Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nationsfor a world without hunger
The designations employed and the presentation of material in the map(s) are for illustration only and do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal or constitutional status of any country, territory or sea area, or concerning the delimitation of frontiers or boundaries. Part I Overview and main indicatorsPart II Narrative (2017)
Additional information⇧Part I Overview and main indicatorsPart I of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile is compiled using the most up-to-date information available from the FAO Country briefs and Statistics programmes at the time of publication. The Country Brief and the FAO Fisheries Statistics provided in Part I may, however, have been prepared at different times, which would explain any inconsistencies. Country briefPrepared: March 2018 Solomon Islands has a population of 599 419 in 2016, a land area of 28 370 km2, a coastline of 4 270 km and the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of 1.34 million km2. Fisheries contribution to GDP in 2014 was estimated as USD 25.5 million, corresponding to 2.5 percent of the national GDP. In 2015, fisheries exports were worth USD 50.3 million while imports were worth USD 2.1 million. In 2016 5 752 subsistence fishers were estimated with a further 660 women and 5 076 men working in marine fisheries. In total, including deep sea fisheries 11 752 people were estimated to be engaged in the sector. The fisheries situation of the country is characterized by the large importance of both subsistence fisheries and offshore industrial fisheries. Because 90 percent of the Solomon Islands population is living in remote rural areas, subsistence fishing activities are of great importance for nutrition. Total fisheries production was 66 400 tonnes in 2016 with tuna and tuna-like fishes accounting for over 85 percent of total catch. Currently aquaculture production of food fish is limited to Mozambique tilapia grown on subsistence scale with a total production estimated to 10 tonnes in recent years. However, farming of the seaweed, Kappaphycus alvarezii at the eastern tip of Guadalcanal has been successful and steadily growing. Around 11 000 tonnes of farmed seaweeds (wet weight) was harvested annually and dried for export market during 2013-2016. Solomon Islands continued to be the largest seaweed farming countries in the Pacific. Annual per capita consumption was 33.5 kg in 2013. The offshore fisheries are responsible for a large percentage of formal jobs in the country, while both processed and raw tuna are major exports. The licensing of foreign vessels for offshore fishing in the Solomon Islands’ EEZ is a substantial source of revenue for the government. The annual catch from locally-based offshore fisheries has ranged in recent years between about 14 000 and 22 000 tonnes. Purse seining is responsible for about 75 percent of the catch, with pole-and-line fishing and longlining supplying the balance. About 90 percent of the catch is tuna, with various species of bycatch making up 10 percent. The foreign offshore fleets catch much more than local vessels. Solomon Islands is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the UN Fish Stocks Agreement and the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and central Pacific Ocean. Solomon Islands hosts the Secretariat of the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency in Honiara. Solomon Islands is also a party to a number of treaties and agreements relating to the management of regional fisheries. General geographic and economic indicators Table 1 -General Geographic and Economic Data - Solomon Islands
Key statistics
Source: FAO Country Profile FAO Fisheries statisticsTable 2 in this section is based on statistics prepared by the FAO Fishery Information, Data and Statistics Unit and disseminated in 2018. The charts are based on the same source but these are automatically updated every year with the most recent statistics. Table 2 — FAO fisheries statistics – Solomon Islands
Please Note:Fishery statistical data here presented exclude the production for marine mammals, crocodiles, corals, sponges, pearls, mother-of-pearl and aquatic plants. Updated 2017⇧Part II NarrativePart II of the Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profile provides supplementary information that is based on national and other sources and that is valid at the time of compilation (see update year above). References to these sources are provided as far as possible. Production sectorMost of the people of the Solomon Islands depend on agriculture, fishing and forestry for part of their livelihood. Most manufactured goods and petroleum products are imported. Natural resources include fish, forests, gold, bauxite, phosphates, lead, zinc and nickel. Agriculture products include cocoa beans, coconuts, palm kernels, rice, potatoes, vegetables, fruit, timber, cattle, pigs and fish. The main industries are based on fish (tuna), mining, timber, palm oil and tourism. Approximately 75 percent of the labour force in 2000 worked in agriculture, 20 percent in services and 5 percent in industry (Pinca et al., 2009). The fisheries situation of the country is characterized by the importance of both subsistence fisheries and offshore industrial fisheries. Because 90 percent of the Solomon Islands population lives in remote rural areas, subsistence fishing is of great importance for nutrition. The offshore fisheries are responsible for a large percentage of formal jobs in the country, while both processed and raw tuna are major export commodities. The licence fee for foreign vessels to fish in the Solomon Islands exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is a substantial source of revenue for the government. Fisheries statistics can be presented in different forms to cater for different purposes. In the Solomon Islands statistics published by FAO (Part 1 of this profile), the presentation follows the international conventions and standards used by FAO and its Member States for reporting catches, which are given by the flag of the catching vessel. Accordingly, the fishery and aquaculture production of the Solomon Islands in 2014 published by FAO (as given in Part 1) was 73 620 tonnes. In Table 3 below, the Solomon Islands fishery production statistics include the catch by Solomon Islands-flagged vessels, the catch by small boats operated by Solomon nationals and the catch from fishing activities that do not involve a vessel (e.g. reef gleaning). The offshore category in the table is defined as the catch from Solomon Islands-flagged, industrial-scale fishing operations that are carried out anywhere in the western and central Pacific Ocean (i.e. inside or outside Solomon Islands waters). Table 3: Solomon Islands fisheries production (as per FAO reporting standards)
The amounts of production given in the above table differ from those shown in Part 1. The table consists of production estimated from a variety of sources (see SPC study below), whereas the quantities in Part 1 are generally those reported to FAO by the Solomon Islands Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR). The major difference between the above table and Part 1 is in the category “Solomon Islands-flagged offshore”. The amount listed in Table 3 for this category is from the official report of the Solomon Islands (MFMR, 2015) to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). A recent study by the Pacific Community (SPC) presents the fishery statistics of the Solomon Islands in a different way from that of FAO. The SPC study reports the amount of catch in the Solomon Islands fishery waters, regardless of vessel flag. In the study, the catches are placed in different categories, which is useful for other purposes, such as administration of the foreign fishing that occurs in the fishery waters of the Solomon Islands. A summary of fishery production from the SPC study is given in Table 4 below. Table 4: Fisheries production in Solomon Islands waters, 2014
Some comment is required to explain the difference between the information in this table and that in Part 1 of this profile:
(2) In the SPC study, “offshore locally based” is the catch in Solomon Islands waters from industrial-scale tuna fishing operations that are (a) based at a port in the Solomon Islands, and (b) generally harvested more than 12 nautical miles offshore. (3) “Offshore foreign-based” is the catch in the Solomon Islands zone from catch from industrial-scale tuna fishing operations that are based at ports outside the Solomon Islands. Under the international standardized System of National Accounts (SNA, 2009), those catches do not contribute to the GDP of Solomon Islands. Marine sub-sector Catch profileIn the offshore fishery, the domestic fleet4 in 2014 consisted of purse-seine vessels and pole-and-line vessels (MFMR, 2015; E. Honiwalu, personal communication, August 2015). Estimates of the volume and value of catches of the four main commercial species of tuna in the WCPFC area have been made by the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) using data sourced from SPC’s Oceanic Fisheries Programme. Using the “catch by national fleet” and “value by national fleet” spreadsheets of FFA (2015) the volumes and values5 can be determined (Table 5). Table 5: Volume and value of the tuna catch by the Solomon Islands domestic fleet
For 2014, the combined purse-seine and pole-and-line catch of 41 523 tonnes was worth USD 57 520 263 or SBD 438 879 607 (Gillett, 2016). The FFA spreadsheet (FFA, 2015) can be used to estimate the volume and value of the foreign tuna fleet catches in Solomon Islands waters (Table 6). Table 6: Volume and value of the catch by foreign tuna fleets
In 2014, the volume of the catch by foreign tuna vessels in Solomon Islands waters was 36 573 tonnes, with a Solomon Islands dockside value of USD 79 228 378 or SBD 604 512 524 (Gillett, 2016). It appears that 2014 was not a typical year for offshore fishing in the Solomon Islands zone. It was a strong El Niño year and foreign-based purse-seine catches characteristically move eastward from Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands towards Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tokelau during El Niño periods. The increase in catch by the domestic offshore fleet between 2013 and 2014 (almost doubling) could have been due to the increase in the number of purse seiners or to counting some of the catch of the locally based foreign fleet as domestic catch. Estimates of the catches of the coastal fisheries vary widely. SPC recently examined a large number of Solomon Islands fisheries studies on coastal fishing and used the information selectively to make catch estimates (Gillett, 2016):
The lack of a fisheries statistical system for coastal fisheries prevents the identification of quantitative trends in these fisheries. There is, however, a general perception that the important coastal resources are increasingly subject to over-exploitation close to urban areas. A recent study of fishing in four villages in Solomon Islands (Albert et al., 2015) presents evidence showing that, to some degree, fishers compensate for falling catches of reef fish from shallow coral reefs by visiting fishing sites further away, diversifying fishing methods, and targeting pelagic species through trolling. (4) In some recent government publications (e.g. MFMR, 2016) the “national fleet” appears to include foreign-flagged, locally based vessels (i.e. a large number of foreign-flagged longliners). In this report, the “national fleet” and “domestic fleet” are considered to consist solely of Solomon Islands-flagged vessels. (5) The values from the FFA (2015) spreadsheet have been reduced by 15 percent to adjust the Bangkok price to a Solomon Islands dockside price. Landing sitesLanding sites for the offshore fishery are diverse. All landings by the local pole-and-line vessels are made at the cannery at Noro in the Western Province. The local purse-seine vessels mostly offload at Noro, either for processing at the local tuna cannery or for transshipment to overseas canneries. Foreign purse-seine vessels either transship out of Honiara, or deliver to a foreign port. When locally based longliners operate, the catches are unloaded in Honiara for air freighting overseas. Landings from the coastal commercial fishery are made mostly at population centres. Most small-scale commercial fisheries are located near the main urban area of Honiara, and to a much lesser extent, around the towns of Auki on Malaita Island and Gizo in the west. Subsistence fishery landings occur at villages throughout the coastal areas of the country, roughly in proportion to the distribution of the population. Fishing practices/systemsThe number of Solomon Islands-flagged vessels in the offshore fisheries is given in Table 7. The purse seiners are responsible for well over 90 percent of the catch of Solomon Islands-flagged vessels. Table 7: Number of Solomon Islands-flagged vessels, 2011–2015
No discussion of offshore fishing in the Solomon Islands would be complete without some mention of the rise and fall of the Solomon Taiyo Fishing Company. Box 1 below summarizes the company’s story. The Japanese partner pulled out in 2000 during a period known in the Solomon Islands as the “ethnic tensions”. Shortly after, the company restructured itself as Soltai Fishing and Processing Ltd but has struggled to survive to the present. Box 1: Solomon Taiyo Fishing Company
In July 2016, the Solomon Islands skipjack and yellowfin purse-seine and pole-and-line fisheries achieved Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification (Blaha, 2016). The MSC sets standards for sustainable fishing and supply chain traceability. Organizations meet these standards to demonstrate to consumers that their products are sustainable. The coastal commercial fisheries produce finfish and invertebrates to supply the urban markets and for export. The vessels fish in lagoons, on reefs, and in coastal pelagic areas by handlining, trolling, spearing (both spear guns and weighted spears), netting and hand collection. Small outboard-powered vessels are mainly used, but some commercial fishing (i.e. for beche-de-mer) is done from non-powered canoes, or without a vessel (i.e. spearfishing or trochus collection from shore). There is sporadic fishing for live reef fish employing hook/line, holding tanks, and large transport vessels with live wells. Fishing for live bait for pole-and-line tuna fishing occurs in lagoons using underwater lights and a large lift-net, with the baitfish kept alive on vessels in bait wells. Commercial fishing for finfish, which are highly perishable, is largely confined to urban areas and locations with direct transport links to urban areas. Many export products (e.g. beche-de-mer, trochus) are non-perishable and the fisheries they support are found in most areas of the Solomon Islands. In an attempt to overcome the constraints of transportation on coastal commercial fishing, fisheries centres were established in a number of rural areas in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but for various reasons many have not survived. Two of the important coastal commercial fisheries are trolling for pelagic fish around fish aggregation devices (FADs) and diving for sea cucumber.
In the Solomon Islands, there is a large variety of subsistence fishing techniques. Fishers mainly use non-powered canoes or swim from the shore, with common fishing methods including hook/line, hand collection, various types of traditional netting, and spearing by both wading and diving. Typical characteristics of subsistence fisheries are: specialized knowledge often passed down through generations; labour-intensive operations sometimes involving the entire community; sharing of the catch amongst the community; social restrictions/prohibitions; and gender-specific activities. The traditional fishing lore of the country (i.e. knowledge and practices) is extremely diverse and varies considerably between islands and ethnic groups. Buga and Vuki (2012) describe kite fishing, a very interesting subsistence fishing technique of the Solomon Islands: This method of fishing uses the principles of trolling. The largest fish caught using this method are the garfish and barracuda. A kite is made from sago palm leaves. Attached to the edge of the kite is a string made of braided bush strings or from modern nylon strings. At the end of the string is a lure made of spider web with no hooks attached to it. The kite is then flown by paddling across the water. The spider web lure drags on the water’s surface and when the fish see it they attack it. Their teeth stick to the wet, sticky spider web. The fisher knows a fish is caught when the line is tight and the kite falls into the water.Main resourcesThe composition of the 2015 tuna catch (for all gear types) in the waters of the Solomon Islands is given in Table 8. Groups that are common in the purse-seine catch other than tunas are sharks, billfish, rainbow runner and triggerfish. Groups that are common in the longline catch other than tunas are sharks, billfish, opah, wahoo and dolphinfish. Table 8: Composition of the 2015 tuna catch in Solomon Islands waters (all gear)
In terms of the status of the fish resources given in the above tables, the four major species of tuna in the Solomon Islands mix freely with those of the neighboring countries in the western and central Pacific. Recent information from the Scientific Committee of the WCPFC (WCPFC, 2016) shows that for:
The coastal fisheries catch a large variety of finfish and invertebrate species. A study by FFA (Richards et al., 1994) showed that approximately 180 species of reef finfish from 30 families are caught from shallow-water by the domestic fishery. Catches are dominated by the families Lutjanidae (snappers), Serranidae (groupers and rock cods), Lethrinidae (emperors), Scombridae (mackerels) and Carangidae (trevallies). Important commercial invertebrate species are beche-de-mer, trochus, green snail, giant clams, crabs and lobsters. The subsistence fisheries take a much larger diversity of marine animals and plants, with the most important groups being finfish and molluscs. A study in Roviana Lagoon in the Solomon Islands (Albert et al., 2015) gives the composition of the catch in 2011 (Table 9). Table 9: Composition of the catch of a Solomon Islands coastal fishery
In the Solomon Islands, there are 22 known species of sea cucumber (Holothuria atra, H. fuscogilva, H. nobilis, H. fuscopunctata, H. coluber, H. scabra, H. pervicax, H. edulis, Actinopyga mauritiana, A. lecanora, A. palauensis, Stichopus chloronotus, S. hermanni, S. vastus, S. horrens, Pearsonothuria graeffei, Bohadschia vitiensis, B. argus, B. similis, Thelenota rubrolineata, T. ananas and T. anax), along with a few undescribed species that are being exploited in various provinces in the Solomon Islands (Ramofafia, 2005, cited in Pinca et al., 2009) In terms of the status of coastal fishery resources, there has been little new stock assessment information in the last 20 years, with the exception of recent work on invertebrates (e.g. sea cucumbers (Box 2)). In general, fish and invertebrate species that are sought after, and located in areas readily accessible to many fishers, tend to be heavily exploited or over-exploited. Box 2: Condition of sea cucumbers in the Solomon Islands
Management applied to main fisheriesThe offshore fisheries in the Solomon Islands are managed on national, subregional, and regional levels:
A crucial aspect of the management of the offshore fisheries in the Solomon Islands is the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and its Vessel Day Scheme. The early history of the PNA is given by Tarte (2002): In February 1982 the Nauru Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries of Common Interest was opened for signature. The Nauru Agreement had been negotiated by seven Pacific island states – Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Solomon Islands. This group of countries (later joined by Tuvalu) is known collectively as the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA). The conclusion of the Nauru Agreement marked the beginning of a new era in Pacific Island cooperation in the management of the region’s tuna stocks. It was an important milestone in the exercise of coastal states’ sovereign rights over their 200-mile EEZs. The PNA group accounts for much of the tuna catch in the Pacific island region. In 1999, it produced 98 percent of the tuna catch taken from the EEZs of Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency members; 70 percent came from three PNA members: PNG, FSM and Kiribati. The group also accounted for 94 percent of the access fees paid to the FFA Pacific Island states. By controlling access to these fishing grounds, the PNA group collectively wields enormous influence and power. The most important fishery management tool of the PNA is the Vessel Day Scheme (VDS). which is described in Box 3. Box 3: PNA Vessel Day Scheme
Management arrangements for the coastal commercial export fisheries consist mainly of temporary and long-term bans, mostly enforced at the point of export. In general, the areas where coastal subsistence fishing is undertaken are covered by traditional management arrangements. Most of the inshore marine areas in the Solomon Islands are customarily owned and managed by local villages, tribal groupings and communities. There is a wide diversity of fishery management provisions between areas, but most involve traditional authorities, often a hereditary chief, who make management decisions after considering the views of their resident stakeholders. In the last 20 years, many communities have been assisted by an external management partner, such as the local branch of an international NGO. Management objectivesThe objectives of fisheries management in the Solomon Islands must be consistent with those of the Fisheries Management Act 2015. The objectives of that act are “to ensure the long-term management, conservation, development and sustainable use of Solomon Islands fisheries and marine ecosystems for the benefit of the people of Solomon Islands”. The Solomon Islands Tuna Management and Development Plan 2015 states: “In pursuit of the overall objectives of the National Tuna Fisheries Management Plan, six specific goals have been identified. These goals provide the MFMR and allied stakeholders with practical and achievable management targets and represent how all the support institutions may contribute, in whole or in part, to realizing national and municipal expectations of the benefits that the resources can provide. Each specific goal has a clear and deliberate purpose and the achievement of each will contribute directly to the overall objectives of tuna fisheries management as set out in the Plan. The essential purpose of each of the six goals is outlined below (with further details in section 7.2):
For the various coastal commercial fisheries, the objective of management interventions by MFMR is generally to guard against over-exploitation of the resources. The management of subsistence fisheries is mostly by traditional reef custodians through customary marine tenure. The management objectives vary considerably from area to area, but many include the goal of assuring the continued flow of fishery foods to coastal communities. Management measures and institutional arrangementsThe Solomon Islands Tuna Management and Development Plan 2015 has several types of management measures. The two main measures are the limiting of fishing days by the Vessel Day Scheme (Box 3) and closing of areas (Table 10). Table 10: Area-based management of the Solomon Islands Tuna Management and Development Plan
The management arrangements for the coastal commercial export fisheries consist mainly of temporary and long-term bans. The 2006 national closure of the beche-de-mer fishery is an example of a national temporary ban. Gold-lip pearl shell, turtle shell and crocodiles are under a long-term ban. The MFMR typically formulates the measures and enforcement is done by non-fishery government officials at the point of export. Some coastal communities have other management arrangements for managing the coastal commercial fisheries that occur in their areas. The residents of Ontong Java atoll, for example, have alternating annual closures for beche-de-mer fishing and trochus fishing. For coastal subsistence fisheries, there is a wide diversity of fishery management provisions across the country. The measures often involve limiting access by outsiders to the fishing areas, and various types of input restrictions on the fishing activities of local residents. Common restrictions include periodic harvesting bans in specific areas and bans on gear types. The management arrangements at Foueda Island off Malaita (Box 4) are an example of traditional management (Buga and Vuki, 2012). Box 4: Management measures at Foueda Island
The main institutions in the Solomon Islands involved in fisheries management are covered in section 8 below.Fishing communitiesThe concept of “fishing communities” has limited applicability to the Solomon Islands. Nearly all households in coastal villages are involved in coastal fishing activities. It could therefore be stated that all coastal villages in the Solomon Islands are “fishing communities”. Inland sub-sectorThe Solomon Islands includes many large islands. There is, therefore, a relatively large inland population with no direct access to marine food resources. This results in the Solomon Islands having a significant subsistence freshwater fishery, albeit much smaller than the marine fishery. Although there is no official report, recent studies have estimated annual inland fishery production to be about 2 300 tonnes per year, valued at about USD 3.8 million. Some of the catch may be sold, but the vast majority is for subsistence purposes. The main fishing and landing areas are small streams near villages and the banks of the larger rivers, mainly on the larger islands. The smaller islands and atolls generally have no sizeable freshwater bodies and consequently no freshwater fishing activity. All inland fishing is carried out using very small-scale gear such as baited lines, spears, a variety of traditional woven traps, hollow poles, snares and knives. Information is scarce on the resources that support the inland fisheries as no comprehensive survey has been carried out. Anecdotal information and survey reports focused on single islands suggest that flagtails, gobies, eels and freshwater shrimps are important native species. Mozambique tilapia, an introduced species, presently inhabits many rivers, streams and swamps in the Solomon Islands. Many people have become accustomed to eating it and enjoy its taste. On Rennell Island, communities have come to depend heavily on the tilapia in Lake Tegano as their main source of dietary protein (MFMR, 2010). The management applied to inland fisheries in the Solomon Islands is poorly documented. In general, it could be considered similar to that for coastal subsistence fisheries, which is oriented to protecting village food supplies. Decisions are characteristically taken by traditional authorities and involve exclusion of outsiders, and various types of bans on community members. Aquaculture sub-sectorA New Zealand-sponsored project summarized the aquaculture situation in the Solomon Islands (Lindsay, 2007): There has been a wide range of species cultured within the Solomon Islands, including giant clams, penaeid shrimps, freshwater prawns, pearl oysters, sea weed, sea cucumbers, hard and soft corals, milkfish, sponges and the capture/culture of post-larval animals. To date, the aquaculture industry has had limited contribution to the livelihoods of the rural sector. Since the political unrest within the nation the commercial aquaculture operations have been closed with little private sector interest in restarting operations. Coral culture (hard and soft) has provided small-scale sustained economic benefits through the successful development of community based farms that service the private sector aquarium companies. Similarly, seaweed, although still in its development stage, has provided positive indications that the industry may become viable in the long term. At present aquaculture is limited to mariculture activities in seaweed and some culture for the marine ornamental trade. There was a small amount of prawn production in the 1980s and 1990s (Macrobrachium and penaeid prawn), but farms have since been inactive. The production of seaweed and the value (farm-gate prices) are given in Table 11. Table 11: Solomon Islands seaweed production6
According to a recent SPC study (Gillett, 2016):
The most significant attempt to promote aquaculture in the Solomon Islands was the establishment of the Coastal Aquaculture Centre in a joint project between the Government of the Solomon Islands and the International Centre for Living Aquatic Resource Management (ICLARM, now WorldFish). It promoted mainly the culture of juvenile giant clams for the live aquarium trade. The clams were grown out by small-scale farmers who then sold their production to exporters. In the late 1990s, efforts were made to explore markets for giant clam sashimi in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The Centre also initiated a black-lipped pearl oyster collection programme with a view to investigating pearl culture, experimental culture of beche-de-mer, and a project to investigate green snail and trochus resources, the latter with Japanese assistance. The Centre ceased operation in early 2000 due to violence associated with the ethnic tensions. The Solomon Islands Tilapia Aquaculture Action Plan 2009–2014 gives the aquaculture goals of Solomon Islands:
Other than the above efforts to promote its development, there is no active management of the aquaculture sub-sector in the Solomon Islands. (6) Weight reported in this table refers to dry weights.Recreational sub-sectorAlthough subsistence fishing may have a large social component and be enjoyed by the participants, there is little recreational fishing as a leisure activity for local residents. Several of the resorts offer fishing activities for their overseas guests, and some local expatriates in Honiara occasionally go fishing on the weekends – mainly trolling for coastal pelagic fish, such as Spanish mackerel, barracuda and tunas. There is no active management of the recreational sub-sector. Post-harvest sector Fish utilizationIn general, offshore fishing is export oriented. The local purse seiners and pole-and-line vessels supply the cannery in the Solomon Islands, with less than 5 percent of their catch being exported unprocessed. Catches taken by foreign-based purse seining are exported to overseas canneries. Longlining (presently all foreign based) is oriented to producing sashimi for Asia and North America. A considerable amount of tuna caught by foreign-based seiners is transshipped in the Solomon Islands. McCoy (2013) states that Honiara is one of the major purse-seine transshipment ports for distant-water purse-seiners in the Pacific Islands region. In 2011, 148 560 tonnes, or nearly 10 percent of the total catch by all purse seiners in the western Pacific, was transshipped by vessels at the anchorage fronting Honiara. The presence of transshipping vessels results in an extensive trade in non-target bycatch, smashed or damaged target tuna that are otherwise unmarketable, and some small target tuna. The fish are termed salt fish in English by Solomon Islanders due to their preservation in refrigerated brine and the resulting taste and texture (Box 5). Box 5: Salt fish trade in Honiara
Coastal commercial fishing produces mainly fresh products (finfish, invertebrates) for urban consumption, and non-perishable products (beche-de-mer, trochus) for export. Box 6 gives information on the processing and sale of sea cucumbers in the Solomon Islands. Some perishable fishery products (e.g. lobster tails) are sporadically exported, while aquarium items are exported much more regularly. As the name implies, subsistence fisheries (both coastal and inland) are focused on production of food for household consumption. Significant amounts of fish are, however, given away to friends and relatives. Often attempts are made to market any valuable species captured if a market exists (e.g. lobster to a resort). In some communities, production in excess of immediate needs is salted or dried for future use. Box 6: Processing/sale of sea cucumbers in the Solomon Islands
The non-processed tuna that is exported has as its final market (after processing, mainly in South East Asia or American Samoa) mostly the United States and Europe, with small amounts going to a large number of countries. The main domestic market for fish is in Honiara, but other markets exist in the towns of Gizo, Buala, Tulagi, Auki, Kirakira and Lata. The Honiara Central Market is a large public market built with Japanese aid in the mid-1990s and administered by the City Council. The market extends beyond its original modern shed structures and concrete flooring to encompass vendors offering a variety of agricultural produce, reef and pelagic fish, prepared food, building materials and other products. Another more informal fish market is located about 5 km to the east of the Central Market at Fishing Village. The Fishing Village market is convenient for people on the many mini-buses, taxis, and private vehicles that use the highway fronting the market area. The market has grown in recent years to include vegetable and prepared food vendors (McCoy, 2013). The market for beche-de-mer is in China, with smaller amounts going to South East Asian countries. The markets for trochus shell are the processing plants in Solomon Islands, Europe and Asia, with the processed buttons going to fashion manufacture for consumers in Europe, North America and Japan. Lobster tails are primarily for Australia and the aquarium products for North America. Socio-economic contribution of the fishery sectorA recent SPC study (Gillett, 2016) attempted to quantify the fishery-related benefits received by the Solomon Islands and other Pacific Island countries. The study gave the available information on the contribution of fishing to GDP, exports, government revenue, employment and nutrition. Unless otherwise noted, the information in this section is from that study. Role of fisheries in the national economyThe Statistics Division of the Ministry of Finance and Treasury calculates the official GDP of the Solomon Islands. The SPC study examined the official methodology and, using its independent estimate of the value of fisheries production, re-estimated the fishing contribution.
Using unpublished data from the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Ministry of Finance, the SPC study showed that in 2014 the Government of Solomon Islands received about USD 28 million in access fees for foreign fishing. Access fees represented about 7.2 percent of government revenue for that year.TradeAccording to Solomon Islands customs data, exports of fishery products in 2014 were worth SBD 168.6 million (USD 54.7 million), which represented about 12 percent of all the country’s exports. The vast majority of fishery exports were tuna products. The major non-tuna commodities were trochus, items for the aquarium trade, seaweed and shark fins. For FAO data reported in Part 1 of this profile, the value of fishery exports for 2014 was USD 48.5 million and fishery imports was USD 2.4 million.Food securityBell et al. (2009) used information from household income and expenditure surveys (HIES) conducted between 2001 and 2006 to estimate patterns of fish consumption in Pacific Island countries. The HIES were designed to enumerate consumption based on both subsistence and cash acquisitions. For the Solomon Islands, the per capita fish consumption (whole weight equivalent) was 45.5 kg per capita per year in urban areas (fresh fish made up 80 percent of this amount) and 31.2 kg per capita per year in rural areas (90 percent fresh fish). The national fish consumption rate was 33.0 kg per capita per year. Two older estimates show annual per capita consumption of fish in the Solomon Islands in the 1990s:
The vast majority of fish consumed in the Solomon Islands comes from the country’s coastal fisheries. Some information is available on fish supplies that originate from elsewhere:
Non-formal employment in the fisheries sector is extremely important in the Solomon Islands, but the available data is fragmented. One of the most comprehensive statements is contained in a report by the Asian Development Bank: The number of subsistence fishers in the Solomon Islands can be crudely estimated by looking at the total population – about 570 000 in 2012 – and assuming 82 percent as the rural population. By dividing this by the average number of household members in rural households (5.2 persons), the minimum number of subsistence fishers can be derived. A minimum of 88 000 people are estimated to be engaged in fishing, assuming one household member is a fisher. This, however, is a conservative estimate. If the inputs of women and other adult men are considered in the estimate, the number of subsistence fishers would double to 175 000 (ADB, 2014). Men and women have very different roles in their participation in the fisheries sector. Citing numerous references, Weeratunge et al. (2011) give information on the gender aspects of fisheries employment in the country (Box 7). Box 7: Gender aspects of fisheries employment in the Solomon Islands
FFA tracks tuna-related employment in the region, including for the Solomon Islands. Unpublished FFA data shows the number and type of jobs in the Solomon Islands’ major tuna fishing and processing companies in early 2015 (Table 12). Table 12: Tuna-related jobs in 2015
Trends, issues and development Constraints and opportunitiesMajor constraints for the fisheries sector include the following:
Opportunities in the fisheries sector include:
The tuna industry is a crucial aspect of the fisheries-related development opportunities of the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands Tuna Management and Development Plan 2015 contains an analysis of the challenges and opportunities that affect the tuna sector: Challenges:
Fisheries-specific opportunities:
The Solomon Islands Tuna Management and Development Plan 2015 gives an indication of the policies and strategies in the offshore fisheries sector. The six specific goals cited in the plan provide some insight into MFMR’s current thinking on the policies/strategies:
For the inshore fisheries, the Solomon Islands National Development Strategy (NDS) 2011–2020 contains several relevant provisions. Govan et al. (2013) summarized the provisions:
At their summit in March 2012, the leaders of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) of countries (Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu) agreed to develop a roadmap for the protection of inshore fisheries (Box 9). That roadmap gives some insight into the Solomon Islands’ future policies and strategies in inshore fisheries management. Box 9: MSG Roadmap for inshore fisheries
In terms of strategies used by non-government organizations (NGOs) involved in fisheries in the Solomon Islands, NGOs experienced a slow learning curve starting from the conservation and protected area approaches in the 1990s, of which the Arnavons Marine Conservation Area is perhaps the only surviving example (Govan et al., 2013). Early conservation approaches in the Solomon Islands do not seem to have found constructive ground for collaboration between government and civil society, with failures attributed to both government and NGO-only approaches. From 2003, the NGOs adopted a modified approach based on community involvement and meeting community aspirations, which combined with the growing local capacity to work in a participatory fashion. Anthropological and community development work dating back to the 1990s in the Roviana Lagoon also showed early results, with a network of village closed areas emerging in 2001. In the last 8 years, there has been much greater collaboration between government and non-government stakeholders as suggested by memorandums of understanding and joint government/NGO field teams. Research, education and trainingResearchHistorical fisheries research is given in a bibliography of Solomon Islands fisheries (Gillett, 1987). Research specific to particular fisheries appears in profiles of Solomon Islands fishery resources (Skewes, 1990) and of inshore fisheries resources (Richards et al., 1994). Most of the recent fisheries research carried out in the Solomon Islands has been undertaken through cooperation with overseas partners. Research priorities tend to be oriented to economically important export commodities, protected species, marine protected areas, and those resources deemed important by donors. Some of recent fishery-related research subjects and the associated partners include:
Box 10: Mekem Strong Solomon Islands Fisheries programme
Other important donors in the fisheries sector (and major initiatives) are the World Bank (Solomon Islands component of the Pacific Regional Oceanscape Programme); EU (rural fisheries enterprises, seaweed culture, the wharf at Noro); Overseas Fishery Cooperation Foundation (renovation of fisheries centres); Japan International Cooperation Agency (fisheries wharf, cold storage and social facilities); and The Nature Conservancy (fisheries centre and live reef fish management plan). Institutional frameworkUnder the authority of the Fisheries Management Act 2015, the main government institution in the fisheries sector is the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources (MFMR). According to the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources Corporate Plan for 2015–2018, its role is to regulate the orderly development and quality management of Solomon Islands fisheries and marine resources and to ensure the Solomon Islands receives maximum economic and social benefits from the sustainable use of its fisheries and marine resources. MFMR currently has 157 staff and is organized and managed based on a number of technically focused divisions, each headed by a deputy director:
Apart from MFMR, the institutional framework of organizations and agencies involved with fisheries is complex. Cohen (2011) states that a vast array of agencies can be involved in facilitating and supporting on-the-ground action. In the Solomon Islands, 10 such agencies have been identified as providing direct support to co‐management of marine resources. They interact in a national network of agencies called the Solomon Islands Locally Managed Marine Area network (SILMMA). SILMMA is a group of projects and practitioners, including NGOs, government and communities, who have joined together and are working to improve the success of their conservation and fisheries management efforts. At least another 33 agencies are involved in providing scientific and technical support for marine resource management and conservation in Solomon Islands. They include four national NGOs, seven universities, four regional organizations, nine provincial governments, six international NGOs, four national government agencies, two development agencies and three private enterprises. The major regional institutions involved with fisheries are the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), located in Honiara and the Pacific Community (SPC) in Noumea. Other players are the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) Office in Majuro, the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) in Suva, the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, and the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Suva. The characteristics of those institutions are given in Table 13. Table 13: Pacific Island regional organizations involved in fisheries
The Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean entered into force in June 2004, and established the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). The Solomon Islands is a member of the commission, along with 26 other countries. The WCPFC has its headquarters in Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia, and has held 13 annual meetings to date. Legal frameworkThe main law dealing with fisheries in the Solomon Islands is the Fisheries Management Act 2015, which “makes provisions for the conservation, management, development and sustainable use of fisheries and marine resources of Solomon Islands, to monitor and control fishing vessels within and beyond the fisheries waters, to repeal the Fisheries Act 1998 and to make consequential amendments to the Provincial Government Act 1997 and the Town and Country Planning Act”. The 139-page document has 13 parts:
Some of the key provisions in the act are as follows:
Several provinces have fisheries ordinances. According to Govan et al. (2013), provincial ordinances include the:
More information at: Annexes References ADB. 2014. Economics of fisheries and aquaculture in the Coral Triangle. Asian Development Bank. Manila. Albert, S., Aswani, S. Fisher, P. & Albert, J. 2015. Keeping food on the table: Human responses and changing coastal fisheries in Solomon Islands. PLoS ONE 10(7): e0130800. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0130800. Bell J., Kronen, M., Vunisea, A., Nash, W., Keeble, G., Demmke, A., Pontifex, S. & Andréfouët, S. 2009. Planning the use of fish for food security in the Pacific. Marine Policy 33: 64–76. Barclay, K. 2008. Fisheries and Aquaculture. In: Solomon Islands diagnostic trade integration study (DTIS). Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Wellington. Barclay, K. & Kinch, J. 2013. Local capitalism and sustainability in coastal fisheries: Cases from Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands. Research in Economic Anthropology, Vol. 33: 107–138. Blaha, F. 2016. Solomon Islands’ tuna fishery achieves MSC certification. SPC Fisheries Newsletter #150, May–August 2016. Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia. . Buga, B. & Vuki, V. 2012. The people of the artificial island of Foueda, Lau Lagoon, Malaita, Solomon Islands: Traditional fishing methods, fisheries management and the roles of men and women in fishing. SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #22, July 2012. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia. . Campling, L. 2013. FFA Fisheries Trade News. Vol. 6: Issue 2, March–April 2013. Forum Fisheries Agency, Honiara, Solomon Islands. . Clark, L. & S. Clark. 2014. The PNA Vessel Day Scheme. A presentation to the ANU Pacific Update 2014, Canberra, 16–17 June 2014. . Cohen, P. 2011. Social networks to support learning for improved governance of coastal ecosystems in Solomon Islands. CRISP Coordinating Unit, Noumea, New Caledonia. . FFA. 2015. The value and volumes of tuna catches in the WCPO. [spreadsheet]. Forum Fisheries Agency. Honiara, Solomon Islands. Gillett, R. 2014. Pacific perspectives on fisheries and sustainable development. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. 50 pp. Gillett, R. 2016. Fisheries in the economies of Pacific Island countries and territories. Pacific Community, Forum Fisheries Agency, and Australian Aid. (ISBN 978-982-00-1009-3) (also available at: http://www.spc.int/fame/en/component/content/article/237-benefish-study-2016). Gillett, R. 1987. Solomon Islands fisheries bibliography. FAO/UNDP Regional Fishery Support Programme, Document 87/1. 60 pp. Gillett, R. & Lightfoot, C. 2001. The contribution of fisheries to the economies of Pacific Island countries. Pacific Studies Series. Asian Development Bank, World Bank, Forum Fisheries Agency and Secretariat of the Pacific Community. Manila. . Govan, H., Kinch, J. & Brjosniovschi, A. 2013. Strategic review of inshore fisheries and policies in Melanesia: Fiji, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. . Havice, E. 2013. Rights-based management in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean tuna fishery: Economic and environmental change under the Vessel Day Scheme. Marine Policy 42: 259-267. Lindsay, S. 2007. Aquaculture sector assessment, Solomon Islands. Lincoln International Pty Ltd. Marine Resource Organizational Strengthening Project, Solomon Islands. McCoy, M. 2013. An assessment of the potentials for tuna fisheries and related small-scale businesses to contribute to food security in three Pacific Island countries. Gillett, Preston and Associates. McCoy, M., Itano, D. & Pollard, S. 2015. A forward-looking study of development opportunities in FFA member countries in the tuna industry. Gillett, Preston and Associates for the Forum Fisheries Agency, Honiara, Solomon Islands. . MFAT. 2014. Assessment of the Mekem Strong Solomon Islands Fisheries (MSSIF) programme 2010–2013. Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington. . MFMR. 2010. Solomon Islands Tilapia Aquaculture Action Plan: 2010–2014. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources – Aquaculture Division. Government of Solomon Islands. Honiara, Solomon Islands. MFMR. 2015. Solomon Islands Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – Part 1: Information on fisheries, research and statistics 2014. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Government of Solomon Islands. Honiara, Solomon Islands. MFMR. 2016. Solomon Islands Annual Report to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission – Part 1: Information on fisheries, research and statistics 2015. Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Government of Solomon Islands. Honiara, Solomon Islands. NSO. 2010. 2009 Population and Housing Census: Report on economic activity and labour force. Solomon Islands National Statistics Office. Honiara, Solomon Islands. Pakoa, K. 2014. Solomon Islands sea cucumber resource status and recommendations for management. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia. . Pinca, S., Vunisea, A., Lasi, F., Friedman, K., Kronen, M., Awira, R., Boblin, P., Tardy, E., Chapman, L. & Magron, F. 2009. Solomon Islands country report: Profiles and results from survey work at Nggela, Marau, Rarumana and Chubikopi (June to September 2006 and December 2006). Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia. . Preston G. 2000. Managing the ocean. Report Prepared for the World Bank. Washington, D.C. Ramofafia, C. 2005. The importance of banning exports of bêche-de-mer from Solomon Islands: A paper submitted for the information of cabinet by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, August 2005. DFMR, Honiara, Solomon Islands. Richards, A., Bell, L. & Bell, J. 1994. Inshore fisheries resources of Solomon Islands. Report 94/01. Forum Fisheries Agency, Honiara, Solomon Islands. Skewes, T. 1990. Marine resource profiles: The Solomon Islands. Report 90/61. Forum Fisheries Agency, Honiara, Solomon Islands. SNA. 2009. System of National Accounts 2008. Commission of the European Union, International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, United Nations Statistics Division and World Bank. SPC. 2013. A review of inshore fisheries and fisheries management instruments in Papua New Guinea. Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Noumea, New Caledonia. . Tarte, S. 2002. The Nauru Agreement Concerning Cooperation in the Management of Fisheries of Common Interest – A review of the agreement and an analysis of its future directions. A consultancy report prepared for the Forum Fisheries Agency and the Parties to the Nauru Agreement. UNDP. 2002. Solomon Islands Human Development Report. United Nations Development Programme. (ISBN 0 9581533 0 2) (also available at http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/solomon_2002_en.pdf). WCPFC. 2016. Report of the 12th Regular Session of the Scientific Committee. Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission, Pohnpei. . Weeratunge N., Pemsl, D., Rodriguez, P., Chen, O., Badjeck, M., Schwarz, A., Paul, C., Prange, J. & Kelling, I. 2011. Planning the use of fish for food security in Solomon Islands. Coral Triangle Support Partnership. 51 pp. ⇧Additional informationFAO Thematic data bases PublicationsMeetings & News archive⇧ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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