‘Conducive policies’ key

By DALE LUMA
THE National Fisheries Authority (NFA) acting managing director Justin Ilakini says the country needs conducive policies in place to attract vessels to carry the Papua New Guinea flag and fish in the country’s fishing zones.
Ilakini said this would help the country to build an effective fisheries industry.
He said the number of PNG-flagged vessels had decreased over time which was a challenge that the NFA was looking at addressing.
“Fishing vessels can decide whether to fish elsewhere,” he said.
“We have to come up with conducive policies to attract fishing vessels to re-flag to PNG and fish in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).”
Ilakini said while he didn’t have the exact figure, the number of PNG-flagged vessels was decreasing.
PNG Fishing Industry Association (PNG FIA) president Sylvester Pokajam had previously made the call for the Government to relax fisheries laws.
In 2019, 10 PNG-flagged fishing vessels moved offshore as a result of stringent work permit and visa requirements.
According to the National Fisheries Strategic Plan 2021-30, the abundance and diversity of Papua New Guinea’s fisheries resources reflects this complex geography including an extensive EEZ covering an area of 2.7 million square kilometres that borders Indonesia, Australia, the Solomon Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.
The fisheries potential of Papua New Guinea is yet to be fully realised with its rich and large EEZ of 2.4 million square kilometres in extent, is one of the most productive in the region.