Improvements are being made in the ability of Solomon Islands fish export industry to comply with requirements for the European Union (EU) market.
Fish exports are an important export earner for Solomon Islands worth more than SBD350 million per year. Most of these exports go to the EU, which is the largest value market in the world for fish products. Also at least 1,800 people are employed in fish export related jobs, mainly in Noro with Soltuna and NFD.
To maintain these exports Solomon Islands must comply with stringent requirements set by the European Union on catch and health certification requirements. To assist in protecting this important export market improvements are being made in the capacity and knowledge of the industry, and with staff in the Ministry of Fisheries and Ministry of Health responsible for certifying exports.
Technical training and support has been provided to Ministry of Health staff to improve their ability to monitor food safety requirements. Ministry of Fisheries staff have also received training and support to enable them to operate catch certification systems to meet EU standards on Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) requirements.
Most recently a training course was conducted with industry and government staff in Noro to strengthen catch certification and recording systems.
The assistance is being provided through a collaborative effort by the Australian Government funded Pacific Horticultural and Agricultural Market Access (PHAMA) programme, EU funded DevFish II project being implemented by the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), and the New Zealand Aid Programme funded Mekem Strong Solomon Islands Fisheries programme.
Managing Director of Soltuna, Mr Adrian Wickham, thanked both PHAMA and FFA for their efforts in providing the support to strengthen both government and industry capacity. He noted the huge importance of maintaining access to the EU market in terms of jobs and export returns. He called upon the government to ensure that in this year’s budget planning that adequate funding be made available to the competent authorities in both Ministries to ensure they could maintain staff in Noro and carry out their work effectively.
Further assistance is planned and being coordinated via the Seafood Industry Working Group made up of industry and government representatives.
Chair of the group, Director of Environmental Health, Mr Tom Nanau expressed his appreciation for the assistance being provided, and said it had proven vital to strengthening Solomon Islands ability to maintain access to these important export markets.
PHAMA is an Australian Government-funded initiative that provides practical and targeted assistance to support Pacific Island Countries to gain access for new products into new markets, and maintain and improve existing trade by helping them manage the regulatory aspects of exporting primary products.
DEVFISH II is an EU funded programme aimed at ensuring a fairer slice of fisheries benefits for Pacific peoples by increasing the contribution of tuna fisheries to Pacific ACP economies, boosting employment of Pacific Islanders in tuna fishing and processing, and reducing Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing in the Pacific.
