Group seeking society’s help to save money from fisheries

A GROUP of fishermen from Manus has reached out to Nambawan Savings and Loan Society to help them save to improve their livelihood.
Mouk Fisheries Cooperative spokeperson from Baluan village Taian Popei said in the past they only relied on banana boats to go fishing and then sell at the local markets in Lorengau.
They could not make much to sustain their livelihood.
“Now with the help from the National Fisheries Authority under its Fisheries Cooperatives Assistance Programme, a 21.6-metre fishing boat registered FV Lauyang that has a loading capacity of 29 tonnes and was funded for us,” Popei said.
“We will now engage in large scale fishing where we will be selling our catch to Lorengau and potentially to Madang and Lae centres.
“Because most of us do not have formal employments, this will be our main source of income. We are looking at opening savings account for our cooperative as well as our local fishermen and their families.”
NFA deputy managing director Noan Pakop said through NFA’s Fisheries Cooperative programme, it was supporting coastal provinces to have access to better market for their seafood products and a trial with such fishing boats designated for Baluan Island was significant for large scale fishing.
“NFA will continue to support other coastal provinces with similar programmes.”
Nambawan Savings and Loans Society chief executive officer John Solok said opening the SME account with NSLS was to benefit them from affordable finances and also help them save money.