The Fiji Ministry of Forests and Fisheries has great ambitions, and is striving to make fishing in Fiji a billion-dollar industry in 10 years time. Minister Konisi Yabaki said this is a realistic forecast given the huge leakage persistent in one of Fiji’s oldest industries. Tuna is the main species landed by the fishing fleet in Fiji.
Yabaki says the industry earns 161-million dollars annually, but this can be improved to almost 600-million dollars if the leakage factor is minimized. He says this would mean tighter control with tariffs, customs revenue, licensing and cannery systems, the major revenue earners.
To realise this, the Ministry has employed tighter controls on its licensing method by giving more power to the Licensing Committee. An application must first be certified Fiji Trade and Investment Board before further scrutinizing by the committee. Close attention is given to the authenticity of shareholding to see that shareholders are genuine individuals with business entities. Where joint ventures are concerned, there is a check on whether Indigenous Fijian and Rotuman shareholders have financial status.
So far this year only 18 licenses have been approved and five have been provisionally granted. The committee is reevaluating 61 applications and would make a decision at the end of this month. The Ministry last year made available 110 licenses of which 101 were issued.