A SPECIFIC bycatch component will be introduced to the Fiji Maritime Academy’s (FMA) new Deck Hand Fishing and Offshore Fishing Skipper Programmes.
This is made possible with the partnership between FMA and the World Wide Fund for Nature – Pacific (WWF-Pacific).
A statement issued today by the WWF-Pacific the new programmes will help enhance sustainability of the tuna longline fisheries in Fiji.
This is a first for Fiji, where bycatch mitigation training will now be offered at a tertiary institution in the country.
FMA’s Head of Safety, Survival and Fisheries Department, Captain Tevita Robanakadavu said “FMA is the only maritime trainer provider that is approved by the Maritime Safety and Authority of Fiji and this is the reason we have this partnership on seafarer / fishermen programme. Also, FMA has the facilities to carry out such trainings. The trainings will build that capacity of the industry.”
Part of the WWF-Pacific and FMA partnership will see 31 scholarships offered for the Deck Hand Fishing Programme and 15 scholarships for the Offshore Fishing Skipper Programme.
This is made possible through WWF-Pacific’s ‘Developing Sustainable and Responsible Tuna Longline Fisheries in Fiji’ project that is funded by New Zealand Aid’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) and WWF New Zealand.
Meanwhile WWF-Pacific’s Sustainable Fisheries and Seafood Programmes’ Fisheries Policy Officer, Vilisoni Tarabe said “Bycatch is the catch of non-target species by offshore fishing vessels. This also includes the incidental or unintentional catch of ‘species of special interest’ or endangered and protected species such as turtles, sharks and seabirds by the tuna longliners. These programmes will help create awareness to the deckhand and officers on the importance of minimising to the furthest extent possible the impact fisheries operations may have on these endangered and protected species while out at sea.”
