PNG CALLS FOR EQUITABLE TUNA PARTNERSHIPS AT GLOBAL CONFERENCE

PAPUA New Guinea has opened a new fisheries investment vehicle at the 19th INFOFISH World Tuna Trade Conference in Bangkok, urging a shift from extraction to equitable partnership in the global tuna industry.

Fisheries Minister Jelta Wong told delegates the Pacific must move beyond supplying raw materials to full participation in processing, logistics, marketing and trade. He declared: “You call them ‘Small Island Nations.’ We prefer ‘Large Ocean States.’ We are custodians of nearly one third of the Earth’s surface.”

Minister Wong stressed that the Pacific contributes more than half of the world’s tuna supply, with stocks in the Western and Central Pacific remaining biologically healthy. He said only 15 percent of tuna caught in Pacific waters is processed locally, and outlined PNG’s East New Britain Initiative to establish regional tuna hubs, alongside Fisheries Capital Limited to drive onshore investment, jobs and infrastructure.

He also highlighted partnerships with Iceland’s Innovation Cluster to achieve full utilization of fish resources, and the deployment of satellite and AI technologies to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Addressing development partners, Wong said: “For decades, developed economies have captured much of the value from our ocean resources.

The Pacific has borne the custodial responsibility, while others have accrued the dividends. We now seek a recalibration—a new paradigm of shared prosperity.”

Minister Wong concluded by inviting stakeholders to the 10th Pacific Tuna Forum in Port Moresby in 2027, saying: “Let us be the generation that not only sustains our tuna stocks but ensures the prosperity they generate is shared among those who own, protect and depend on them. The Pacific is ready.”