Page 30 - IB June July 2024

PNG’s Fishing Industry Association

A global leader in responsible sourcing

in the seafood industry

After successfully meeting the commitments it has made
around tuna fisheries sustainability, traceability and sourcing,
the Papua New Guinea Fishing Industry Association (FIA) has
similar ambitions for its mud crab fishery.
Presenting at the INFOFISH World Tuna Trade Conference
in May, FIA Sustainability and Corporate Director, Marcelo
Hidalgo described the organisation’s success in certifying both
its purse-seine tuna industry and lobster fishery.
The recent Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of
its lobster fishery means Papua New Guinea is the first Pacific
nation to achieve certification of a non-tuna fishery and a small-
scale fishery. Papua New Guinea’s tuna industry received MSC
certification in 2020.
The process towards certifying the mud crab fishery began
in April of this year.
FIA’s Responsible Sourcing Policy underpins these efforts
and has four pillars: sustainability, marine litter and fishing gear,
social responsibility and crew welfare, and traceability.
FIA’s ambitions around sustainability and fisheries waste
management also align with the Sustainable Development
Goals. It has developed an ‘Assurance model’ to ensure it is
balancing strategy, risk and control to meet its responsible
sourcing policy objectives. took over a year’s due diligence and involved interviews with
Noting that fishing has been consistently ranked as the crew and review of their contracts.
deadliest occupation since 1992, FIA follows a due diligence FIA is also leading on traceability. Last year, Papua New
process that provides for decent working and living conditions, Guinea’s traceability systems passed the interoperability test
provides safe and healthy working environments, maintains for the Global Dialogue on Seafood Traceability. This means its
a low risk of accidents and injuries, and follows international platform can transfer key data and that it meets United States,
best practice and standards. The Papua New Guinea fleet has European and Japanese regulations.
attained FISH Standard for Crew certification, a process that It is now encouraging others in the supply chain; distributors
and retailers, to align with these systems, so Papua New
Guinea’s entire tuna fishery, from boats to end consumers, has
traceability.
The industry has taken the bold step of sharing vessel
monitoring system (VMS) data in real time. This has further
increased transparency and traceability as most countries only
share VMS data after a quarantine period of at least one week.
As for the future, FIA is also looking at a carbon neutral
assessment.
FIA’s members include fishing and shore-based companies
and operators in the tuna industry, prawn operators, beche-
de-mer buyers and exporters, tropical rock lobster buyers
and exporters, associated industries such as crew placement
agencies and fisheries consultancies services, and provincial
umbrella artisanal fishing cooperatives.

Certifying the artisanal small-scale

lobster fishery
Efforts to sustainably manage Papua New Guinea’s
small-scale lobster fishery are centred around the Torres
Straight Protected Marine Area, which is co-managed by
Papua New Guinea and Australia.
FIA aims to electronically track each lobster to the diver
who collects it from the reef.

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