Zeming: Lift ban on sea cucumber

 THE ban on sea cucumbers (beche-de-mer) in Milne Bay will be lifted to allow people to harvest and sell the marine produce, Fisheries Minister Mao Zeming said. 

Zeming told parliament last week that the lifting of the ban would take place in October after a report on the sea cucumber stock was 

completed.

The ban was imposed three years ago to allow the National Fisheries Authority to review and take stock of the decreasing number of sea cucumbers in PNG waters. 

Zeming said Milne Bay was the leading province in the sea cucumber business in PNG and would be given a temporary period of two to three months for the people to harvest and sell it.

“We are waiting for the report on BDM (beche-de-mer) in Milne Bay waters which has decreased tremendously due to excessive harvest and then the ban will be lifted to allow the people to harvest, process and sell. We expect the report in October then the existing moratorium will be lifted,” he said. 

Zeming said according to scientific reports, Milne Bay waters used to have a high number of beche-de-mer but this has diminished over the years. 

He said the government did not wish to penalise the people whose lives depended on the sea produce.

Zeming was responding to a statement by Samarai-Murua MP Gordon Wesley who said the ban had affected the people’s livelihood.

Wesley said local fishermen had suffered from the ban and asked the government for alternative ways to support them as they depend entirely on the sea cucumber business. 

Zeming did not say whether this will take effect in other provinces as well.