SOLOMON Islands is looking at processing 30,000 Metric Tonnes (MT) plus of fish with the completion of the Bina Harbour Tuna Processing Plant in West Kwaio, Malaita Province in 2028.
Assistant Secretary Project Management of Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Lisa Sigimanu confirmed this during the side meeting of the 2025 Honiara Summit at the Aquatic Centre yesterday.
Ms Sigimanu said the annual catch in Solomon Islands waters is around 10,000 metric tonnes.
She said from this total catch, 30 percent is processed in-country, whilst 70 percent is sold as whole fish to other fish-processing countries.
As such to process another 30,000 plus MT, Ms Sigimanu said it requires:
- 20 plus hectares of land;
- Capex cost of USD 232 million (infrastructure plus plant);
- 1600 direct employees for the plant;
- Locally flagged and crewed fleet of six purse seiners and up to 25 longlines;
- A processing plant at the full production of 33,000 MT per annum into cooked loins and additional 2000 MT of whole fish, supported by a 5000 MT cold store;
- A rebate system offered by SIG (USD210/MT for five years, reducing to USD150/MT thereafter) to the investor; and
- And investor with a capital to undertake such operations in Solomon Islands.
Ms Sigimanu said with these inputs, the plant once operational by 2028 will enable Solomon Islands to capture the additional economic value of the project at USD 409 million (estimate USD 27 million per annum) over 15 years and some additional industries to support the processing plant.
But she said the key challenges are lack of suitable infrastructures for fisheries (land, ports and water and power), lack of capital to fund such initiatives and limited market shares (access to market).
However, Ms Sigimanu said the country cannot dwell on the challenges, but find ways to overcome them.
She highlighted some of the achievements made so far on the long outstanding project, which the government tried to implement some 20 years ago.
These are:
- 170 hectares of land have been registered with the Bina Talifu Trust Board as of 2020;
- Completion of study for water and harbour requirements supported by the Australian Government in 2019 and 2023;
- Ongoing Geotechnical investigation works in refining the enabling infrastructures;
- Dedicated teams to support the project in place supported by the Solomon Islands Government and New Zealand Government;
- Additional support from International Finance Cooperation (IFC) to support the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources as the Transactional Advisor on Financial and Economic modelling;
- Talking with our other Pacific countries for the supply of tuna seasonality in Solomon Islands waters;
- Working closely with communities hosting the project; and
- Seeking partnerships with various stakeholders and joining partnerships such as the (East New Britain initiative (ENBi).
The fishery sector contributes 10 percent to Solomon Islands Government revenues. In the offshore sector alone, it contributes to around USD23 million to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
