Beche-de-mer season held back by poor processing

By DOROTHY MARK
National Fisheries Authority need to better educate fishermen on how to process beche-de-mer, says Madang fisheries development officer Agnes Kruter.
She said that since the opening of the beche-de-mer season last week, people of North Coast were geared up, but many still did not know how to process their harvest – despite buyers and exporters conducting training on quality assessment and different species.
Kruter said many exporters said there was not enough funding and time to conduct training for fishermen.
A case in point was on Manam Island last weekend when a Chinese buyer refused to buy from fishermen because the catch had not been properly processed.
Madang-based businessman Keechoo Ng accompanied a Chinese buyer to Bogia and Manam islands last weekend.
Ng said the buyer refused to buy because the beche-de-mer had not been properly processed.
Kruter said the provincial fisheries authority wanted to ensure a win-win situation for buyers, exporters and fishermen.
She said buyers could take advantage of wrongly processed beche-de-mer by buying at a lower price and selling them for profit.
Kruter said the fisheries management plan for beche-de-mer prevented foreigners from going into local villages to buy or educate the fishermen.