Fishery to get major boost

By STEPHANIE ELIZAH
THE current K10 million kina fishery industry of PNG is set to be boosted in the next five years when three new fish canneries planned for construction next year are established at Malahang in Lae, Morobe.
The canneries are part of plans by tinned-fish manufacturers Frabelle (PNG) Ltd and IFC Ltd for expansion as the industry gains more support from the provincial and national government and propelled by highly priced international market for tuna and mackerel.
The building of additional canneries would bring the total fish canneries in the country to six including Frabelle and IFC’s current canneries in Lae and RD Tuna Canners in Madang.
National Fisheries Authority (NFA) industry development coordinator Bolton ToWok said NFA had allowed for such investments to pave way for more socio-economic development.
“To grow the fishery industry, it is not only about fishing and landing, it is about every aspect of the industry, you need skills, materials and services. The establishment of more canneries in the country will bring more employment, capacity building and a boom in local support services,” ToWok said.
He added that it was also encouraging that a good number of foreign investors had shown interest to joint venture in the industry.
“Next year alone, we welcome seven new investors including Thai Union – the largest cannery in the world, investors from China and also from South Korea who will be going into joint venture with Frabelle (PNG) Ltd,”  ToWok said.
Meanwhile, director of Infofish – the intergovernmental body for marketing information and technical advisory services for fisheries products in Asia-Pacific – Dr Muhammad Ayub, said after a visit to tinned fish manufacturers in Lae last week, Infofish would gladly assist in the development of fish canning in PNG.
“We will keep in close contact with NFA to assist in ensuring that the quality production and marketing of canned fish products to both the local and international market are based on the latest and updated marketing information which manufacturers can take advantage of,” Ayub said.