Fisheries Value Chain 

Fish is an essential part of the daily diet of riverine and coastal communities in the Greater Sepik Region in Papua New Guinea. It is also a reliable source of regular income for smallholders in the area.
In the low altitude communities in the region, fish consumption is the most important source of protein, comprising around 40% of all food from animal sources. In the middle and higher altitude villages, where fishing is limited to creeks and small rivers, consumption of animal proteins is more reliant on purchased sources such as preserved fish and canned products.
Despite these facts, the average fish consumption still is below the recommended levels for good nutrition, particularly in view of the nutritional value of fish.
Also, due to poor infrastructure and equipment, lack of knowledge and skills, and deficiency in effective regulations and management, this resource remains underutilised. In this context, the harvested fish are mostly marketed fresh to local markets and as smoked/dried products, but there is a very limited value addition to the fish catch.

Adopted Approach

The EU-STREIT PNG, in collaboration with the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) and provincial divisions of Fisheries & Agriculture and Livestock, works on increasing productivity and profitability of fishers in the Programme's targeted areas, increasing number of people and enterprises engaging in and benefiting from improved fisheries value chain development, and ensuring women and youth involvement in fisheries value chain and improving family nutritional status.
The Programme provides support in establishing fisheries information system (FIS), market information system (MIS) and building related capacities, supports smallholder aquaculture and fisher households for improved household income and food and nutrition security, works on enhancing post-harvest processing, market access and trading activities, provides technical assistance and support for climate-proof aquaculture systems, riverine and coastal capture fisheries, promotes nutrient-rich diets including fish and fish-based products in fishers households for enhanced food and nutrition security, especially for women of reproductive ages and children under 2 years in the Sepiks, and mainstreaming women and youth participation in fisheries value chain.