Positive outcome to meeting between Minister and local fishermen
The meeting between local fishermen concerned about declining catch rates and the Minister for Marine Hon Teina Bishop only took an hour but it was very fruitful and positive according to Dr George Ngaei who organized the meeting.
Dr Ngaei told the Times on Thursday about 12 attended the meeting, fishermen representing the local Fishing Association, charter fishermen and deep sea tuna fishing companies, which took place at the Minister’s office commencing at 4pm. The media was invited to attend. Secretary for Marine Ben Ponia was also present as were Commercial tuna fishermen Tapi Taio and Bill Doherty.
Dr Ngaei said the meeting followed an informal talk he had earlier over lunch with the Minister where he asked the Minister to meet with local fishermen to revisit the long lining controversy and the impact on decreasing fish numbers and the management of FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) affecting local fishermen. The meeting was also to see how the tourist industry was affected, Bishop also being the Minister for Tourism. In regard to the value of the fishery, he said development Economist Vaine Wichman was undertaking some research for the Fishing Association in this regard.
Dr Ngaei said they were very impressed with the Minister’s input.
The Minister undertook to look into fuel concessions, seek closer co-operation with the fishermen, increase funding for FADs and facilitate the inviting of the FAD division of SPC to run workshops that will cover; choice of FADs, placement and management to increase catch rates.
Government would also consider an offer from the industry to manage the FADs around Rarotonga.
Dr Ngaei said due to the limited time, the group wanted to avoid discussions about the exploratory licensing fees for foreign vessels. He said the Minister saw the need for more dialogue with the fishermen and Ministry of Marine.
No date was set for the next meeting but He hopes a date will be set before he returns to NZ next week.
Dr Ngaei said the meeting went extremely well. He said considerable progress had been made. He said the Minister was positive and helpful and must take credit as initially the fishermen were pessimistic
Why is he taking a close interest in the fishing issue? Dr Ngaei, whose medical practice is based in Invercargill, NZ, said he has been a keen fisherman in the Cook Islands for the last 60 years. As a doctor and surgeon he understands the importance of fish to our diet and it was becoming unaffordable.
On Thursday evening the Times spoke with experienced fisherman Dick Marsters. Dick did not attend the meeting but mentioned he had noticed that in the last five years his catch across several species had declined steadily. He kept log books of his catch and he regularly passed this information onto the Ministry. He has noticed a definite decline in Yellow Fin tuna. He believes the widespread nature of the decline warrants research because there is a need to know what the cause is and why it is affecting every island. He does not believe it is cyclical as he has not experienced this in his long career as a fisherman. He remains optimistic and is even building a new fishing boat which will also cater for charter fishermen. -Charles Pitt

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