N.Z. assistance for island fishermen

Press, 16 April 1982, Page 13

N.Z. assistance for island fishermen

A course for fisheries cadets at Nelson Polytechnic, contributions to tuna and billfish surveys, technical advice on the construction of a tuna fleet, and funding of freezer storage projects, are among the forms of assistance New Zealand bilateral and regional aid programmes are making to the development of South Pacific fisheries.

The Nelson Polytechnic course lasts 18 weeks. It began in February for 10 cadets from Pacific Island countries, including. Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Vanuatu. Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands.

The course was specially devised for South Pacific conditions. For example, instruction in the operation and maintenance of outboard motors is given more emphasis than it would be in a course for New Zealand fisheries cadets. The course is divided into six blocks — three in the classroom, two at sea, and one which involves training in fish handling and processing.

Similar courses for fisheries trainees from Island countries were held at Nelson Polytechnic in 1979 and 1981. The 1982 course is cofunded by _New Zealand's

regional aid programme, the South Pacific Commission and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation. At the request of the South Pacific Commission, New Zealand is also providing help for a regional tuna and billfish survey. The aims of the project are to estimate total tuna and billfish resources, advise countries in the region of the potential of their fisheries, and investigate fishing methods and boat types. New Zealand provided a grant of 960,090 in 1981-82 to help launch the project, which is a follow-up to the skipjack tuna survey completed last year by the South Pacific Commission. To help fund the survey, New Zealand contributed just over $300,000 between 1977 and 1981. Tuna is considered the most important fisheries resource in the South Pacific, and this has been recognised in the decision by the Government of the Solomon Islands to build a fleet of catchers with help from New Zealand and the Asian Development Bank. The bank is providing the capital and

By

OLIVER RIDDELL

New Zealand the expertise. Three New Zealand advisers are supervising the construction, fitting out and commissioning of the first four (of 10) 21-metre pole-and-line catchers, built in ferro-con-crete. In Tuvalu, New Zealand is providing $17,000 over two years (1981-83) for the purchase and equipping of an inshore fisheries vessel. The use of refrigeration in fish storage projects is a feature of the help New Zealand is providing in Papua New Guinea and the Cook Islands. For more than five years New Zealand has contributed equipment and expertise to a coastal fishing venture in the West New Britain region of Papua New Guinea. Ice-mak-ing equipment, cold stores, generators and a 20-metre barge have been supplied to the project together with the expert assistance of a refrigeration engineer on a longterm assignment. In the Cook Islands, a grant of $90,000 late last year went towards the provision of fish freezer equipment for the outer islands of Rakahanga and Palmerston.