Wednesday 07.05.14 MBP LEADERS UNITE TO CALL FOR REOPENING OF BDM A press release delivered to us early this week suggests all Milne Bays parliamentarians are united in taking to the Floor of Parliament a call to reopen the bech-de-mer fishery in the province off the back of devastation caused by Cyclone Ita in our island communities. This was also the consensus reached at a briefing with MPs in the province about the extent of damages in the islands last week- attended by Governor Titus Philemon and Alotau Open MP Charles Abel, the others absent for some reason or other. Governor Philemon who only recently returned from a nine-day visit to the hardest hit areas in Sudest, East and West Calvados and the Engineer Group of Islands says its also the general view of people on the ground. He says while they appreciate all the efforts put into raising funds and kind towards assisting them, they are also aware that this will only be but temporary. The real test is picking themselves up and recovering far sooner than the five years predicted. And they say opening up the bech-de-mer fishery is their hope of achieving this. These are communities who had agreed to the ban on bech-de-mer to allow for replenishing of stocks who after Cyclone Ita have to start again from scratch. Governor Philemon confirms at the current Parliament sitting, they will be bringing this to the national level via the Minister for Fisheries to National Fisheries Authority. Abel when asked confirms he is also supporting the call alongside Philemon and Samarai-Murua MP Gordon Wesley, Esaala MP Davis Steven could neither confirm nor deny at this time his position while Kiriwina-Goodenough MP Douglas Tomuriesa could not be reached for confirmation. An initial three year moratorium/ban was placed on the bech-de-mer industry by the NFA in 2009 for replenishing of stocks and by 2012 they extended the ban citing nil stock of mature sea cucumbers to properly spawn at the time which is presently ongoing. It affects 14 coastal provinces, Milne Bay being the biggest player of them all.
Posted on: Tue, 06 May 2014 22:45:26 +0000
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