LOCAL FISHERMEN RAISED CONCERNS OVER FOREIGN FISHING VESSELS
A fishing vessel in the Solomon seas. Photo credit: fisherynation.com
About 200 fishermen in North Malaita have called on the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to ask foreign fishing vessels not to disrupt local fishing seas in the area.
The fishermen made the call after discovering fishing vessels are catching fish from fishing rafts in the region.
SIBC’s stringer in Mbita’ama John Andrew Kiri reports a fisherman can make over $200 a day from catches from the raft, a steady income for most fishermen in North Malaita.
But he said now with little or no catch at all, daily fish demands at local markets in the region will be affected for months.
“When the fishermen reached the raft at 6 or 7 am early in the morning they usually discovered nothing around the fishing raft and often this would take months before the fish can return to the rafts and they said this has caused difficulties in fishing as well as shorten their daily catches for the daily fish demands.”
SIBC News understands, fishermen in Mbita’ama made a similar call last year.