Tonga as a small island economy faces continuos trade deficits. The Government has identified the fisheries sector as having great potential. This paper explores current issues in the fisheries sector in Tonga. The emphasis in this paper will be on issues in fish exports from Tonga. It is perceived that barriers to trade have been a major contributing factor to the sector’s poor performance. The focus here is on the financial returns that fishermen receive and the influences that the sizes of operators and types of fish exported have on the return to the exporters/fishermen in Tonga.