Today's leaders summit of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, or PNA, could herald a new era of cooperation in the Pacific's tuna fishery.

The meeting in the Marshall Islands brings together leaders of the eight member nations for just the second time since the agreement was forged in 1982.

Our Marshall Islands correspondent, Giff Johnson, said the PNA had enjoyed a massive increase in profits since the last summit.

"Do they all get along all the time on everything? Of course not but I think they've managed to work out their differences and since 2010 you can see the effectiveness of it."

"They were making $US60 million a year, now they're making over $US450 million a year because of co-operating," he said.

Giff Johnson said the summit could empower the PNA to follow its own conservation regime.