GIFF JOHNSON
Kramer Dock took front and center for a tour by the visiting Taiwan business delegation last week.
The tour of fishery operations at the dock following briefings by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority and Pacific International Inc. about the readiness of the fisheries sector for partnerships with interested investors.
“At MIMRA, we ensure our fisheries are sustainable, compliant, and investment-ready —while actively supporting private sector development,” said MIMRA Deputy Director Florence Edwards at the Trade and Investment Promotion Seminar held last week at Marshall Islands Resort for the visiting Taiwanese businesses representatives, many of whom are in the fisheries sector.
“You will also hear from one of our fisheries service companies (PII) today, demonstrating that this sector is already active, growing and ready to scale with partners,” Edwards emphasized.
Jojo Kramer, manager of Kramer Dock, told the business people that the dock is still being built but at the present time can handle two purse seiners at a time. “We are looking to expand the facilities,” he said.
Jojo said PII’s dockside tuna unloading directly into freezer containers was more efficient than transshipment to carrier vessels in the lagoon and it more effectively manages risks of illegal fishing as well as developing more jobs locally. He noted that the Kramer Dock handled 8,300 tons of tuna from fishing vessels last year.
MIMRA Director Glen Joseph, who was also at the investment seminar, told the meeting that MIMRA anticipated having one or more fisheries access agreements and joint ventures with Taiwan companies in place by the end of the year.
The day following the investment seminar, the Taiwanese group crowded under a tent at the Kramer Dock to listen to Jojo introduce the facilities and then hand it over to grandfather, PII CEO Jerry Kramer.
Jerry said Majuro is well positioned to be a hub for tuna off-loading at dockside into freezer containers for export. He said if PII had the funds, the dock with a wide array of services would be complete by now, indicating PII’s interest in partnerships with Taiwan firms. Their long-term goal is to add cold storage facilities and become a one-stop shop for the fisheries industry, he said.
Jerry also mentioned the RMI move to gain certification to export fish to the European market, a development he said will require tuna to be containerized to take advantage of the market access.
The previous day, at the investment seminar, MIMRA Deputy Director Florence updated the potential Taiwan fisheries investors on the work to gain access to the European Union market.
“For interested investors, the timing is right,” she said. “Our EU audit is complete, positioning us for duty-free, quota-free access to Europe. We now await an official reply to move forward. Our tuna already reaches major global buyers. And most importantly, there is a clear first-mover advantage to build value here, not just extract it.”
The Taiwan delegation visit wrapped up with their tour of the Kramer Dock before heading for the airport and their charter flight home. As part of the program at the dock, Kramer Dock crew showed off their tuna off-loading equipment, demonstrating how the Mark-2 tuna loader works to load fish into a freezer container.
It was purchased last year with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization’s FISH4ACP project with MIMRA, which has focused on developing the tuna transshipment industry and identify areas of the tuna value chain suitable for engagement in by RMI companies.
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