SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION UNPUBLISHED REPORT No. 19 REPORT ON SECOND VISIT TO THREE LOCATIONS IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA 23 January – 2 May 1982 by Lindsay Chapman Fisheries Development Adviser and Tevita Fusimalohi Masterfisherman South Pacific Commission Noumea, New Caledonia 1998 ii The South Pacific Commission authorises the reproduction of this material, whole or in part, in any form, provided appropriate acknowledgment is given. This unpublished report forms part of a series compiled by the Capture Section of the South Pacific Commission’s Coastal Fisheries Programme. These reports have been produced as a record of individual project activities and country assignments, from materials held within the Section, with the aim of making this valuable information readily accessible. Each report in this series has been compiled within the Capture Section to a technical standard acceptable for release into the public arena. However, they have not been through the full South Pacific Commission editorial process. South Pacific Commission BP D5 98848 Noumea Cedex New Caledonia Tel.: (687) 26 20 00 Fax: (687) 26 38 18 e-mail: [email protected] http://www.spc.org.nc/ Prepared at South Pacific Commission headquarters, Noumea, New Caledonia, 1998 iii SUMMARY The South Pacific Commission's Deep Sea Fisheries Development Project (DSFDP) visited Papua New Guinea for the second time between 23 January and 2 May 1982, under the supervision of SPC Masterfisherman Tevita Fusimalohi. The Project operated around Port Moresby, Samarai Island and Manus Island, conducting a survey and training programme in deep-bottom dropline fishing. Most fishing effort was devoted to deep- bottom droplining in depths up to 300 m, principal target species being deep-water snappers of the family Lutjanidae. Catch records with the species composition of the catch were kept in two locations, Port Moresby and Manus Island, however, only records showing the total catch were kept for fishing activities conducted around Samarai Island. The total deep-bottom dropline catch had a combined weight of 1,460.1 kg, of which better than 80 per cent was locally saleable. The deep-bottom catch included an adequate proportion of high-value species and no ciguatoxicity was noted. Catch rates recorded for deep-bottom fishing ranged from 2.6 kg/reel hour at Port Moresby, and 3.0 kg/reel hour at Samarai Island, to 5.2 kg/reel hour at Manus Island. The overall deep-bottom catch rate was 4.0 kg/reel hour. These catch rates compare well with results recorded by the DSFDP elsewhere in the Pacific and indicate the presence of profitably exploitable deep-bottom stocks. The commercial development of the fishery appears likely to be hampered by a number of logistical, marketing and geographic restraints. This report includes some recommendations considered important for the successful progress of provincial fisheries development programmes. v RÉSUMÉ Sous la direction du maître de pêche Tevita Fusimalohi, des agents de la Commission du Pacifique Sud ont séjourné, pour la deuxième fois, du 23 janvier au 2 mai 1982, en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée, dans le cadre du projet de développement de la pêche au demi-large. Les activités menées au titre du projet, en particulier une campagne d'évaluation et un programme de formation à la pêche à la ligne à main par grandes profondeurs, se sont déroulées au large de Port- Moresby, de l'île de Samarai et de l'île de Manus. Elles ont consisté pour l'essentiel à pêcher à la ligne à main par des fonds pouvant atteindre 300 mètres, en ciblant les lutjanidés profonds. Des relevés de prises faisant apparaître la composition par espèce ont été tenus sur deux sites, à Port-Moresby et à Manus; en revanche, les relevés faits à Samarai ne donnaient que le volume total des prises. En tout, 1 460,10 kg de poisson ont été capturés à la palangre au grand fond, dont plus de 80 pour cent étaient commercialisables sur le marché local. Au nombre de ces prises figurait une proportion non négligeable d'espèces à valeur marchande élevée et aucun cas de ciguatera n'a été relevé. Les taux de prises enregistrés pour la pêche au grand fond ont varié de 2,6 kg/moulinet/heure à Port-Moresby et de 3 kg/moulinet/heure à Samarai à 5,2 kg/moulinet/heure à Manus. Le taux de prises global de ces opérations de pêche au grand fond a été de 4 kg/moulinet/heure. Ces taux de capture soutiennent favorablement la comparaison avec les résultats enregistrés ailleurs dans le Pacifique dans le cadre du projet; en outre, ils démontrent la présence de stocks de poissons de grand fond qui peuvent faire l'objet d'une exploitation rentable. Le développement de la pêche commerciale risque, semble-t-il, de se heurter à un certain nombre de difficultés liées à la logistique, à la commercialisation et à la géographie. Ce rapport comporte certaines recommandations considérées comme importantes pour la réussite de la mise en œuvre des programmes de développement de la pêche dans les provinces. vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The South Pacific Commission gratefully acknowledges the friendly support and co-operation offered by the many individuals and organisations associated with the Deep Sea Fisheries Development Project's stay in three locations around Papua New Guinea. Particular thanks are due to the skippers and crew of the three vessels used by the project, for their hard work and dedication to the project, which added to its success. ix CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. BACKGROUND 1 2.1 General 1 2.2 Existing fisheries 3 3. PROJECT OPERATIONS 3 3.1 General 3 3.2 Boats and equipment 4 3.3 Fishing techniques employed 6 3.4 Data Collection 6 3.5 Training activities 6 3.6 Disposal of the catch 6 4. FISHING ACTIVITIES 6 4.1 General 6 4.2 Deep-bottom fishing droplining 7 4.3 Trolling 9 5. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS 9 5.1 General 9 5.2 Commercial potential 9 5.3 Development restraints 10 6. RECOMMENDATIONS 10 6.1 Fishing rights 10 6.2 Boats and equipment 10 6.3 Financial support 10 6.4 Fish handling and marketing 11 6.5 Diversification of fisheries 11 7. REFERENCES 11 APPENDICES 1 Standard form for data collection 13 2A Species composition of the saleable deep-bottom catch at each location 15 2B Species composition of unsaleable deep-bottom catch at each location 19 3A Trip records for Port Moresby 21 3B Trip records for Manus Island 23 1 1. INTRODUCTION The South Pacific Commission's Deep Sea Fisheries Development (DSFD) Project is a mobile village-level rural development project which operates in Pacific Island nations at specific Government request, and which has the following broad objectives: – To promote the development or expansion of artisanal fisheries throughout the region, based on fishery resources which are at present under-utilised, in particular the deep bottom resources of the outer reef slope; – To develop and evaluate new simple technology, fishing gear and techniques suitable for use by village fishermen, which will enable fishermen to substantially increase catches while reducing dependence on costly imported fuels; and – To provide practical training in appropriate fishing techniques to local fishermen and government fisheries extension workers. The Project has operated in Papua New Guinea on one previous occasions. The 1979 visit was based at Kimbe, West New Britain (Fusimalohi & Crossland, 1980). This visit involved the surveying and assessment of deep-bottom fish resources along the outer reef slopes, and the demonstration of appropriate gear and fishing techniques to promote the artisanal exploitation of this resource. The current visit was conducted between 23 January and 2 May 1982, under the supervision of SPC Masterfisherman Tevita Fusimalohi. The visit followed a request of SPC by the Government of Papua New Guinea for assistance in conducting surveys of deep-bottom fish resources at specific sites. A further major aim was to promote the development of the local deep-bottom fishery through the demonstration of appropriate gear and techniques to personnel of the Department of Primary Industry's Fisheries Division, and to interested local fishermen where possible. The Project's operational bases were established at Port Moresby, Lorengau (Manus Island) and Samarai Island. 2. BACKGROUND 2.1 General Papua New Guinea (Figure 1) has a land area of some 476,500 sq km comprising the eastern half of the New Guinea mainland, the Bismarck Archipelago (Manus, New Ireland and New Britain), Bougainville and Buka. Hundreds of smaller islands lie within PNG's borders, scattered across the Bismarck, Solomon and Coral Seas. The central core of the mainland is a massive cordillera interspersed with wide valleys at altitudes up to 1,800 m. Alluvium derived from active mountain erosion is deposited extensively in the broad, swampy Sepik River Basin and the low, swampy plain of the Fly River and Gulf of Papua. New Britain, New Ireland and Bougainville are part of high island arcs. 2 Figure 1: Papua New Guinea, showing areas fished during this visit Tropical rain-forest covers about three-quarters of the country. The remainder is covered in savannah, grassland and swamps. Some 97 per cent of all land is held under customary tenure and part of this is used for subsistence agriculture (much of it on a shifting or rotational basis). Cash crops include copra, coffee, rubber, palm oil and tea, grown on smallholdings and on plantations. There is some forestry. Except in high altitudes the climate is tropical with uniformly high temperatures and regular heavy rainfall. PNG is one of the largest constantly wet areas in the world and rainfall in some areas ranges up to 5,000 mm annually.