain "short and sweet and conversational."

Discussion set for serving on non-profit boards

SARASOTA -- The Employee Management Team will host a breakfast discussing the topic "Nonprofit Board Membership, The Risks, Obligations and Opportunities."

The panel discussion is set for 8-11 a.m. Feb. 11 at The Francis. The cost for the breakfast and presentation will be $15. Panelist will discuss a board member's role in governance of a nonprofit organization and the associated personal risks. They will also point out the importance of the nonprofit board member's role in spending funds and how the board should assess risk with respect to the organization's operations.

The Panelists are professionals with expertise running nonprofit organizations, including lawyers who work with nonprofit organizations, certified public accountants who specialize in nonprofit accounting and successful board members relaying their personal experience. For information visit emtpeo.com.

-- Herald staff, wire reports

This story was originally published January 8, 2016 at 9:18 PM with the headline "Business briefs: State Department tries to resolve tuna-fishing dispute ."