Tonga has lifted a ban on sea cucumber fishing, citing request from the fishing community to help alleviate negative financial impacts of the Covid-19 crisis.
Prime Minister Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa reported in Parliament his Cabinet has approved the temporary lift on Friday last week until September. He said details will be released soon.
The announcement comes after the Fisheries CEO Dr Tu’ikolongahau Halafihi told TBC last week he would like to see the ban on harvesting of sea cucumber be extended for another five years because of overfishing.
The government prohibited fishing of sea cucumber in 2014 to allow the stock to recover from overfishing and illegal fishing.
The prohibition comes after a 2012 ban was lifted and the head of Tonga’s Aquaculture Research Poasi Ngaluafe attributed it to political and community pressure, RNZ reported.
In 2008 Tonga lifted a decade ban on the fishing of sea cucumbers but for a limited six months period a year.
Last year a Special Regional Fisheries Ministerial Meeting took place in the Federated States of Micronesia, and some Pacific leaders said lack of action in cracking down on illegal trade in the industry is costing the region upwards of US$30 million each year.
In the past decade, countries in the region including Tonga put in place strict bans on sea cucumber fishing after stocks collapsed, the meeting was told, ABC’s Pacific Beat reported.
“But there’s major concerns that these bans are often flouted, that management actions like controlling sea cucumber harvest limits are ignored, and that governments are pressured to overturn bans or turn a blind eye when fishers overexploit the beche-de-mer.”
