District exports crabs

By PETER ESILA
THE Rigo Fisheries Development Corporation (RFDC) have exported its first pallet of mud crabs to Singapore.
Rigo MP Lekwa Gure said about K20,000 revenue was expected for each pallet exported yesterday which would benefit crab farmers in the district.
The crabs will be exported fortnightly.
“The benefits are immense, not only for our district, but for other local communities as well,” he said.
“We are encouraging the people, not only for the crabs but for other fish species that if they catch, they bring it to Rigo Fisheries Corporation and we intend export it to our markets right throughout the region.
“We must maximise our returns and stop the illegal trading of these products, not only crabs and fish, even beche-de-mer, let’s do it through proper business set ups and then all of us can benefit from these sort of activities.
“In fisheries, the resources are out in the ocean, we just need to go out there, open our eyes, mobilise our people and develop the fisheries sector.”
Gure said it took a year to plan and organise the first export.
“We launched the Rigo Fishing Corporation last June in Hula and prior to that, we donated 14 dinghies to some of the communities so they can participate in the fisheries because 50 per cent of our population live along the coastline and fishing is one of their main livelihoods, apart from subsistence agriculture,” he said.
“One of the things that we need to develop apart from infrastructure is economic development and also economic empowerment of our people, and in Rigo, with the assistance of Vari Gini Badira, we have established a Rigo Fisheries Development Corporation Ltd, which is a business arm of the Rigo district development authority (DDA).
“So today is fisheries and our first live exports, and we are hopeful that later in the year when the beche-de-mer season opens then we can also participate in that sector as well.”