4 Nov 2003

Urgent talks begin today to save Fiji tuna industry

11:18 am on 4 November 2003

Fiji's tuna industry is facing a crisis with 50 out of the one hundred and ten licensed boats tied up and fishing companies warning of closures.

The Fiji Times reports that an emergency meeting between fisheries officials and local fishing companies is expected to begin today in a last-ditch attempt to stem the collapse of one of the country's important foreign exchange earners.

The newspaper says by this weekend more than two hundred people wiill lose their jobs unless the government takes a firm stand against illegal activity in the industry.

An estimated four hundred people have lost their jobs in the past three months as local companies face declining catches.

The managing director of the Fiji Fish Company, Graham Southwick, says his company would have no choice but to shut down unless the government takes swift action.

Local companies want the number of vessels licensed to operate cut back from the current 110 to the South Pacific Community-recommended limit of 55 to 60 boats.

They have brought in three experts to support their case including the former head of the SPC's assessment programme, Dr Tony Lewis.

Fiji companies also want foreign vessels to be stopped from offloading their catches in Fiji and all licenses issued to indigenous Fijians and now held by foreign operators to be returned.