Manus to be main supplier of coastal fisheries products

By DALE LUMA in Manus
MANUS will be the main supplier of coastal fisheries products, says National Fisheries Authority (NFA) deputy managing director Noan Parkop.
Parkop said this to the people of Ndilou and Hawaii in Manus on Tuesday when presenting the Ndilou fisheries cooperative society their cooperative certificate.
He said NFA was surveying domestic markets and customers such as mine sites, LNG sites and others.
He said cooperative societies would benefit from this and NFA was working on equipping them with cooling equipment and solar powered instruments to conduct their business.
Pricing of the fisheries products will also be addressed to ensure fishermen get value from their products.
Parkop said the challenge is to ensure that cooperative societies are organised to ensure long term sustainability.
Department of Commerce and Industry first assistant secretary for the commerce division Fraser Murray said a micro to small and medium enterprise policy would be launched soon which will also benefit cooperative societies engaged in the industry.
Fraser said the policy would ensure those involved small businesses were trained well.
He said the opening of the new Momote Airport terminal and the announcement of Manus as a special economic region will create a friendly business environment.