Little quantitative information DEVELOPMENTS IN was available, however, on the production of fish from the PELAGIC FISHERIES FAD. IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA During February and March 1993, the Fisheries Pro­ gramme's Resource Assess­ Introduction ment Section's biologist, Paul *>y P.Dalzell Dalzell, visited PNG to assist in Papua New Guinea (PNG) is Soyth Pacific; Commission the production of research re­ the largest nation in the South Noumea, New Caledonia ports from the Department of Pacific and has within its Ex­ Fisheries and Marine Resources clusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (DFMR). abundant stocks of tunas and It is well known that schools of billfish. tunas and other pelagic fishes In addition to this work, Mr will associate with floating ob­ Dalzell was also asked by the Tuna and billfish stocks have jects such as logs, seaweed and Fisheries Programme's Capture been fished in PNG waters even whales and whale sharks. Fisheries Section to follow up since 1970 by foreign-based The use of FADs capitalises on on DFMR's progress in estab­ fishing fleets using pole-and- this behaviour to the benefit of lishing a monitoring pro­ line vessels, longliners and the fishermen. gramme for the Daugo Island purse seiners. Greater empha­ FAD. Mr Dalzell was also asked sis is now being placed on im­ FADs have been deployed by to look at the potential for proving catches of tunas and foreign fishing fleets around supplies of locally caught bait- billfish by local fishermen to PNG to improve catches from fish for a planned longline fish­ improve supplies for domestic purse seining. More recently, ery based in East New Britain. markets and to take advantage the Government of PNG re­ of high prices for these types of quested the assistance of the The Bismark Sea, bounded by fish in overseas markets. South Pacific Commission's New Ireland and New Britain Fisheries Programme to de­ in the east, is one of the richest Artisanal fishermen catch low- velop and deploy FADs for tuna and billfish fishing value coastal tunas such as PNG coastal fishermen. grounds in the Pacific The PNG mackerel tuna (Euthynnus Government had requested the affinis) and bullet tunas (Auxis Through SPC's Offshore Fish­ SPC Fisheries Programme to spp.) by trolling. Catches of eries Development Project, assist with deployment of FADs more valuable tunas such as funded by UNDP, the first in the eastern Bismark Sea to skipjack (Katsuwonus pelamis), phase of this work was con­ increase catches of pelagic fish, yellowfin (Thunnus albacares) ducted during 1992 in Port initially for the Rabaul markets, and bigeye (Thunnus obesus), Moresby, when in June a FAD but with a view to exporting and billfish such as marlin was deployed near the capital fish for'sashimi to Japan. (Makaira spp.) and swordfish city, Port Moresby, to the south (Xiphias gladius) require im­ of Daugo Island (Beverly & Besides FAD deployment, the provements in fishing tech­ Cusack, in press). Capture Fisheries Section niques and technology. masterfishermen and DFMR The FAD has been used princi­ staff will conduct trials with One of the most significant re­ pally by the fishermen of small-scale longlines, deployed gional developments in fishing Daugo Island who are some of near the FADs. for these large pelagic fishes has the main suppliers of fresh fish been the deployment of fish for the capital's population. Longlining requires bait and the aggregation devices (FADs) or Anecdotal reports were soon most convenient supplies of payaos. These are rafts, an­ received that the FAD had be­ bait are frozen squid and saury chored in deep water where come very productive and was (Cololabis saira) from Japan. pelagic fish will concentrate in being fished both by profes­ large numbers and thus become sional fishermen and by sports more easily targeted by fisher­ fishermen from the local game men. fishing club.

SPC Fisheries Newsletter #55 — April/June '93 DEVELOPMENTS IN PELAGIC FISHERIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

However, if baitfish can be Some fishermen have begun to For boats for which the number caught locally, then there is the buy commercial squid lures of fishing lines and weights potential for a greater number from the local fish chandlers. were recprded, this represents of people to benefit from the The trolling rig is very simple catch rates of 2.33 fish/line- establishment of a longline and has no trace wires or hour, 4.1 kg/line-toour and 6.1 fishery in East New Britain: swivels. Kina/line-houn The average amount of fuel used by the Observations were made by Mr The fishpric e at Koki Market at fishermen is 36.4 1/trip Dalzell on catches of small pe­ present demonstrates little amounting to a total cost of 15.3 lagic fishes in the area around elasticity. The fishermenalways Kina. Kabaul to see if there was po­ obtain a premium price for their tential for a local baitfishery to fish as there is a huge demand Qearly, fishingfo r large pelagic supply all or part of the baitfish in Port Moresby. Fish prices go fishes around the Daugo Island for longlinmg. up in periods of persistent FAD generates large profits for rough weather. The best season the island's fishermen. for fishing is between Novem­ Daugo Island FAD ber and April. A further benefit from the de­ ployment of the FAD has been During January 1993, the A total of 36 trip reports was the decrease in the fishing for DFMR Extension and Training received from the fishermen of reef fish on the reefs around Branch began collecting catch Daugo Island who were catch­ Port Moresby. Before the FAD data from the Daugo Island ing fish around the FAD, cov­ was deployed, reef fish were the fishermen who were fishing ering the period from mid- main target of the fishermen of around the FAD. January to early March Daugo Island.

The Daugo Island fishermen Data on catches by weight and Besides benefiting the Daugo tend to dispose of most of their the number of trolling lines Islands fishermen,th e FAD has catch at Koki Market, the oldest were not included in most of the also been a boon to the game- produce market in Port catch returns for January, but fishing community in Port Moresby, situated on the water­ this was later corrected and in­ Moresby. Efforts are underway front. cluded in subsequent reports. to quantify the amount of fish About 80 per cent of the catch takenby sports fishing. Interviews conducted with from the FAD were skipjack, fishermen disclosed that the with a variety of other pelagic FAD became very productive fishes such as yellowfin, king- Rabaul small pelagic fishery about three weeks after de­ fish (wahoo and Spanish ployment. At present about ten mackerel) and finny scad mak­ The main small pelagic fish boats a day are fishing on it. The ing up the balance: caught around Kabaul and the fishermen commence fishinga t Gazelle Peninsula is the bigeye daybreak and continue fishing The average catch is 56 fish/ scad or malambui (Selar for about three or four hours. trip, or about 120 kg/trip, gen­ crumenopkthalmus). These small They return to Daugo Island to erating an income of 184 Kina/ scads are caught in this area by off-load the morning's catch trip. gill nets and handlines. and for rest and food. The fish­ ermen return to the FAD until about3 pm when they bring the total catch to Koki Market for sale by their wives and daugh­ ters.

Fishing is usually conducted by one man in a fibreglass dinghy using between four and six lines (strung from a boom at the front of the boat) and lures made from plastic onion bags and Selar crumenophthalmus plastic bags.

SPC Fisheries Newsletter 4*65 — April/June '93 DEVELOPMENTS IN PELAGIC FISHERIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

However, there are three vil­ Figures recorded from one vil­ Visits were made to the three lages that deploy traditional lage, Vunamame, suggest an Tolai villages that deploy traps Tolai basket traps to catch average catch per trap of 25 kg, - Vunamame, Blue Lagoon and malambur and larger pelagic although this may be somewhat Karabia - to conduct interviews fishes such as rainbow runner optimistic. The frequency with with the fishermen. Fish is sold and, occasionally, tunas (Fig­ which the traps are emptied by the men of the village to the ure 1). According to records on varies depending on season, women for traditional shell file at the DFMR office in weather and presence of large money or 'mis'. Kokopo, there were between 50 pelagic fishes which drive small and 85 traps deployed around pelagics into the traps to seek the Gazelle Peninsula during shelter. 1992.

Figure 1: Different views of the traditional Tolai basket trap

SPC Fisheries Newsletter flffi — April/June '93 DEVELOPMENTS IN PELAGIC FISHERIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

The women then sell the fish oh times during the morning and malambur school around and the roadside for cash, usually in afternoon. underneath the wharf. lots of 15-20 fish for 1.0 Kina (Figure 2). An average catch ranges be­ Until last year villagers were tween 200 and 300 fish from all forbidden to fish on the wharf The Vunamame fishermen the traps or about 12.5 kg/day. with nets and could only catch have only six traps deployed at The rope used to anchor the malambur with hook and lines. present. They check the traps trap is made from rattan cane Now they are permitted to fish every two or three days and but the villagers also inter­ with gillnets and have estab­ catch on average 3.5 baskets of weave a forest vine on which lished a thriving commercial fish, where one basket weighs the fish are said to feed and are fishery. about 25 kg. The main fishing hence attracted to the trap. The season lasts from March to best season was from March to The fisheryoperate s seven days Christmas. Christmas, as at to Vunamame. a week with between 10 and 15 nets deployed from the wharf. The village fishermen were The villagers at Karabai, on the The fishermen set the net for asked about the small number north coast, have ten sites about One hour, so each net of traps they were using at pres­ where they deploy fish traps, makes between 6 and 8 sets ent and mentioned that last year but during early 1993 only four during theday. The nets are 1.5" they were using up to 15 traps. traps were deployed. gillnets of between 35 and 100 m in length, costing be­ They reported that a number of The traps are emptied daily tween 88 and 166 Kina. The nets traps were lost in storms over with an average catch of about are set 2-3 m beneath the sur­ Christmas and that one of their 100 fish or 5.0 kg. The main face, with one end tied to the boats, a 'red snapper' canoe, fishing season is around Easter wharf and the other pulled out was under repair. Hauling the when catches of between 200 by a canoe or a villager swim­ traps without the canoe to act as and 300 fish/trap can be ex­ ming in the water. a platform is quite difficult. The pected. More traps are usually Vunamame villagers also de­ deployed around this time. Catches are very variable. ploy small-scale versions of Fishermen interviewed on the these basket traps on the reef to The Catholic Church has a large wharf stated that catches catch reef fishes. mission complex at Vunapope, ranged from 10 to 100 fish per about 2 km from Kokopo, haul. Fishermen disclosed that At Blue Lagoon the villagers which includes a wharf for catches were very good over had nine traps deployed 1- cargo and passenger ships. The Christmas and that they were 2 km from the shore and two Vunapope Mission wharf is making up to 150 Kina/week traps close to the village. The built out on pilings over the from sales of their fish. The traps are checked daily, some­ water and has a very large fishermen sell their fish at 2 for 10 toea or 20 for 1.0 Kina to women from the village, who then sell them by the roadside for double the price.

Independent observations were also made on the catches made by the fishermen operating on the Vunapope Wharf, Over a two-hour period 20 hauls were recorded from 13-14 gillnets. Most of the catch was malam­ bur but the occasional other species such as talai (Herklotsichthys quadrimacula- tus), sardines (Sardinelk spp.) and shark mackerel (Gram- matoTcynus bicarinatus) were Figure 2: Fish being strung up for resale ^ SPC Fisheries Newsletter #65 — April/June '93 DEVELOPMENTS IN PELAGIC FISHERIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA caught. The gillnet catches the fish captured by the Tolai make some rough calculations ranged from 16 to 166 fish per traps are between six and seven on current production. There set with an average of 70 fish/ months old. are usually on average about 12 set. nets fishing off the wharf at The size range of malabur cap­ Vunapope. Using the average Prior to the advent of the gillnet tured by gillnets was also very catch rate of 70 fish per haul and fishery at the Vunapope wharf, narrow (14.7-16.3 cm), with an an average of 7 hauls per day, the stock of malambur at the average size of 15.4 cm, weigh­ this amounts to a daily catch of Vunapope wharf was fished on ing about 40 g each. Based on 5,880 fish. The fishery operates average once a week for about the Philippines data, this sug­ seven days a week (despite ten years under th e direction of gests that this fishery catches censure from the Mission about Sister Mary Lenaghan from fish between seven and eight fishing on Sundays) so the an­ Vunapope Mission. The fish months old. One larger (22.5 cm nual total catch amounts to supplemented the diet of staff = age 1.0 yr) malambur was about 2,150,000 fish, weighing and students at the mission landed whilst I was making about 861. college. Sr Lenaghan, who has observations on gillnet catches since moved on to another but these larger fish are prob­ This of course assumes little mission in PNG, very kindly ably selected by the mesh size seasonality in the fishery and recalled her experiences fishing employed. All the specimens that the malambur stock is this stock of fish. examined were sexually im­ fishable throughout the year. mature. As described above, however, The weekly catch from the de­ malambur production appears ployment of a 200 m beach The purpose of these observa­ to be seasonal with the occa­ seine was about 20 bags of fish, tions was to estimate current sional year when fish were ab­ each weighing between 10 and and potential small pelagic sent for several months. 15 kg. Catches were very vari­ fisheries production in the able and, according to Sr Rabaul/Gazelle Peninsula area Production from the traditional Lenaghan, the least productive and the possibilities of supply­ Tolai fish traps is harder to es­ time was during the middle of ing bait to domestic longliners. timate. Using the figures given the year, with catches improv­ to us in discussion with the vil­ ing after October. In some years Given the limitations of the lage fishermen, I have esti­ the malambur were absent al­ observations it is still useful to mated a production of 13.7 t together from the wharf for ex­ tended periods. 80 -s H Vunapope (gillnet) N = 28 Prior to Sr Lenaghan's fishing operation, another mission staff HI Viuiamame (fish trap) N = 83 member ran a technical school from malambur sales but en­ 60- countered problems when the malambur disappeared during one year. Sr Lenaghan recalled e that when malambur returned to the Vunapope wharf fol­ lowing a long absence, they were small, about 10 cm in length, but grew larger with 20- time. The size range captured by fish traps at Vunamame was very I narrow (12.0-14.0 cm), with an 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 average size of 12.6 cm and weight of about 20 g (Figure 3). Length class (cm) Based on age and growth data from the Philippines (Dalzell & Figure 3: Length frequencies for malambur captured Penaflor 1989) this suggests that by gillnets and Tolai fish traps on the Gazelle Peninsula, PNG

SPC Fisheries Newsletter #65 — April/June '93 DEVELOPMENTS IN PELAGIC FISHERIES IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

(340,000 fish) for Vunamame, Finally, an empirical estimate of Refeiences 3.71 (91,000 fish) for Blue La- potential malambur production goon and 1.5 t (36,500) fish for might be calculated for the Ga­ Beverly, S. & P. Cusack. (in Karabia. zelle Peninsula area of New press). Report of a pilot fish Britain based on actual yields aggregation device (FAD) It should be emphasised that from elsewhere in the Pacific. deployment off Port these^ are very rough figures Polovina et al. (1985) quote an­ Moresby, Papua New indeed and should be checked nual yields of malambur from Guinea, 27 June-8 August by making more precise obser­ the Hawaiian Islands of 0.4 to 1992. South Pacific Com­ vations, However, the forego­ 0.9 t/nmi of 200 m isobath. The mission, Noumea, New ing suggests that nominal pro­ length of the 200 m isobath Caledonia. duction of malambur on the around the Gazelle Peninsula is Gazelle Peninsula may amount about 320 km. Dalzell, P. & G. Pefiaflor. 1989. to 100 t annually arid that The fisheries biology Of the malambur stocks may support Assuming a degree of ecologi­ bigeye scad, Selar a limited baitfishery for long- cal similarity between the two crumenophthabnus (Bloeh)in lirters. locations, a potential yield of the Philippines. Asian Fish. 128 to 288 t/yr might reason­ Sci. 3,115-131. This conclusion does not, ably be expected from the Ga-^ however, take account of the zelle Peninsula region of New Polovina, J.J., R.B. Moffit, S. possibilities of conflicts between Britain. The lower boundary of Ralston, P.M. Shiota and fisheries for food and bait, nor this range is close to estimated M.A. Williams. 1985. Fish­ whether itis socially acceptable annual production from the eries resource assessment of to target an important food fish Gazelle region based on catch the Mariana Archipelago, for longline bait, observations. 1982 to 1985. Mar. Fish Rev. 47(4): 19-25 ^

SPC Fisheries Newsletter #65 — April/June '93