Fisheries future looks bright

Our senior reporter in Lae, PISAI GUMAR, talks to National Fisheries Authority managing director JOHN KASU about the beche-de-mer industry

question: When will the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) confirm its board members?
Kasu: We have the board composition of nine but the ex-officio’s make up five. So you have a quorum. So when the board is not elected, we can be able to have a board meeting. So that is not an issue. But in terms of board, I think it’s going through the National Executive Council (NEC) . So I think thereafter we will know the full board.

No confirmation of the board, is that the reason for the delay in reviewing the beche-de-mer (BDM) management plan?
Kasu: We have already had a special board meeting and members of the board are already deliberating on the report on the upcoming season. We might meet shortly to look at all the issues and essence of previous season so to realign them and ready to open on July 1.

There is alleged money laundering taking place concerning the fisheries sector, especially with beche-de-mer. Funds earned from it is being parked elsewhere. Can the authority confirm this?
Kasu: That is one of some of the challenges that we face. I think money laundering is not only in the fisheries sector but in all other areas. But we are working on that especially looking at remittance.

How is the NFA or government agencies planning to address this?
Kasu: We will ensure that companies that are engaged in the next season provide remittance record, beche-de-mer that is going out, they must make sure that … funds derived from surveying are being remitted back to PNG. So those companies end up not administrating and demonstrating any form of remittance will not be looked at to qualify for licensing.
The other concern last year was there were too many licences issued. One of the things we are working on is to actually look carefully and screen carefully those that are dedicated, like the companies that are working closely with PNG, those that are not only focusing on beche-de-mer but those companies focusing on all seafood products, those that are based here and those that are ensuring whatever products are going out and the remittance is done aptly.

In Lae, we have four to five tuna processing factories. How much have the companies contributed towards the national purse? Out of this, how much was given to Morobe?
Kasu: Those are figures I do not have at the moment to give you. But we got all these factories here, about half of the catches round about 25-30 per cent of that are being offloaded and processed here. So what the government and we are working on is to try and see an increase on them. We got a new rebate scheme that is in place basically to encourage domestic processing. It’s not only here (in Lae) but Madang and Wewak too.

When is the review of the rebate scheme due?
Kasu: The rebate scheme has been in force for about a year. What normally happens is you put fish, (but) it’s only for fish that is landed here and processed into the can. Then we give US$400 dollars per metric tonne back to the company so that gives them an incentive to offload fish and process onshore. But if you offload and do not process, you don’t get that incentive. You must process onshore.

What is happening with the Wagang fisheries wharf, in Lae, so far?
Kasu: What has happen is that we got stages. We got feasibility studies and then the components of feasibility studies like the cadastral, the topography and the land survey. So we are finally into the drilling of samples and testing of core (land) samples.
Once that stage is completed then we move into final or main feasibility. That main feasibility, once the results come out, then the main feasibility study ends up with the development of contracts of activities and tendering processes will take place. But before that happens, we have to secure funding.
So those are the things or something with Treasury as they look after loans and they are the ones to work with us. So we are looking at roughly about a US$200 million (K660mil) project. So we are actually at the final, the core which will probably end in May. And those three feasibility studies will form the basis of the main feasibility study.

What is your take on the call by landowners for equal participation?
Kasu: It is important that the project is where the landowners are and should be able to work together side-by-side. It is a national-impact project. One of the key thing we are conducting is the land investigation. There were concerns raised about giving contracts. We will work to ensure that whatever the landowners are capable of in providing the service.