fish farming

The effort is to improve the quality and quantity of fish production, increase income and enrich the nutrition of inland rural communities in the Sepik region.

Eight hundred fifty-six rural population living in inland areas of the Vanimo-Green District of West Sepik Province will have better access to nutrient-rich fish protein for an improved diet, thanks to support provided by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), under the EU-funded STREIT PNG Programme.

Associate Professor Jes Sammut from UNSW Science has received more than $2.6 million from the Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research for a project that will build on previous work to improve fish farming in Papua New Guinea (PNG).

“We have transformed lives under our previous projects. It is exciting to be funded to do more in PNG,” A/Prof. Sammut said. 

Working in partnership with the Project Development Benefits (PDB) of the Forest Management Authority (FMA) programme, Pasi Fish Farm started in 2019 in the remote regions of Vanimo-Green in West Sepik Province.

The project which was meant for remote Hoguru Village and was initiated by the PDB in 2017-18, but with a lack of road access to the remote village, the project was stalled and the materials were left in the Pasi area.

The initial funding for that project was K250, 000.

The knowledge and skills received on tilapia fish farming, includes how to properly manage and clean fisheries facilities.

The Inland Fisheries farming training workshop was provided by the EU-STREIT PNG, as part of its Fisheries component in the province earlier this month.

Fifteen farmers, four of them women, from Numbo, Sasowia, East and West Yangoru LLGs attended the training held at the Catholic Mission Hall.

Fish farming may be the answer to counter this dilemma.

Fish farming is thriving in the Highlands Region, especially in Goroka, Eastern Highlands Province, and Chimbu.

It is estimated that Goroka has about 500 fish farmers while its neighbour, Chimbu, has about 300 farmers.

These farmers farm super tilapia, common carp and rainbow trout mainly for commercial purposes.

But researchers say fish farming is more than just a business; it has the potential to address some of the country’s health challenges.

In the first quarter of 20-17, the community received training from the Aiyura Fisheries office on how to dig fish ponds and piping of inlets and outlets for excessive water.

Barola coffee cooperative leader Mine Miefa said they have 22 fish ponds and each one contracted to a family and youth group in the community.

Miefa said it’s a great start to supporting their income generating activities.

The community also constructed a water supply system about 3 kilometres from the Barola Mountain to the village, for the fish ponds.

Rongelap Mayor James Matayoshi said this week that the first harvest is just a few weeks away. The fish farming work is being run by the Atoll Technologies of the Marshall Islands or ATMI, a local company in partnership with off-shore investors that was developed by the Rongelap Atoll Local Government with the aim of developing fish farming export ventures on remote atolls around this western Pacific nation.

“I hope over the next three to five years, we will mature as a big company for export markets,” he said. “The market is there in the United States and Asia.”