Authority to lift ban

 By GYNNIE KERO

THE National Fisheries Authority will this year lift the ban on the harvesting of the beche-de-mer but only for a short period.

NFA managing director John Kasu (pictured) said the three-year ban was imposed to protect the sea cucumber or beche-de-mer fishery sector from being fished out.

According to the authority, the sea cucumber or beche-de-mer fishery sector contributes to the livelihood of more than 300,000 fishermen, buyers and exporters in the coastal parts of the country.

Earlier reports showed that the Asian market for sea cucumber is estimated to be US$60 million (K163m).

Kasu said:  “Ban on sea cucumber is still on; it is now the last year. 

“What is happening now is we are looking the information collected from surveys to see recovery rate.

“Before we started we estimated at around three individuals per hectare – hectare is like a football field. 

“So within that football field you only have three individuals maybe up to five.

“For bech-de-mer to reproduce you have to have them close together so you have fertilisation taking place.

 “But the problem is when we begin to open it; everybody will rush in and take out everything (sea cucumber).  

“Density is the biggest problem, when we stopped it (harvest of sea cucumber) for three years we saw some recovery. 

“Recovery rate at the moment is 83 to a 100 per hectare.

“This is something we need to assess this year, if it’s healthy for us we might open for a month or two and then close it again.”

He said the National Fisheries Authority was looking at other fisheries alternatives such as seaweed and kelp for locals to harvest.

“Seaweed is coming up in Milne Bay and Bougainville, the other is kelp farming,” he said.