The Tongan government will ban harvesting and processing sea cucumbers for three to five years.
Tonga’s Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon. Semisi Fakahau, has told Parliament a bill will be submitted to the House soon to alter the current law governing the harvesting of sea cucumbers.
Hon. Fakahau’s comments come after the previous government was charged with ignoring expert advice that the sea cucumber population was declining alarmingly.
The former government was also accused of being pressured by local Asian sea cucumber exporters into repeatedly lifting bans on harvesting beche-de-mer.
Most beche-de-mer from the Pacific is exported to Hong Kong and then goes to mainland China.
Hon. Fakahau said all sea cucumber business operators currently registered with the ministry would have their registration cancelled.
Hon. Fakahau was one of the leading critics of the former Tongan government’s relaxation of the ban on sea cucumber fishing.
He told Parliament the law must be altered to give the right of harvesting, farming and processing sea cucumber to people who lived by the beach in the area where sea cucumbers were harvested.
These areas would be labelled as marine protected areas.
This meant people who were not from those areas would not be allowed to farm sea cucumbers there.
They could only harvest sea cucumbers outside these protected areas.
The government would help residents process and marketing of the beche-de-mer, the minister said.
According to a report by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, The Status of Tonga’s Sea Cucumber Fishery, the beche-de-mer plays a significant role in the kingdom’s economy.
The report said 360 tonnes of beche-de-mer were exported in 2009 and 318 tonnes in 2010. The estimated value to fishers and processors from the two seasons was about US$7 million (TPS$13 million) per season.
A separate report by the international Food and Agriculture Organisation says that in many parts of the Pacific, high value species have been depleted and the viability of many sea cucumber fisheries is a matter for concern.
You can download both these reports using the links below.
In the run-up to the 2014 election, the previous Tongan government announced it would ban the harvesting of sea cucumbers for five years.
Radio New Zealand International quoted the then Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Sangster Saulala, as saying in October that the Government would also conduct a scientific survey to review the health of the sea cucumber fisheries.
The main points
- The Tongan government will ban harvesting and processing sea cucumbers for three to five years, according to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon. Semisi Fakahau.
- Fakahau’s comments come after the previous government was charged with ignoring expert advice that the sea cucumber population was declining alarmingly.
- The former government was also accused of being pressured by local Asian sea cumber exporters into repeatedly lifting bans on harvesting beche-de-mer.
- Fakahaui said all sea cucumber business operators currently registered with the ministry would have their registration cancelled.
For more information
The Status of Tonga’s Sea Cucumber Fishery (Secretariat of the Pacific Community)
