Question
Summarize and condense the article below about Fugi's fisheries without excluding any key data: Fiji has a population of 898 760 in 2016 a land
Summarize and condense the article below about Fugi's fisheries without excluding any key data:
Fiji has a population of 898 760 in 2016 a land area of 18376 km2, a coastline of 5010 km, and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.29 million km2. Fisheries contribution to GDP in 2015 was estimated as USD 65.7 million, contributing 1.6 percent of national GDP. The export value of fish and fishery products in 2015 was USD110 million (of which USD58 million as re-exports) and import were worth USD104 million. Per caput consumption of fish in 2013 was estimated at being about 35.6 kg (live weight equivalent).
Fish and fishing are extremely important to the economy of Fiji. A large number of people are employed in the fisheries sector and fish makes an important contribution to the diet of local residents. In addition, fishing is cherished for its recreational and social aspects. In relative terms, fisheries is the third largest natural resource sector, behind sugar and "other crops". Tourism is another important industry for Fiji and there are obvious linkages between both tourism and the fisheries sector.
Some of the major constraints facing the Fijian fisheries sector are:
- The fully-exploited nature of many of the inshore resources, especially those close to the urban markets;
- Difficulties for small-scale fishers in accessing the offshore fishery resources;
- Difficulties associated with marketing products from the remote areas where abundance is greatest to the urban areas where the marketing opportunities are greatest;
- Competition by offshore vessels for access to limited infrastructure and services;
- Fuel cost increases which have a disproportionate effect on the small-scale motorized fisheries;
- Slow development of aquaculture for contribution to domestic food supply;
- Competition from more efficient foreign producers of fishery and aquaculture products;
- Lack of awareness on the part of coastal communities of the development limitations and the consequences of overexploitation; and
- Limited dialogue and understanding between the Fisheries Department and the tuna industry.
The opportunities in the fisheries sector include:
- Value-adding to the fishery products, for both domestic consumption and for export;
- Greater linkages to the expanding tourism industry;
- Expansion of the marine aquarium fishery;
- Exploitation of the offshore resources outside of the Fijian EEZ;
- Greater use of fish aggregating devices to promote offshore fishing by small-scale fishers;
- Greater use of management partnerships (community, government, NGO) in the management of coastal fisheries; and
- Increasing the effectiveness of the Fisheries Department by enhancing stakeholder input.
The annual marine catch of Fiji was estimated at 40 000 tonnes in 2015, of which 34 percent was tunas and other large pelagic species. Subsistence fishing is greatest away from the urban centers, while the commercial fishing is geared at supplying for the urban food markets and for export. Inland water catches are estimated at about 2 600 tonnes in 2013.
There has been considerable aquaculture work in Fiji (marine, brackishwater, freshwater) over many years and covering a large variety of species. The Fiji Government and donors have made a substantial investment in aquaculture. The annual aquaculture production in 2015 was estimated, however, at less than 200 tonnes of finfish and crustaceans and 550 tonnes of seaweeds. Recent aquaculture efforts in Fiji have included tilapia, freshwater prawns, carps, saltwater shrimp, milkfish, seaweed, giant clams, trochus, pearl oysters, bche-de-mer, sponges, turtles, mud crab, and corals. The primary focus of the Fisheries Department in the last few years has been on pearl oysters, tilapia, shrimp, seaweed, and giant clams.
Fiji is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement, the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and central Pacific Ocean, and the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild fauna and Flora (CITES). Fiji is also a party to a number of treaties and agreements relating to the management of regional fisheries as follows.
- The Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America;
- The Convention for Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South Pacific; and
- The Niue Treaty Agreement concerning in Fisheries Surveillance and Law Enforcement in the South Pacific region;
- Fiji is a member State of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency and the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
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