NFA paid K503mil in rebates since 2017

By PETER ESILA
THE National Fisheries Authority (NFA) has paid about K503 million under its rebate scheme from 2017 to last year, an official says.
NFA rebate officer Gerry Katai said in Port Moresby yesterday during the PNG tuna fishing industry consultation that in 2018, NFA paid about K115 million in rebates and K145 million in 2019.
The rates in 2018 and 2019 was at US$400 (about K1,403) per metric tonne.
He said from 2019, the rebate rates were reviewed to US$380 (about K1,334) per metric tonne.
“So NFA paid about K118 million in rebates in 2020 and K127 million last year.”
The rebates are for the six tuna processors in the country.
The rebate scheme was introduced as a supply side policy intervention by the Government, essentially a production subsidy. The rebate scheme has been introduced to stabalise cost of production.
The goal is to positively affect the production side of the economy that influences capacity to produce the long term goal of economic growth.
In terms of VDS (Vessel Day Scheme), revenue received in 2017 was K317 million, K498 million in 2018, K391 million in 2019, K508 million in 2020 and about K466 million for last year.
VDS is a scheme where vessel owners can purchase and trade days fishing at sea in places subject to the Parties to the Nauru Agreement.
Katai said for the purse seine catch, an average 57 per cent of the catches undergo downstream processing while 43 per cent were transshipped for export as whole round.