Go into partnership: NFA

By CLARISSA MOI
LOCALS can work with foreigners in the beche-de-mer (sea cucumber) fishery so that products can be exported to overseas markets, according to the National Fisheries Authority (NFA).
Legal officer Nancy Taka was responding to a question during the fisheries judicial conference in Port Moresby yesterday on how to stop foreigners, mainly Asians, working with the locals in harvesting beche-de-mer.
She said the beche-de-mer management plan allowed the locals to form a joint venture with the foreigners where 51 per cent of this partnership should be owned by the locals.
“By law, sea cucumber, crab and other coastal fisheries are set aside for Papua New Guineans,” Taka said.
“Under the sea cucumber management plan, we allowed for the Asians to participate in this fishery to refinance the debt where Papua New Guineans do not have the financial capacity to enter into the sea cucumber business.
“They can form a joint venture with the Asians and the registrar of companies to confirm that 51 per cent of the company is owned by Papua New Guineans.
“Sea cucumber is a fishery that you need to export the product because Papua New Guineans don’t consume this fish so there is no domestic market.
“So the reason why we allow for the partnership is so that we allow them to export.”
According to the BDM Exporters Association, Papua New Guinea’s main export market was China however other markets such as Australia and New Zealand were opening up.
The authority stated on its website that the growth in the beche-de-mer industry had increased in the last few years, and with it an increased number of participants, as well as the hype of trade activities and multiple financing arrangements between locals and non-citizens.
This has constrained the allocated resources for monitoring for this fishery by both the NFA and the provincial administration.
There is significant improvement on the quality of the export product, as a result of improving processing methods by many operators.
It is attributed to dissemination of information to fishermen on handling of different species and processing techniques.
The overall export has levelled off to more than 400 metric tonnes (dried) annually, this values as a result of a weaker kina against the US dollar at more than K21 million.
The NFA added that while the establishment of the national management plan had had a positive impact on the sustainability of the fishery in some provinces, there was a need to further involve the community in the overall management of the resource.