Concern over poor pay for contractors offloading catch from foreign fishing vessels has been raised in the Kiribati parliament.
An MP Tekena Tiroa told the House that only 12 people are allowed to work on a fishing vessel and they do that for 16 hours at an hourly rate of $US1.
Mr Tiroa said at the same time their supervisor gets $US160.
He said the contractors are finding it hard to make ends meet with this pay and the job was not easy.
The Fisheries Minister Tetabo Nakara said each worker gets 10 kilograms of free fish every day as part of a pay package.
He also said the Port was reviewing the performance of all contractors.
However, Tekena Tiroa said he worried that the Port performance review was an indirect threat to the contractors for complaining about poor pay.
