Ocean Law Bulletins

On 22 August 2026, Fiji’s Parliament passed Act No. 26 of 2026, the Commercial Use of Marine Areas Act 2026 (“CUMA Act”). Amongst other things, the Act provides for “the transfer of proprietary ownership of marine areas used for commercial purposes to the customary owners”.

The CUMA Act does not make or effect any immediate changes to ownership of marine areas but it does set out a process to enable the discretionary transfer of ownership of marine areas from the Fiji State to “customary owners” if an application is made by those customary owners and if certain defined criteria are met. Those criteria include but are not limited to the marine area being used, or being proposed to be used, for commercial tourism or blue carbon projects and provided those marine areas are marine areas within Fiji’s territorial sovereignty. The CUMA Act restricts the right to apply for the transfer of ownership to customary groups of indigenous Fijians (iTaukei) who have pre-existing registered rights in those marine areas and who will then hold the title on a communal basis and without the right to transfer ownership onwards (inalienability). The management and control of the transferred marine area will be vested in the iTaukei Lands Trust Board (TLTB) in a similar way to how iTaukei land (approximately 90% of all land in Fiji) is held in trust and administered for the beneficial owners of the trust.

The CUMA Act includes various safeguards including respect for existing State guarantees relating to marine use as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) (such as the right of innocent passage) and preserves the open surfing and water sport access to all marine areas set out in sections 6 to 9 of the Surfing Act 2010. However, the CUMA Act represents a seismic shift in terms of constitutional and property ownership rights in relation to certain marine areas and it also raises a number of questions and unknown impacts for existing interest holders, such as leaseholders, businesses, investors, and Fiji citizens.

In this legal bulletin and to assist for information purposes only, we address:

1. How the Act will work, where and what it applies to, and key terms in the Act
2. What has changed from the draft law – the CUMA Bill 2025
3. Questions that arise.

The Commercial Use of Marine Areas (CUMA) Bill 2025 is a pioneering piece of legislation that has the purpose of transferring proprietary ownership of commercial nearshore marine areas to relevant iTaukei landowning groups following a process set out in the legislation. CUMA therefore intends to change the State-centric ownership model of nearshore marine areas. While this initiative is lauded for its intent to promote indigenous economic rights the transfer of tenure in marine or nearshore areas will have far reaching consequences. For example, CUMA will require the mandatory renegotiation of existing leases that has the risk of creating economic uncertainty within Fiji’s tourism-dependent economy.

Further legal questions will arise regarding the constitutional right to property and fair compensation for any loss of property rights that could arise as CUMA is implemented. In addition, the Bill repeals the Regulation of Surfing Areas Act 2010, which ensured free access to Fiji’s world-class surf breaks. The commercial arrangements that will now be put in place for surfing areas will require careful consultation to balance the resource owners' right to compensation with the interests of the surf tourism industry and the public.

To manage these complexities and mitigate the risk of unintended consequences the implementation of CUMA requires a careful, transparent and collaborative approach. This includes identifying any adversely affected legal rights and conducting a rigorous, independent economic impact assessment and engaging in extended, focused consultation with all affected stakeholders—from tourism operators and developers to the surfing community— to ensure a smooth, lawful, and economically viable transition in the interests of indigenous rights, Fiji’s economy and the existing rights of all stakeholders.