1 Mar 2012

PNG: Tuna is leading export commodity in fisheries sector

11:25 am on 1 March 2012

The National Fisheries Authority in Papua New Guinea says the country's tuna export is the leading commodity in the fisheries sector with a whooping 32,335 tonnes exported in 2010.

The Authority says the total PNG tuna exports for all types fluctuated between 65,000 and 74,000 tonnes annually from 2006 to 2010.

According to the Post Courier newspaper, the report states that frozen tuna topped the 2010 fisheries export list followed by canned tuna, cooked loins, fish meal and chilled tuna.

It says reports that frozen tuna, the majority of which is whole round frozen tuna, is the largest export category.

The export accounted for about half of total exports in 2010 and most of these were destined for processing in plants notably in Thailand and the Philippines.