Riya Mala 
Minister for Fisheries Alitia Bainivalu. [Photo: FILE]
Fiji is looking to unlock greater economic returns from its ocean resources, with the government now focusing on boosting value-added processing in the fisheries sector—particularly tuna.
Alitia Bainivalu, Minister for Fisheries, says one of the main barriers preventing the sector from reaching its full potential is funding, especially for establishing more facilities and research capacity.
She says a key priority is expanding research and development into value-adding processes that can extract more benefit from tuna, beyond what is currently being achieved.
At present, facilities such as Pacific Fishing Company Limited (PAFCO) are already producing fish oil on a limited scale, but the government hopes to significantly expand this, increasing returns and strengthening the economic value of Fiji’s fisheries sector.
“I think in that area, it would be funding to probably establish more facilities and probably a research facility to actually do more research on work surrounding value-adding and extracting more benefits from TUNA than what we currently have now.”
Bainivalu says that, beyond development, illegal fishing remains a major concern, but authorities say Fiji already has a strong monitoring system in place.
She adds that all licensed vessels are required to install a Vessel Monitoring System, which allows continuous tracking of fishing activity at sea.
Bainivalu adds that the focus now is not only on protecting marine resources but also on maximising their economic value while ensuring stronger regional surveillance and long-term sustainability.
Officials say this regional cooperation, supported by agreements, allows Fiji to track vessels across jurisdictions and strengthen enforcement against illegal fishing.
