Meeting market demands challenging

THE tuna industry in Papua New Guinea and the Pacific region continue to face challenges in meeting overseas market demands, Pete Celso says.
Celso (pictured) is the outgoing president of the PNG Fishing Industry Association and RD Fishing managing director.
He said some countries in the region might have the capability to process tuna while others could not.
He urged countries in the region to compete in the markets around the world.
“We can work together to maximise benefits of fish caught in our area,” Celso told a group of journalists recently in Madang.
“Papua New Guinea is the biggest country in the Pacific but that’s not enough.
“We are talking here of exports and we are competing with the rest of the world.
“If you are selling in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea, that’s fine. But if you are selling to European Union, to the United States and everybody else, there are issues that needed to be addressed.
“Everybody is talking tuna and they can produce it at a much cheaper cost. That is the biggest challenge that we (Pacific) have right now.
“The biggest catch of tuna in the world comes from the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement) countries – Papua New Guinea is one of those eight countries.”  The Parties to the Nauru Agreement controls the world’s largest sustainable tuna purse seine fishery.