National Fishery Sector Overview Solomon Islands
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1 FISHERY AND AQUACULTURE Food and Agriculture Organization of FID/CP/SLB COUNTRY PROFILE the United Nations PROFIL DE LA PÊCHE ET DE Organisation des Nations Unies pour L’AQUACULTURE PAR PAYS l'alimentation et l'agriculture RESUMEN INFORMATIVO SOBRE LA Organización de las Naciones Unidas October PESCA Y LA ACUICULTURA POR PAÍSES para la Agricultura y la Alimentación 2009 NATIONAL FISHERY SECTOR OVERVIEW SOLOMON ISLANDS 1. GENERAL GEOGRAPHIC AND ECONOMIC DATA Area: 28 370 km² Water area: 1 340 000 km² Shelf area: [no continental shelf] Length of continental coastline: 4 270 km (length of the coast of islands) Population (2007)*: 498 000 GDP at purchaser's value (2006): 459.6 million USD1 GDP per head (2006): 937 USD Agricultural GDP (2006): 160.0 million USD2 Fisheries GDP (2006): 27.4 million USD3 *UN Population Division 2. FISHERIES DATA4 Total Per Caput 2007 Production Imports Exports Supply Supply tonnes liveweight kg/year Fish for direct human 31 272 2 744 17 282 16 734 33.6 consumption5 Fish for animal feed and other 1206 --- 120 --- purposes Estimated Employment (2004): (i) Primary sector (including aquaculture): 5 1147 (ii) Secondary sector: (post-harvest fisheries employment included in above figure) 1 2006 average exchange rate: USD 1 – Solomon $7.65; GDP source: Statistical Office (2008). Gross Domestic product (GDP) by Economic Activity – Current and Constant Price Values. Ministry of Finance, Honiara. 2 This is the contribution to GDP of agriculture, forestry and fisheries; Source: Statistical Office (2008). 3 Fishing contribution to GDP; From Gillett (2009). The Contribution of Fisheries to the Economies of Pacific Island Countries and Territories. Pacific Studies Series, Asian Development Bank, Manila. 4 Corrected to reflect actual supply 5 Data from FAO food balance sheet of fish and fishery products. 6 This is the pet food production of the tuna cannery in 2007, as given in MFMR (2008). Statistics and Information. Special Edition for 30th Independence Anniversary. 7 This figure is for “formal jobs” in the fishing and fish processing sub-sectors; From IMF (2005). Solomon Islands: Selected Issues and Statistical Appendix. IMF Country Report No. 05/364, International Monetary Fund. 1 2 Gross value of fisheries output (2007): 202 million USD8 Trade (2007): Value of fisheries imports: 2.4 million USD Value of fisheries exports: 22 million USD 3. FISHERY SECTOR STRUCTURE 3.1 Overall fishery sector The fisheries situation of the country is characterized by the large importance of both subsistence fisheries and offshore industrial fisheries. Because 90% of the Solomon Islands population is living in remote rural areas, subsistence fishing activities are of great importance for nutrition. The offshore fisheries are responsible for a large percentage of formal jobs in the country, while both processed and raw tuna are major export commodities. The license fee for foreign vessels to fish in the Solomon Islands’ EEZ is a substantial source of revenue for the government. The country’s fisheries can be placed into six categories. These categories and the associated production in 2007 are estimated as: Offshore Offshore Coastal Coastal Aquaculture Locally- Foreign- Freshwater Commercial Subsistence Based Based9 Tonnes Pieces10 Volume of Production (metric 3 250 15 000 23 619 98 023 2 000 165 8 202 tonnes or pieces11) Value of production 3 307 190 10 980 392 32 662 077 153 548 868 1 464 052 40 654 (USD) Source: Gillett (2009) No discussion of the fisheries sector in the Solomon Islands would be complete without some mention of the rise and fall of the Solomon Taiyo fishing company. The box below gives a summary of that company. The Japanese partner pulled out in 2000, during a period known as the “ethnic tensions”, and shortly thereafter the company restructured itself as Soltai Fishing and Processing Ltd. It has struggled to survive to the present. Solomon Taiyo Fishing Company12 Before the ethnic tensions, Solomon Islands had the most vibrant domestic tuna fisheries of any country in the Pacific: the long-running Solomon Taiyo Ltd, established in 1973 as a joint venture between the Solomon Islands Government (Investment Corporation of Solomon Islands had a 51 per cent shareholding since the mid 1980s) and the large Japanese fishing multinational Taiyo Gyogyo (which changed its name to Maruha Corporation in 1993). Solomon Taiyo had a fleet of 21 pole and line vessels employing about 900 Solomon Islanders, of which seven were completely localized, the rest with just the positions of Fishing Master and Chief Engineer (sometimes also Captain) held by expatriates. Around 2 200 permanent staff and 800 casuals were employed by Solomon Taiyo. The base at Noro included a large cannery, arabushi smoking factory and a fishmeal plant. 8 From Gillett (2009); includes the six fishery production categories: (1) coastal commercial fishing, (2) coastal subsistence fishing, (3) locally-based offshore fishing, (4) foreign-based offshore fishing, (5) freshwater fishing, and (6) aquaculture. 9 This is the catch taken by the foreign fleet within the Solomon Islands EEZ. In FAO statistics of capture fisheries production, this catch is accounted under the catch of the nation(s) under which the vessel(s) is (are) flagged. 10 Pearls and coral are commonly measured in pieces, rather than kg. 11 The production of the most important aquaculture products, post-larvae and corals, are measured in pieces (individual pearls) rather than in weight. 12 Source: Barclay, K. (2008). Fisheries and Aquaculture. In: Solomon Islands Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS). Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade. 3 The main trends and important issues in the fisheries sector The main trends in the sector include: An expansion of the purse seine tuna fishery and a decline in the longline and pole-and- line tuna fisheries – all for different reasons. Over-exploitation and decline of production in the coastal commercial export fisheries. Subsistence fisheries being affected by a rising population. A tremendous deterioration of the quality of governance in the fisheries sector during the period of ethnic tension – and subsequent efforts by the government and donors to strengthen fisheries institutions. Some of the major issues in the fisheries sector are: There is considerable difficulty in reconciling the economic and political importance of the cannery and pole-and-line fishing to the nation with the fact that those operations require large inputs of government and donor funds. There is a need to strengthen the Fisheries Department in a way that is (a) appropriate for the management required for the nation’s fisheries, (b) acceptable to fishery stakeholders and existing staff, and (c) within the budget likely to be available in the future. Although coastal fishery resources are crucially important for nutrition in the Solomon Islands, the rising population and stagnant levels of production from these resources suggest that the per capita consumption of fish will fall. The demand for fish in the Honiara urban area cannot be met from local coastal areas. The need to make more fish available in Honiara must be balanced with the fact that past attempts to establish the necessary operational and transportation infrastructure in the outer islands have been expensive and have had many failures. 3.2 Marine sub-sector The marine fisheries have two very distinct components, offshore and coastal: Offshore fisheries are undertaken on an industrial scale by both locally-based and foreign tuna vessels: pole-and-line, longline, and purse seine. Coastal fishing is primarily carried out for subsistence purposes, but there are some sales for local markets, and exports of high-vale products. There is also an industrial- scale coastal fishery for baitfish that are used in offshore tuna fishing. 3.2.1 Marine Catch profile The annual catch taken by locally-based offshore fisheries has ranged in recent years between about 17 000 and 29 000 metric tonnes. Purse seining is dominating taking more than 80-90% of the catch, with pole-and-line fishing and longlining supplying the balance. About 90% of the catch is tuna, with various species of bycatch making up 10%. The foreign -based offshore fleets catch much more than local vessels. Recent estimates13 indicate that about 98 000 tonnes of mostly tuna were taken by foreign vessels in 2007. This equates to three times the offshore catch by local vessels. Estimates of catches of the coastal fisheries vary widely. The Asian Development Bank recently examined a large number of Solomon Islands fisheries studies on coastal commercial fishing, selectively used the information, and made catch estimates: Local sales for domestic consumption: about 1500 tonnes worth about 1.5 million USD annually to the fishers for the years 2005 to 2007. This includes mainly reef and lagoon finfish, but also some edible invertebrates. Baitfish: about 800 tonnes worth 100 000 USD annually to the recipient communities for 2005 to 2007. Exports: about 950 tonnes worth 1.6 million USD annually to the fishers for 2005 and 2007; about 750 tonnes worth 1.3 USD million for 2006. This includes beche-de-mer, coral, trochus, shark fins, aquarium fish, and lobster. The total value of the coastal 13 FFA (2008) and SPC (unpublished information), for the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, respectively. 4 commercial production is greatly affected by the value of the beche-de-mer harvest – which is subject to periodic country-wide harvest bans (as was the case in 2006). Estimates of coastal subsistence fisheries production involve much guesswork. Many of the estimates used at present are derived from dietary surveys in the 1980s. If those early estimates are extrapolated on the basis of population and constant per capita fish consumption, the result is a coastal subsistence production of about 15 000 tonnes in 2007. 3.2.2 Marine landing sites Landing sites for the offshore fishery are diverse.