Fishing industry expecting health certificate: Official

THE fishing industry is expected to receive its Fairness, Integrity and Safety in Health (Fish) certification in the next three months, according to director of sustainability Marcelo Hidalgo.
Hidalgo said the certification was a logo to indicate that more than 1,000 workers on board fishing vessels in PNG – local and foreign crew members – are being taken care of.
The industry already has the Marina Stewardship Council (MSC) certification recognising safe fishing practices by fishing companies and the National Fisheries Authority programmes.
“But the MSC certification is only for sustainability so last December,” Hidalgo said.
“We decided to apply for Fish, which recognises the human rights of crew members.
“They will send auditors to detect other gaps, for example, recruitment agencies in accordance with standard requirements.”
Hidalgo said members were mainly tuna players.
“They are vertically integrated, meaning they own fishing companies, processing companies and have partnership with exporters and international distributors in more than 70 markets across the world,” he said. “In PNG, we have 48 fleets and six tuna processing factories with many distributors.
“We’re currently working on the certification of lobster from the southeast part of the country.
“We are also engaging talipia from the Sirinumu Dam into a programme called Seafood MAP, then later on, seaweed and mud crab.
“The plan is to expose all these produce into the market.”