GIFF JOHNSON
MIMRA looks set to pull in over $24 million from purse seine fishing in 2017 — its highest total ever.
MIMRA Director Glen Joseph said nearly all of its fishing days for next year under the Parties to the Nauru Agreement’s vessel day scheme have been sold. This is anticipated to generate $23.9 million, with 88 fishing days still left to sell, which could generate close to another million dollars depending on the price.
While the PNA minimum price for a fishing day is $8,000, about one-third of MIMRA’s fishing days are being sold at prices ranging from $10,000 to $12,500 per day, said Joseph. Locally flagged or based vessels, including Koo’s Fishing Company and Pan Pacific Foods, get a discounted day rate for the approximately 1,800 fishing days they are buying for 2017. Most PNA member nations give discounted prices to locally-based vessels based on their contribution to local developments, including onshore processing, employment opportunities and other spinoffs.
PNA limits fishing days among its eight members to about 45,800 days annually. RMI gets a small share of this, at fewer than 3,000 fishing days because RMI’s 200 mile exclusive economic zone is on the fringe of the main fishing zones in the western Pacific. Papua New Guinea (over 16,000 days) and Kiribati (over 9,000 days) receive the most fishing days to sell based on past activity in their fishing grounds.
MIMRA sold all of its nearly 2,800 fishing days for this year, which generated $22 million in revenue, Joseph said.
Prior to 2010 when PNA’s vessel day scheme was not yet fully implemented, MIMRA averaged about $2 million a year in fishing revenue.
Read more about this in the December 30, 2016 edition of the Marshall Islands Journal.