The Cook Islands' economy looks set to get a multi-million dollar boost thanks to a deal with Chinese firm Shanghai Deep Sea Fisheries (SDSF), Cook Islands News reported on Tuesday. Ten purpose built SDSF vessels would fish Cook Islands' waters with their catch being processed in the islands' fish processing plant at Nikao, on Rarotonga.
The deal comes three months after Cook Islands Fish Exports (CIFE) future was in the balance when New Zealand fishing companies Sealord and Hawkes Bay Seafoods left the islands to concentrate on their home operations.
Earlier this month CIFE's sole shareholder, Brett Porter, signed the deal with SDSF, which would see it get a cut of the profits. “This company (SDSF) has the sort of capital backing that will enable us to create a robust business that will be able to handle the seasonal fluctuations of this, or any, fishery,†Mr. Porter said.
The agreement was one of the biggest in the islands' history.
Another CIFE spokesman, Fang Fang Yang, said SDSF's involvement would secure the future of the year-old Nikao factory and the jobs of those who worked there.
SDSF had made a long-term commitment to the islands' fishery, he said. “They are building 10 new boats which are being specifically designed for the Cook Islands. The boats will cost millions,†Mr. Yang said. “While they are doing that they have agreed to send us several of their existing boats this year,†he said.
The Chinese boats would also fish in international waters around the islands' exclusive economic zone and that catch would also be processed at the Nikao factory. SDSF would target high value fish species in islands waters and beyond, intending them for export to the lucrative markets in Japan and the United States.