Business

Tuna shortage a concern: Koroilavesau

October 1, 2019 12:35 pm

Fiji continues to look into other avenues to increase the tuna supply for processing at the Pacific Fishing Company Limited in Levuka which.

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Minister responsible and current Acting Prime Minister Semi Koroilavesau says they continue to face a shortage of tuna with around 120 metric tonnes needed a day to efficiently run operations.

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However, PAFCO is now only able to process around 70 metric tons daily which comprises of both albacore and skipjack tuna.

Koroilavesau says they’re hoping other Pacific Island Countries will be able to assist them with increasing their catch as well as marketing Fiji as a hub processing center.

“We have involved the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially with the roving Ambassador in the Pacific in trying to get the discussion going with other countries that we had targeted to try and get more tuna for PAFCO.”

Meanwhile, last year the government invested over $16 million dollars in a new storage facility for PAFCO to be able to store up to four thousand metric tonnes of processed tuna.