THE government will not be lenient on perpetrators of IUU, Illegal , Unregulated and Unreported fishing.
Protection of PNG’s fisheries and marine resources remains a priority for NFA, National Fisheries Authority.
The Managing Director for NFA John Kasu made the remarks at the foreward of the Papua New Guinea Fisheries Strategic Plan 2021 -2030 which was launched with the Corporate Plan 2021 -2025 on Wednesday, August 25 by Prime Minister James Marape.
Mr Kasu however said effective surveillance of PNG’s vast EEZ also remains a challenge due to lack of resources.
“As the forces behind illegal , unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing gets smarter, NFA and the government must reinvest in building and strengthening its Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MSCS) tools and systems, not only to combat IUU fishing activities, but also to create a deterrent effect to send a strong signal out that the government will not be lenient on the perpetrators of IUU fishing,” Mr Kasu stressed.
He added that policy and regulatory impediments to business also remain one of the key challenges for industry development.
At the end of the 10-year strategic plan in 2030, Dr Kasu said it is envisaged that in terms of growth, the fisheries sector contribution to PNG’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase and the engagement of Papua New Guineans at all levels of the fisheries sector will increase substantially.
This would include an associated increase in overall taxes and customs duties, as well as strengthening our foreign exchange rates or balance of payments, the NFA MD said.
“As we move forward, this impetus and value remains, and its is only fitting that ‘our fish’ will remain a part of our future,” Mr Kasu said.
The PNG Fisheries Strategic plan 2021 -2030 (FSP) provides the overarching framework for the alignment of strategic purposes, priorities, actions and outcomes for the fisheries sector of Papua New Guinea.
As the industry regulator and competent authority, the NFA has the lead role in implementing the FSP in conjunction with the Ministry of Fisheries Board, the Fishing Industry of Papua New Guinea, the provincial government agencies and many other stakeholders.
The success of the FSP will be realized in part through the NFA Corporate Plan-2021-2025 and correlating NFA Business Unit Implementation Plans.
Papua New Guinea forms half of the second largest island in the world and has a diverse geography and abundance of natural resources.
The abundance and diversity of Papua New Guinea’s fisheries resources reflects this complex geography including an extensive Exclusive Economic Zone covering an area of 2.7 million square kilometers that borders Indonesian, Australia, Solomon Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia.
PNG’s EEZ is one of the most dynamic and productive tuna fishing waters in the world.
Distant water fishing nations licensed to fish in PNG’s EEZ under bilateral access agreements and the domestic fishing vessels based in PNG catch around K500,000 metric tons of tuna annually.
The tuna is mostly caught by purse seine fishing vessels and export of tuna has become the leading export earner for the fisheries sector of PNG.’
Today PNG is ranked among the top tuna exporting countries in the world.
