A three day Regional Technical beche-de-mer meeting was opened yesterday in Nuku’alofa.
The meeting is a follow up on an endorsement that was made at a Coastal Fisheries and Beche-de-mer Summit which was held in Nadi last month.
During the summit, Pacific leaders made an endorsement to implement actions on beche-de-mer resources management in the Pacific Region.
At the opening of the meeting, Tonga’s minister of Agriculture and Food, Forest and Fisheries Hon Semisi Fakahau, “Tonga’s beche-de-mer resources are currently overexploited” and concerns have been made to look into frameworks that could help sustain these resources.
With overexploitation and other marine related challenges faced across the region, this meeting will look at establishing effective regional framework, that will support the sustainability of this natural resources in the region as a whole.
The meeting was jointly sponsored by PNG National Fisheries Authority, FAO and IUCN, Oceania Regional Office with support from SCP, USP and WorldFish Centre.
