Wednesday, 18 September 2013
The Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries has denied claims it is in talks with China to allow subsidised fishing vessels into Samoa’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Ministry says the claim is untrue and insulting.
The claim was made by the Managing Director of Apia Export Fish Packers, John Luff in a letter to the editor published by the Samoa Observer on Monday.
Mr. Luff said he learned about the negotiations through an industry member who has government connections.
But the ACEO for the Fisheries Division, Joyce Samuelu Ah-Leong has told Radio New Zealand International there is no truth to the claims whatsoever.
She says the Government has not been approached by a Chinese company nor is it having any talks about fishing licences for foreign vessels.
She says the Fisheries Act prohibits the issuing of such licences, and the Fisheries Management Bill, which is about to be passed, further strengthens that prohibition.
“The intention is to ensure that our fish stocks can sustain the current fishing efforts,” she says.
“The claim of allowing subsidised Chinese fishing vessels is very much against that. And it’s also an insult to question Fisheries’ honesty and intention given every intention by the Fisheries, that is government.”
Mrs. Samuelu Ah-Leong says she has no idea where such claims would have come from.
But Mr. Luff is worried. He said local companies, like his, cannot compete.
“Why Samoa, with the smallest economic zone (E.E.Z.) in the Pacific would wish to embrace the country or countries with the largest distant water fishing fleets in the world, with obvious expansion objectives, is very difficult to understand,” Mr. Luff’s letter reads.
“The only logical conclusion that could be derived is that there is perhaps a trade off proposed in some alternative area that has little to do with the long-term viability of Samoa’s extremely valuable fish stocks.
“If this is the case, then I believe any such trade off, regardless of perceived short-term gains to Samoa, would be very ill conceived.”
Comments
“The only logical conclusion that could be derived is that there is perhaps a trade off proposed in some alternative area that has little to do with the long-term viability of Samoa’s extremely valuable fish stocks."
“If this is the case, then I believe any such trade off, regardless of perceived short-term gains to Samoa, would be very ill conceived.”
You can say that again. lol it would be a total loss of clean environment that our future generations will never have a chance to experience with it and enjoy, and the lost of tourists attraction.