The private sector was advised that if they want a slice of lucrative fish pie, they should invest in ancillary support rather than highly competitive tuna fleets.

The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) deputy director general James Movick addressed a group of around 50 Pacific business representatives at the second day of the private sector dialogue, held in tandem with the Forum.

He advised the private sector against investing in ”highly competitive, highly regulated“ oceanic tuna fleets, because high risks place newcomers at a disadvantage.

Instead, he said the best opportunities for the private sector to invest in fisheries lay within ancillary support: supply of goods and services like ports services, engineering and transportation of fish.

FFA is a body which aims to strengthen national capacity and regional solidarity for sustainable tuna fisheries by providing management and advice to its 16 member countries.

Pacific Islands countries catch just $200 million worth of tuna from its fisheries while foreign nations fishing in the same waters catch over $1 billion.

FFA is now telling foreign companies that if they want access to the region’s fish stocks, they must be prepare to invest onshore, such as setting up canneries.

Inward investment to the regional fisheries sector exceeded US$200 million in the last 12 months.

It is important for the private sector to work with communities in setting up business on-shore, said Movick.

Traditional communities often find it hard to adjust to new ways of doing things, he said, before noting when he first opened a cannery in the Pacific employing mainly women, their husbands showed up outside every time they worked after-hours.

”The husbands thought something fishy was going on apart from cutting fish... I had to explain these women were now the major breadwinners and they had to adapt.“

The private sector also needs to work with government, which often ”looks to itself“ to safeguard fishing access rights.

”If the private sector could get secure, transferable access rights quotas for long term, that would certainly assist industry financing challenges, for example in New Zealand.“

Movick believes it is a problem that governments around the Pacific are ”still hanging onto these rights“ when they may not have adequate advice to make decisions.

He points to studies that show government should not be involved in business, as political interference is common.

The private sector could play a part in advising governments on making wise investment decisions, he says.

”The fisheries impact across the Pacific’s entire economy and community, and the failure of private sector groups to work with the government undercuts what we are trying to do.“

Movick addressed by-catch concerns, saying if countries do not want to waste by-catch, governments need to decide what price to sell it at so as not to disrupt prices for local fishermen.

He also noted the trend of Pacific governments setting aside ”whole swathes of ocean“ for marine parks – which is done, he believes, to impress other countries with their conservation efforts.

”A lot of groups are currently putting pressure on governments to set up marine parks. There is nothing wrong with this, but it needs to be based on underlying science particularly if economic benefit is at stake.“

Results from this meeting, which also included discussion on the Pacific’s aging fleets being unable to compete with foreign vessels, were to be tabled by the chair at the Leaders’ Plenary Session.