Smoked tuna business adds value and diversity to Solomons industry

 2 November 2021 | TUNA PACIFIC

Schulte Maetoloa, the owner of Gizo Smoked Tuna - a new smoked fish business in Gizo, Western province.

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – In Solomon Islands, a new business in the tuna Industry is emerging with the start up of an initiative to provide local filleted smoked fish.

The man behind the business is Schulte Maetoloa, a well-known singer and songwriter from Malaita province who now lives in Gizo, in Western Province. Popularly known by his artist name of Solid-T, Mr Maetoloa has been slowly moving away from his music career over the past few years to focus on other family obligations.

His recent undertaking is to venture into the commercial world with Gizo Smoked Tuna.

Mr Maetoloa said the idea behind selling smoked fish was simply to promote a very well-known commodity of the country, especially yellowfin tuna, and place more value on it.

His close relations with numerous fishers in the western region of Solomon Islands has given him an above-average insight into the plight of rural fishers and the painstaking daily rituals they endure to make a simple living.

Mr Maetoloa said the smoked fish had proven to be profitable since it was introduced early this year.

“I began to sell the product to my friends at first, before distributing it to other busineses in Gizo,” Mr Maetoloa said.

“They were satisfied by the taste of the product and how it was processed. The product has the same quality as all vacuum-package goods.”

Adding value to Solomons tuna and buying from local fishers

Seeing the steady progress of his business idea into fish processed and sealed for sale, Mr Maetoloa described his venture as trying to add value to a Solomon Islands fish commodity.

He had some experience to back the development of his idea: he has experimented with a number of business ventures and gained experience in the country’s national economic culture, and  is known among his friends as a visionary leader and a man of action.

The idea to produce and sell smoked fish came about after seeing the plight of local fishers in the Western Province where he lives.

“I had come to realise that our fish market was in danger of becoming saturated, and despite numerous streams of market opportunities for fish and fish products, the capability of rural fishermen to tap into it was easier said than done,” Mr Maetoloa said.

“My previous ventures had allowed me to save a little money, just enough to begin few trials in smoking fish fillets, but even now we are restricted by our capacity to grow and accommodate a national market.”

Samples of the vacuumed smoked fish products

Using fresh fish important

Mr Maetoloa proudly explained that the basis of his market is the freshness of his fish stocks, and while this brings with it a number of logistic issues, he has no plan to change that.

“It is important for us to produce our product from freshly caught fish that we receive and processed with the first few hours,” he said

“One obvious reason for this is because fish is a staple food in our country, and it would be greatly obvious to many customers if our smoked fish was made from long-time stored fish stocks.”

The company was looking at assisting fishers with ice cubes and chiller boxes while they are out at sea, so that their catch is placed immediately on ice to retain its freshness.

Mr Maetoloa said people’s familiarity with the taste of fresh fish was a challenge for his business to resolve—and it was also a blessing because sales have assured him that a market for the delicacy is readily available.

Another challenge has been that the company was not able to immediately achieve its goal of selling into a wider market, with the need for larger storage, processing structures and hygienic health standards to be adhered to.

Staff of Gizo Smoked Tuna display a sample of the new company’s products at a stall on World Tuna Day in May.

Eyes on selling to the world

“Our dream is to one day be able to produce and sell our product outside Solomon Islands. We believe this is how we truly and positively affect rural lives,” Mr Maetoloa said.

Mr Maetoloa said they opted to vacuum pack the smoked fish slices so they would remain fresh and tasty for a longer time. It had worked well with both refrigerated and non-refrigerated packs.

Throughout the trial phases of developing the product, they took steps to ensure they produced quality over quantity. He hoped that in the future they would be able to attain quantity and still keep their quality.

“I think the whole picture of the business we are getting into is truly with the hope that everyone included in the whole process has a hand in the final product of which they can truly benefit from,” he said.

The company was also concentrating on honing the final desired taste and texture of the smoked fish. He hoped to expand this part of the business, and also offer fresh packs of uncooked fish fillets of tuna, snapper and other fish.

During the World Tuna Day 2021 celebrations in Honiara in May, Mr Maetoloa and his team joined the event to promote their products.

He said he was privileged to have his stall erected to showcase his innovative idea of packaging smoked fish. He was thankful that the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources inviting him and his family to promote their smoked tuna at the event.

IN THE LINE OF DUTY - Fisheries Observer shares experience through pandemic

28 October 2021| TUNA PACIFIC

A long way from home … Solomon Islands observer Jeromy Ahikau Wateoli in South Korea before observers were repatriated home when countries went into lockdown early in the COVID-19 pandemic

In the four years that Jeromy Ahikau Wateoli has worked on tuna fishing vessels as an observer, he has been exposed not just to the dangers of the work but also to a wider world.

Being an observer is unique from other jobs: it takes courageous men and women to carry out the tasks involved, and not everyone can do it.

Mr Wateoli was employed in the official observer program with the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) in 2015, after completing his studies at the Solomon Islands National University, where he studied in the School of Environment.

Working on board fishing vessels, Mr Wateoli travelled the Asia–Pacific region — the first person in his family to do so. However, that life has been curtailed for now, with international work restrictions forced on countries by COVID-19.

Dangers and risks come with the job

Mr Wateoli spoke of some of the dangers or threats observers face while working abroad on foreign fishing vessels. Most of all, he says it is the loneliness that hits when they miles away from land. At first, the job came as a shock to a young man who had not travelled far from home.

“My job as an observer is very dangerous and risky, but at the same time interesting,” Mr Wateoli said.

“We are often on the high seas where land is nowhere to be seen and the weather can unexpectedly change at any time. The roughness of the high seas is nothing compared to what we’ve experienced travelling inter-island. Loneliness often struck when we spent months at sea without any land in sight.

“Communication is also very challenging at first, as most of the employees of the vessel were of different background and ethnicity, and they speak different languages.”

Jeromy Wateoli watches a catch of tuna being brought on board the purse-seine vessel on which he’s working as an official observer

As an observer, it was very important to keep his focus on monitoring and keeping records of data collected on every fishing day, he said.

One of his duties was to make sure the vessel did not operate outside marine or fisheries regulations. He had to make sure the vessel applied sustainable harvesting of resources, especially of the tuna stocks.

Mr Wateoli said part of an observer’s job was quite similar to a police officer’s, as their role was to make sure the vessel operated as regulated.

It can be challenging working on the high seas

“One of the challenges we face at sea is the unpredictable weather pattern. A storm can hit at any time,” Mr Wateoli said.

“When there are high swells, it is very risky, as a person can easily be tossed out of the vessel. During these storms, the life expectancy for crew members is seen as 50% chance of survival.

“Another challenge is reporting on incidents that take place on board. It can be stressing, as it will draw a line between the observer and other vessel employees. It is the responsibility of an observer to report a vessel that is operating outside of its fishing regulations, but making that decision is not easy as the consequences of the decision could cost the company which owns the vessel.”

He said one reason the job was risky was because the laws that governed the ocean were very complex and could be breached at any time if there was a weak observer on board the vessel or they were not properly assessing a catch.

A fearful side of being an observer was hearing foreigners on the vessel telling stories of the past, when crew or observers had gone missing. Carrying these stories in mind while working made the job more challenging.

“It is also very challenging being friends with other vessel employees and at the same time keeping your professionalism,” Mr Wateoli said.

“At first, I found it quite difficult, but slowly I learned while on my second trip to fully understand my working environment and the nature of the job.”

He said that working on a foreign vessel could become dangerous for an independent observer when illegal bycatches of endangered species were involved, or when there was overharvesting of tuna and unsustainable catches of other marine resources.

An observer might fear for their life when reporting undersized stocks or endangered species, as hostility could arise at any time. Observers even faced intimidation or were harassed by vessel employees.

“It takes tough men or women to get the job done. You must be ready to report anything that is unnecessarily happening on board,” he said.

The offshore observer said the data he collected would be sent to Noumea and other parts of the region to contribute to future resources management tools.

“The data we collect will help us [as a region] to properly manage our resources,” he said. That was why it was important that data collection be accurate.

Another role of observers was to make sure that the fishing vessel had a valid fishing licence, and that the fishing company had met all the requirements and regulations of the FFA, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA), the Pacific Community (SPC) or a bilateral trip operating within any country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Although observers weren’t law enforcers, part of their job was to check whether fishing vessel crew members had valid passports on board, a requirement to work in other countries, including their EEZ. This information was recorded in the observer’s data.

Time for a moment of quietness at the end of a day of work at sea

COVID-19 forced a temporary change of direction

Mr Wateoli was in Korea when the coronavirus started. He had to be repatriated home to Solomon Islands.

Like other observers from the countries of the Western and Central Pacific, he was forced to leave his job when countries locked down early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictions continue: last week, the Solomon Islands government issued a memo putting the observer program on hold until further notice.

The pandemic has left Mr Wateoli without a job as an observer. But this has not stopped this young man from earning an income, as he is venturing into small business to make ends meet. This has helped him to earn an average income to support his family and his siblings.

He said some of the offshore observers were at Noro, working with the National Fisheries Development vessel operating within the country’s borders assisting inshore fishing vessels.

He worries that if the borders are closed for too long, some of the Asian–Pacific countries will be vulnerable to illegal fishing activities because of the lack of officials and the complexity of marine policies and regulations.

Mr Wateoli hopes that the pandemic will be over soon as looking for an adequate job was very difficult.

“I hope the pandemic will be over soon and we can get our jobs back,” he said.

Advantages, too, in the life of an observer

Mr Wateoli said that being an observer was rewarding despite the dangers and challenges.

“It is quite rewarding after spending long periods of time at sea, having missed my family and friends, and to come back and see them, bringing home money to meet of our family needs and wants,” he said.

The observer program had given him an opportunity to visit many countries around the Asia–Pacific region: Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei), Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Nauru, Kiribati, PNG and Fiji.

Mr Wateoli said he was one of the fortunate Solomon Islanders to be part of the observer program, contributing to the monitoring of tuna and reporting the harvest of tuna stock.

Through his observation work, Mr Wateoli said, he had gained a larger view of the world, and had come to understand something of the ways Solomon islanders harvest tuna on a small scale up to a national scale.

Towlines and pole-and-line fishing methods were the top choice as they were sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Solomon Islander observer Jeromy Wateoli gives the thumbs up for the importance of his work

Mr Wateoli urged locals and Solomon Islands’ large-scale fishing industries to use such sustainable fishing methods to reduce exploitation of our marine resources.

“If we use more of those undiscriminating fishing methods that include nets and trawling, blast-fishing, etc., there will be nothing left in the ocean for our future generations,” he said.

“Not only will it affect the fish stocks, but also other marine life such as corals and other aquatic animals and plants. The marine ecosystem will be exploited.”

A fisherman’s dream for a sustainable fishing industry

27 October 2021 | TUNA PACIFIC

MV Penzella berthing outside the Honiara harbour. Photo: Tovolea Photography

HONIARA – Across the Pacific region, sustainable fishing is crucial in such an unprecedented time, and if tuna and other sea resources are not properly managed, future generations will be affected socially and financially.

In the Solomon Islands, despite the fact that the fishing industry is the second-largest revenue earner behind logging, sustainable fishing is an issue that needs the combined efforts of the government, stakeholders and people to deal with.

At the moment, it is common in many coastal communities that overfishing is drastically increasing. This is evident given the rise of undersized fish that are sold daily in fish markets throughout the country, especially the Honiara Central Market, Gizo Market and Auki market.

According to fish vendors at the three fish markets, due to the pressure faced by families to put food on the table in recent times and the need to stock up fish at the local markets, fishermen are travelling out daily to fish.

Observing the scenario above, the Wantoku Ocean Development company is now stepping into the scene to address the need and challenges faced by fishing communities around the Solomon Islands.

Samples of the vacuumed fish meats ready to be sold at the domestic market. Photo Bernard Fiubala/Wantoku Ocean Development

Business owner Bernard Fiubala is the man behind the initiative, and it was his dream business – he had a vision to purchase sustainably harvested marine products from local fishing communities in Solomon Islands and to also help them financially.

With his dream and the wish to make it a reality, from his own pocket, Fiubala saved up enough money to buy a SBD$2 million [USD$248,000] fishing vessel to achieve his dream business.

It is understood that Fiubala is the only local seaman that is currently venturing into a new  fishing business as most fishing vessels operating in the Solomon Islands are foreign owned.

Recalling the fisher’s challenges and the dream

Born and raised in Honiara, Solomon Islands, Mr Fiubala has been involving in the fishing industry for the past 25 years.

A group of local fishermen in their OBMs during one of the Wantoku Company's fishing trips. Photo: wantoku Ocean Development/Bernard Fiubala

He hails from Malaita province, and his mother is from the famous Langalanga Lagoon in Malaita, near Auki. The Langalanga people are regarded as the people of the sea due to their close relationship with the ocean and their setting.

In a recent interview, Fiubala jokes that his love for fishing and the ocean can be traced back to his mother’s people.

“Fishing is part of my life since childhood,” he says.

He recalls his early years, when he used to go out fishing with his uncles.

“When I was in my childhood, I used to go out and fish with my uncle.

“I have seen the struggle my uncle and the fishermen from my village are facing, growing up. Those days were difficult days and going out in the ocean trying to catch tuna, we often come across a lot of challenges,” Fiubala recalls.

He says he has witnessed some of these challenges firsthand, for instance, when they travelled from Auki to Honiara to sell their catches enduring life threatening boat trips.

Considering the challenges growing up as a fisherman with a rich fisheries background, Fiubala says he has seen the need to venture into this fishing business and to help the fishermen around Solomon Islands access a much bigger market.

Bernard Fiubala (second from left) when he was the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority Observer Advisor. He was pictured here with his observers (Meli the incoming, and Manua the outgoing), reviewing the accommodation with the second mate. Photo Francisco Blaha

“Looking at those poor fishermen when they are struggling to earn money, I proposed this idea after returning from the Marshall Islands. With the 25 years of experience, I thought of bringing something that would make a lot of fishermen produce quality and sustainably harvested fish/tuna and other marine products.

“That was the whole idea that I came up with.

“The Company wants to mine the gold in the ocean [fish/tuna] in a sustainable manner so that these sea resources can sustain us from generation to generation,” he adds.

Fulfilling the dream: harvesting the ocean’s gold

Since the arrival of his fishing vessel Penzella in 2019, Fiubala and his men have been busy engaging in the fishing business with local fishing communities in certain parts of the Solomon Islands.

To ensure that the aims and vision of the company to practice sustainable fishing is achieved, Mr Fiubala says they have signed agreements with fishing communities around the country.

“To fulfil my dream and company’s vision, we have established working relationships with a number of fishing communities we visited.

Chiefs of the Malaita Outer Islands with Mr Fiubala (second from left, in front) after agreeing to an MoU signed with Wantoku Ocean Development. Photo Bernard Fiubala/ Wantoku Ocean Development

“So far, we have signed about 50 Memorandum of Understandings [MOUs] with these communities and they have agreed to work with us,” he states.

Fiubala says the 50 agreements signed covers communities from the Western; Renbel; Guadalcanal; Central Islands; and Malaita, especially the Malaita Outer Islands (MOI).

He also visited the Malaita Outer Islands group and met  with the Chiefs, who were very supportive of the initiative.

“They liked the idea of us going down and buying fish from them, as it gives them the opportunity to hastily exchange fish for cash to sustain their daily living.”

At one stage in the Russell Islands, Central province, Fiubala says he fished with the people of Loun Community for two nights and paid SBD$30,000 in fish purchases.

For the two nights, they have caught 3.5 tonnes of fish and the money goes straight into the hands of the people of the local community.

In 2020, Wantoku Ocean Development acquired licence to fish and work with the communities of four provinces.

Despite acquiring licences for the four provinces, the company kept on receiving requests for trade from communities around Solomon Islands. But Fiubala says he can only manage four provinces and might involve the other provinces later.

COVID-19 challenges and future plans

As the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting his business, Fiubala says they had to stop their normal operations in August 2020.

However, Fiubala’s Wantoku Ocean Development was very fortunate to receive some assistance from the national government through the Economic Stimulus Package (ESP).

“The economic stimulus package has played a major role in assisting the Wantoku Ocean Development to continue with its operations, after we stopped operating since August 2020. It is good to see that the government recognise the struggles of the business with such financial support.

A female worker of Wantoku Ocean development displaying a fish they bought from a local fisherman during one of their routine trips to the provinces. Photo Bernard Fiubala/Wantoku Ocean Development

“Just recently we did a trip under the ESP. But the trip was too short as the ESP funds allocated was nowhere close to the original submitted proposal,” he says.

Fiubala says he only received SBD$140,000 from the government’s ESP and about 50% of the fund have been spent on materials that are needed to keep the business running.

Even though the company is facing difficulties in staying afloat in such an unprecedented time, Fiubala says they are looking to expand their operations in the not-too-distant future.

By December 2021, he says Wantoku Ocean Development is planning to open a fish market in Honiara.

“That’s not a realistic idea but we want to push to have the fish market operational. The company want to push to have a very decent market that sells very high–grade catches of fish that can be stored for a longer period,” Fiubala concludes.

Fiubala sees the vast Solomon Islands waters as a floating goldmine for the wide variety of fishes in the ocean.

Depleting fishing grounds and the need to practice sustainable fishing at Titiana

12 October 2021 | TUNA PACIFIC

In various coastal villages around Solomon Islands, the use of passive devices to fish are common in the past. Photo: Wilson B. Saeni/World Fish (SI)

HONIARA, Solomon Islands – The dual impacts of over-fishing and climate change appear to have resulted in the depletion of fish stocks on various common fishing grounds used by local fishermen from Titiana village, in the Western province of Solomon Islands.

Titiana is a coastal community of Micronesian decent, situated at the southern shore about 2 miles west of Gizo, the province’s capital town.

In response to poor catches, villagers are now looking more at revisiting their old fishing methods to ensure that their fish and marine resources are sustainably managed.

As populations have grown, fishing in nearshore and coastal waters has, in some areas, lead to depleted resources and changes in fishing practices.

Common fishing grounds are no longer as rich in fish stocks, and fishing communities find it more difficult to cope with reduced catches that take more time and effort. This is increasingly an everyday challenge for many communities in the Solomon Islands.

With the daily challenges of trying to meet their demands for fish to eat, the local fishers of Titiana have now started to take sustainable fishing practices seriously as they begin to respond to concerns that their community’s main food source is on the brink of collapse.

Wesley Misu, 27, is a fisherman from the Titiana Community. In a recent interview, Misu said sustainable fishing was not a question of concern for many years. But now, communities are seeing the importance of fishing to their livelihood as they respond to declining catches despite their increased efforts.

With the complications surrounding the increase in over-fishing at the Titiana community, the fishermen are now eager to understand how sustainable fishing works.

Different sizes of tuna being sold at the Gizo Market. Photo George J Maelagi

The experience: depleting fishing grounds and over-harvesting

For the past 20 years, Misu joined his relatives and friends on fishing trips, and has  seen and experienced the changes brought about by over-harvesting of fish stocks.

During an interview at the Gizo Fish Market, Misu said it is much more difficult than 20 years ago as people have to go out very far to fish and sometimes come back home with only few fish. At times, their catches are not enough to feed their families or to be sold for little income at the market.

“In recent years, fishers would return home with less than 20 fish. This is different from the experience of the early 2000s, where we usually travel out fishing and return with a boatload of fish or tuna.

“I believe that, before, good catches were a result of careful harvesting of fish stocks in our common fishing grounds, using the traditional fishing techniques and also with the use of right fishing gear which also contributes to sustainable fishing,” said Misu.

Another challenge that the young fisher said he is experiencing now is the impact of climate change on the movements of fish stocks from their common fishing grounds.

Misu said sometimes when he goes out to fish, he returns with nothing at all.

“Maybe this is caused by the rising tides or how the tides are changing each day.”

Wesley Misu showing a tuna that was caught at an industrial FAD located in oceanic waters south of Gizo. Photo George J Maelagi.

In spite of all the challenges Misu and the fishermen from Titiana are facing today, they never give up exploring the reefs and deep seas to fish.

They said they see a lot of potential in fishing because it benefits their families over the passing years.

“Fishing has always benefited us in all aspects of life. I would be unemployed or broke it wasn’t for fishing—or if there is no ocean, we wouldn’t fish.

“Therefore, we have to keep our ocean and fish in sustainable ways so that our future generations can enjoy eating from our sea resources like now,” Misu and the group of fishermen explained.

Another issue raised by the fishers as a contributing factor to the depleting fishing grounds was the use of small gillnets to fish in the reefs and near Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). With the small sized gillnets, it is common knowledge there is a possibility that most unwanted fish species and other marine lives will be caught as bycatch.

“That said, people need to have a clear understanding of the fish population and the extinctions of other fish and marine species, and also choose carefully which type of fishing method they can use,” the fishers stated.

Apart from the accounts of the Titiana fishers, the fishing community of Gizo also reported that people are using all kind of fishing methods, especially in the technological age. In doing so, they are contributing to the over-harvesting of some endangered fish and marine species.

This does not only affect the fish, but also the reef’s ecosystem.

Besides, almost every day people went out to the sea to fish, so they are well versed with the behavior of the fish and the locations of the fishing grounds. This makes it difficult for them to fish at the same spot because of the repetition of harvesting on the same fishing ground every day.

A young lad returns with his day’s catch to be sold at the Gizo fish Market. Photo George J. Maelagi.

Finding the solution to create a local, sustainable fishery

In various coastal villages around Solomon Islands, traditional ways of fishing using throwing or shooting devices (spears, bow and arrow, throw nets, spear-guns) or passive devices (fish-traps, gillnets, fish-pens) were used in the past.

For the Titiana fishing community, the Kura fishing method began long ago, especially since the mid-1950s when the first settlers of the community migrated from Kiribati, between the 1950s and the early 70s while Solomon Islands was a British protectorate.

Others have also stated that Kura is a local name for deep-sea fishing, with lure hooks and a white plastic shank, that has been done for several years. This method is said to have been introduced by Filipino (Philippines) fishers.

The Kura fishing technique is an old-fashioned way of fishing which Misu and other fishermen from his village have been recently trialing to see if it can contribute to sustainable fishing.

Misu explains how the Kura fishing works.

“I first went on a Kura fishing trip two decades ago when I was a kid. Back then, I used to go out on fishing trips with my uncle or sometimes with my friends.

“This method (Kura) is a very easy way to fish because you use coconut leaves attached to a rock and drop your bait to the bottom of the ocean to attract the fish.

“After dropping the fishing line, you will just wait to pull the tuna or fish when you feel that it bites the bait,” Misu explains.

Kura is a simple fishing technique, but the size of the fishing line and hook determines one’s catch.

Another old fishing method is toe-line fishing. According to Misu, this type of method is less dangerous for juvenile fish because one can only catch normal sized fish.

Interestingly, both the Kura and toe-line fishing can also be used in offshore and inshore fishing. These methods are also used to catch tuna near deep-sea FADs.

Example of a handline and lure used for surface trolling and kite fishing for yellowfin tuna

Realising the importance of FADs for a sustainable fishery

As fishing is the only means of income generating activity for the Titiana coastal community, the use of FADs is seen as a crucial way to manage fish population.

“The people here are heavily dependent on our sea resources. This is due to our ocean fishing skills, and our lack of land and expertise for gardening – the other main food and livelihood option in rural Solomon Islands,” Misu said.

It was also reported that offshore fishing can be dangerous for Titiana fishers, due to the fact that the industrial FADs are located in oceanic waters to the south of Gizo, with fishers operating small outboard motor-powered canoes to access these FADs between 20 km and 70 km offshore. If the weather gets rough it can be dangerous, and it is also very expensive for the fuel to travel so far offshore.

“We used to travel far to fish for tuna at the industrial FADs.

“But it can be costly, especially if we went out on a trip and the catch was limited. This means making a loss, as we  need to cover the cost of fuel and other expenses incurred on that single trip,” the fishermen explained.

However, the fishers are also aware that fishing FADs offshore is  one way to manage fish population and to protect the reefs and its ecosystem from over-harvesting.

This is essential for reefs to avoid over exploitation. This way, fisherman and communities will preserve the reefs to fish for a longer time.

“The idea is basically to have more coastal and nearshore locally made FADs to attract fish after a period of time. After the FADs are launched, no one is allowed to fish at the FADs until it open for community harvest.

“That way, fish stocks in the common fishing areas will be healthy and sustainable in the long run,” the Titiana fishers said.

Children of Titiana pictured swimming in the reef that was once rich in fish and other marine produces. Photo Ronald F Toito’ona

They also encourage local fishermen around Solomon Islands and the Pacific region to practice sustainable fishing. The group of fishers stated that every fisher needs to understand how to fish properly in their respective fishing grounds. Only in this way will they have a sustainable population of fish in the ocean, from the deep to the seashores.