Ministry of Fisheries aims at lifting sector performance Featured
World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, Madame Victoria Kwakwa, and a delegation of senior World Bank officials joined the Minister for Fisheries Hon Semisi Fakahau, Fisheries CEO Dr Tuíkolongahau Halafihi, and sector stakeholders at the occasion.
10 July, 2019. A key project which aims to improve management and recovery of selected fisheries in Tonga to benefit more than 10,000 people in over 40 coastal communities has begun.
At an official event in Neiafu, Vavaú on Tuesday 2 July, the Ministry of Fisheries and the World Bank launched the Halafononga ki ha Ngātai Tuúloa Tonga: Pathway to Sustainable Oceans Project.
World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific, Madame Victoria Kwakwa, and a delegation of senior World Bank officials joined the Minister for Fisheries Hon Semisi Fakahau, Fisheries CEO Dr Tuíkolongahau Halafihi, and sector stakeholders at the occasion. The successful event involved a formal ceremony, followed by a boat excursion to view Mabé pearl farms and Special Management Areas in Útungake and Útulei.
Known in short as Tongafish Pathway Project, the World Bank-funded USD 10 million, six-year programme supports achievement of the Tonga Fisheries Sector Plan long-term goals. The objective is to strengthen sustainable management and development of selected commercial, aquaculture, and community fisheries.
The selected fisheries are: Offshore commercial fisheries (tuna longline and deepwater snapper); inshore commercial fisheries; aquaculture for Mabé pearl oysters (Pteria penguin) and giant clams (Tridacna spp.); and community managed SMAs.
Anticipated outcomes include an efficiently supervised sector, increased women and youth participation, and food security. World Bank Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Madame Victoria Kwakwa stated, “Healthy, sustainable fisheries and marine environments are critical to life here in Tonga, delivering positive economic, social and environmental outcomes, including for women, by promoting female involvement in decision making around fisheries management.
A significant focus of the project will be training and capacity building for Fisheries Ministry staff, and SMA and aquaculture stakeholders. Minister for Fisheries Hon Semisi Fakahau said the World Bank’s generous support will be “the main means for empowering staffs of the Ministry of Fisheries…in close collaboration with other line ministries and development partners, and facilitate capacity development in the Fisheries Sector to achieve effective management of sustainable fisheries throughout the country by year 2024”.
For implementation, a Project Management Unit (PMU) has been established as a new division of the Ministry. The PMU ensures effective project governance according to World Bank requirements. Delivery of project activities sits with the Ministry’s three operational divisions – the Science; Compliance; and Management and Development Divisions.
While the Tongafish Pathway is primarily a Ministry of Fisheries project, the Ministry will work closely with other government departments, regional agencies, development partners and stakeholders.
The Tongafish Pathway project is financed through an International Development Association (IDA) grant and credit resources: USD 5 million in Regional IDA and USD 5 million in National IDA.
- Fisheries
