Seven Fijian Fishing Companies benefit from Tuna Support Fund

These are long term problems, and for us companies to get through the next five to 10 years, it is going to be extremely difficult,” added Mr Southwick.

He also felt that these were problems that were not solved easily or quickly, and needed a few years of recovery.

He commented that it was a matter of trying to retain the skills, market, captains, engineers, knowledge and everything in the phase of major loses by the industry. “Some of these generations of the fishing companies are not going to be around to see the recovery.

“It is going to be a long time before private business people can look into fishing industries and say; ‘oh this is a good industry to invest in’.” The TSF has been a blessing for the local shipping companies in the fishing space. This support is necessary so that local companies can get through this period so that in 10 – 15 years time all is not lost.

“If the industry fails, we will lose all our skills and market. The Fishing Industry must survive,” stressed Mr Southwick.

“The training, skills, engineers, the captains, fishermen, processing workers has to be reserved for the next five to 10 years down the trail.

“It is very close to failing and if it fails now, there is no future for this industry,” he added.

At the same time, it was also important to ensure that the companies receiving the funds were compliant with various regulatory requirements. And were above

The TSF has been a blessing for the local shipping companies in the fishing space. This support is necessary so that local companies can get through this period so that in 10 – 15 years time all is not lost.

board in their dealings. Mr SayedKhaiyum said that there are fishing companies that don’t necessarily do the right thing.

For number of years, a lot of fishing companies hid behind different companies to hide their shareholding.

For instance, he mentioned how some fishing companies had stolen letterheads and made representations on different letterheads to the Fishing Industries and to the Ministry of Fisheries.

It is for this reason that only companies that were genuinely impacted benefited from the TSF.