Fishing association to get regional certification, says official

THE Papua New Guinea Fishing Industry Association (PNGFIA) is on the verge of receiving Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification in March, according to president and chairman Sylvester Pokajam.
Pokajam told The National that: “This certificate will now enable our fishing companies as well as onshore processors in the country to earn US$100 (K339.32) per tonne bonus from their catch which PNGFIA will be monitoring and assessing.
“This is if the fish that they catch on their vessels to sell are done using MSC processes that we will be managing and certifying.
“The MSU process requires fish to be captured from a sustainable source, from a legally licenced vessel and not from an IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing area.
“This is one of the biggest achievements we are seeing in PNG and out of the nine Pacific countries under the PNA (Parties to the Nauru Agreement), Papua New Guinea will be the first. “In order to receive an MSC certificate, countries are required to comply with MSC standards which includes management, conservation and compliance.
“In this case, PNGFIA has already achieved this and we are now going through the final process of the certification process.”