Growing the Tongan Fisheries Sector.

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Growing the Tongan Fisheries Sector.

• Marc Wilson
• Tonga Fisheries Project
• An Australian Government funded Project

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Fisheries in Tonga

• Fisheries is important to the well-being of
  Tongans.
• Is a primary source of food security and cash
  generation, particularly for remote island
  communities.
• Makes a significant contribution to economic
  activity through its contribution to foreign
  earnings, supporting local infrastructure and
  service sectors, and in the domestic food retail
  sector.

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Fisheries in Tonga

• Can be broadly classified as either inshore or
  offshore.
• Inshore fisheries can be thought of as being
  either reef or lagoon associated and are mostly
  exploited at artisanal and subsistence levels.
  But includes Aquarium Fish, Seaweed and Beeche de
  mer fisheries
• by most reckoning are generally fully to
  overexploited.
• Offshore fisheries can be further divided into
  pelagic (oceanic) - Tuna and demersal (bottom
  associated) fisheries DW Line Fishery.

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This Presentation

• This paper will attempt to present strategies
  that could be used to grow the sector and in so
  doing reflect on the success of otherwise of
  Tongas fisheries bureaucracy.
• As the conference is focused on commercial
  fisheries the paper will not consider the small
  scale fisheries of Tonga.

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How much do Tongas Commercial Fisheries Produce?
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Are Tongas Commercial Fisheries of any
Importance?
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Fisheries Management and Development in Tonga

• Competent fisheries management requires several
  functions to be undertaken with efficiency and
  effectiveness.
• Core to these is Monitoring, Control and
  Surveillance of fisheries.
• Monitoring requires that production data and the
  effort used is accurately collected, collated and
  analyzed in a timely manner.
• Control requires that fisheries are operated
  under clear regulations and or management plans
  and that these are enforced so as to ensure
  compliance.
• Surveillance requires that activities associated
  with harvesting are kept under observations to
  facilitate Monitoring and Control.

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Conducive Fisheries Business Environment

• Why do we need this and what is actually
  required?
• The private sector is seen as the driver of
  economic activity and if this activity is slowed
  or impeded then the economy likewise slows and
  doesnt develop.
• The success of such an approach is evident in
  Samoa where over the past decade that Government
  and Public Service have adopted a strategy
  focused on providing a conducive environment for
  business.
• There is also the very important distinction that
  such an approach be ongoing and in support of
  existing businesses not just the encouragement of
  new entrants.

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Doing business in Tonga

• Presents a number of challenges that relate
  specifically to its geographic location,
  geological structure, demography, culture and
  governance.
• Mostly disadvantageous and add cost of doing
  business when compared to some industrialized and
  neighbouring nation states.
• Conversely they may also provide a few
  comparative and or absolute advantages to Tonga.
• Tonga needs to minimize the disadvantages and
  maximize its involvement in areas of absolute or
  comparative advantage such as Fisheries!

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Need to establish Business Conducive Governance.

• The World Bank defines governance as
• the exercise of political authority and the use
  of institutional resources to manage society's
  problems and affairs.
• Conducive governance means providing regulatory
  frameworks and processes that are consistent,
  transparent, accountable and efficient.
• Lets consider these in relation to Fisheries.

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Constraints Facing Sustainable Development of the
Fisheries Sector in the Kingdom of Tonga

• Mellon, A. (1995) made the following points.
• Little of the current workplan of the Ministry of
  Fisheries is predicated on the achievement of the
  objectives in the National Development Plan.
• Constraints to effective development and
  management, include
• open access to fisheries,
• emphasis on large scale projects,
• technical assistance to the sector is often not
  effective,
• inhospitable business environment,
• the civil service regulations inhibit productive
  use of resources,
• lack of functional link between the Ministry and
  fishermen,

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What about Management?

• The Fisheries Act 1989 established Fisheries
  Management Plans as the means by which Tongas
  fisheries were to be managed.
• In a Fisheries Sector Review undertaken in 1997
  the following findings were made
• Active management intervention as envisaged by
  the Fisheries Act 1989 is largely absent.
• In the eight years since the Fisheries Act became
  law, no fishery plans have been prepared and
  further
• Although lack of information is sometimes cited
  as the reason for lack of management action, in
  many important and declining fisheries there has
  been significant research. There seem to be
  numerous cases of substantial research leading to
  management suggestions upon which little action
  has been taken.
• With few exceptions enforcement of existing
  regulations is non existent

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Were there any consequences?

• Preston and Lokani (1990) recommended several
  simple, easy-to-implement management measures for
  beche de mer, none of which were implemented
  until the fishery collapsed and the GoT declared
  a Moratorium in 1997.
• Udagawa et al. (1996) give a history of advice on
  lobster management in Tonga and show 10 years of
  delay and negligence in implementing lobster
  management.
• Recommendations for the management of the DW Line
  Fishery started in 1992 recommended interim
  action was to
• monitor effort and catches - not done!
• avoid promoting entry to the fishery and not
  done!
• discourage any major increase in fishing effort
  not done!

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Ministrys Aquaculture Programme

• Review in 1997 concluded that-
• It is now well past the time when the Ministry
  should put in place a firm plan for promoting
  aquaculture as an economic activity in Tonga, and
  develop the mechanisms to implement it. Without
  such plans and mechanisms, it is questionable
  whether a developing country like Tonga should
  really be spending 25 of its total fisheries
  budget - on research which is having little or no
  development impact, and
• In Tonga, where fishery management is essentially
  non-existent, the benefits of such resource
  enhancement work is dubious.

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So what has changed in 10 years?

• Two new excellent pieces of contemporary
  fisheries legislation the Fisheries Management
  Act 2002 and the Aquaculture Management Act 2003
  these provide the platform to progress fisheries
  management and development in Tonga.
• Contain inbuilt provisions requiring a
  participatory approach to provide accountability
  and transparency.
• AusAID funded Tonga Fisheries Project assisted in
  the development of draft Fisheries Management
  Plans for all Tongas Commercial Fisheries.

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In Ten years Not Much!

• Active intervention as envisaged within the
  Fisheries Management Act 2002 is still largely
  absent and despite a significant increase in
  research resources little applicable analysis is
  undertaken
• Draft management plans prepared in 2002, no
  management plans have been implemented for
  fisheries except for the Tuna Management Plan
  implemented by the late Akauola in 2000.
• With few exceptions enforcement of existing
  regulations is non existent
• 2007 still no implemented management plan for DW
  Line Fishery many believe the seamount fishery
  has collapsed.
• The beche de mer fishery remains closed although
  the Project assisted in the drafting of a
  management plan over 2 years ago.
• The Aquaculture programme continues to absorb
  major resources and still has no plan

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A stable regulatory framework in the fisheries
sector?

• Fisheries Management Plans are the contemporary
  method. These plans are developed with full
  stakeholder input and are then adopted by
  Government as the legal framework for that
  fishery.
• The plan is collaboratively reviewed periodically
  to change as new issues arise ie adaptive and
  responsive.
• This means both the regulator and the industry
  have a clear understanding of how their fishery
  operates. The plans have clear management
  objectives and measurable performance criteria to
  ensure the objectives are being met.
• When implemented it is a system that provides a
  conducive business environment through assured
  access and catch.

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Why is this important?

• The fisheries sector needs a core base of
  profitability from which capital can be built to
  further reinvest to develop the sector.
• Tonga is capital poor and the lack of good
  business performance in the fisheries sector
  means the sector does not have access to normal
  commercial funding sources.
• The lack of performance is substantially due to
  poor fisheries administration.
• The point in presenting this situation is that
  much of what is now proposed to further develop
  the industry is contingent upon the establishment
  of a stable well administered fisheries sector
  conducive to worthwhile businesses.
• Tonga cannot hope to attract the capital needed
  to further develop the sector given the current
  state of fisheries administration in Tonga.

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Are Tongas Commercial Fisheries of any
Importance?
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Tongas Economic Strategy

• There is internationally a focus on the fragility
  of small island developing states due to their
  exposure to adverse environmental influences and
  small economies with little capacity to absorb
  adverse conditions.
• A major strategy must therefore include the
  development of economic and environmental
  resilience.
• In Tonga the Fisheries sector offers one of the
  few areas of renewable production that has a
  ready international market.
• A robust strategy needs to be implemented to
  capture as much value for these products in
  Tonga.

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Capturing the Value in Tonga

• Tonga needs to get the product form and marketing
  as near to the end producer in order to capture
  the value in Tonga.
• At present the transport of whole fish captures
  little of the value of the product.
• Most of the value of Tongas fresh fish exports
  are captured by the airlines and the distribution
  chain in the destination market.

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The Obstacles

• Value capture requires both capital and stable
  supplies of product.
• This will only eventuate if Fisheries Management
  is actually implemented in Tonga so as to ensure
  relatively stable and assured production and
  finally
• that fisheries are managed so that sufficient
  profit is made to enable reinvestment and to
  attract development capital.

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What is needed?

• A very drastic change in the focus of the
  Department of Fisheries.
• A responsive and proactive agency that
  administers fisheries to provide a conducive
  business environment and manages commercial
  fisheries for sustainability and profitability.
• A goal oriented agency that partners with
  stakeholders to achieve national goals.
• An approach as illustrated is outcome based and
  very focused on core business areas

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