Region raids would solve somewhat the issue of stupid naval payouts and exclusivity.
Raids would happen twice per week/region, and would happen almost at random to ensure no timezone has any advantage.

These raids would announce when they begin and provide 30 minutes to siege the region, there would be 2 minutes of prep time. If won, the raider would receive a days worth or region pay + bonuses for sinks.

This would encourage smaller nations, and active players to not only have something to do but allow smaller movecrafters to get their hands dirty without getting them too dirty.