FISHERIES EMBARKED ON REDUCING UNDERSIZED TUNA CATCHES

Undersized tuna. Photo credit: Green Peace.

The Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resource is currently implementing the Fisheries Aggregating Device (FAD) closure and catch retention measures to limit catches of undersized tuna in Solomon Islands.

The two measures were currently imposed as the Ministry recorded an increase on under size catches by fishing vessels.

Director of Fisheries and Marine Resources Edward Honiwala said while his Ministry has no specific regulation to restrict undersized catches, the FAD closure, and the catch retention measures are imposed.

Mr. Honiwala told a recent radio talk show that undersized catches are a result of drift net.

“You might witness a lot of undersized tuna when you come to Honiara maybe at the Fishing village or the Central Market. Those came from fishing vessels that used driftnets and currently the Ministry has no regulation for fish sizes but we do have some measures in place.”