Page 30 - IB April 2023

Fisheries Fisheries

MARKETS AND SUSTAINABILITY

FIJI TUNA SYMPOSIUM CONSIDERS INDUSTRY’S FUTURE

By Sera Tikotikovatu-Sefeti and Kite Pareti

Ten years ago, Suva port was one of the
region’s most preferred ports for foreign ves-
sels fishing in the western and central Pacific
ocean, says the president of the Fiji Fishing
Industry Association (FFIA).
Speaking at the inaugural Fiji Tuna sympo-
sium recently, Radhika Kumar noted that due
to policy changes by the former government,
this has changed. “Most of these vessels
opted for other ports, and the disappear-
ance of these foreign fishing vessels—which
are estimated to be in their hundreds—has
also affected the economic spin-offs that the
Suva economy used to enjoy.”
The FFIA president pleaded with the gov-
ernment to tread carefully when coming up
with policies and laws that can have a drastic
impact on the national tuna fishing industry
and the foreign fleet that uses Fiji’s ports.
“What we must understand is that the
fishing sector, especially offshore fisheries, is
multi-jurisdictional in nature, meaning that
we must comply with the laws of several
government agencies to conduct our work,”
Kumar said.
The symposium heard that Fiji’s domes-
tic tuna industry contributes an average of
FJ$200 million towards its GDP.
The two-day event was an opportunity to
“assess our progress, analyse challenges and
secure opportunities to bring to fruition our
2029 goals”, Minister for Fisheries, Kalaveti
Ravu told participants.
Programme Coordinator for the Pacific-Eu-
ropean Union Marine Partnership Programme
(PEUMP), Martin Chong reminded delegates
that 55% of the world’s tuna catch comes
from the region, that is: “2.5 million metric
tonnes in 2021, with a value of $4.6 billion in
annual catch.”
While the western and central Pacific
ocean is the only areas where current stocks
are considered biologically healthy and
not subject to overfishing, this can only be
sustained if changes are implemented to
safeguard the tuna population in the future,
Chong said.
Modelling has shown that if global and

30 Islands Business, April 2023