This is a photo from yesterday sent yto me by Racheal Shisei of a young whale caught in RD Tuna netting and obviously left to die offshore in Madang.
Think about this when we hear again and again that the PMIZ is an inevitability, and that inviting ten foreign-owned canneries, their workers, their ships, and their demands for infrastructure, to come live in a piece of the Rempi land just north of Madang town.
In whose interest is this?
What really are the costs/benefits of this scheme?
We hear that this accomodation will allow PNG to harvest more of the proceeds from our tuna industry. But what kind of jobs are expected to be produced? How many at a living wage?
How many bonuses to MPs and Industry 1%?
Will it cost Madang our entire near shore fisheries?
Will it cost us our biodiversity?
Will it cost us more dolphina and whales?
Very little benefit to the real owners of this country. What little money, (Absolute bottom of the wage structure) the workers get, most of it probably goes to buying the same product they put in a can the day before. These operations destroy the resource, their operations damage the environment, seen and unseen and they damage the livelihood of the real owners of the land who have traditionally engaged in sustainable small scale industry for decades or even centuries.
We complained decades ago when the long line boats were all fishing in PNG. Goodness me, they are nothing in comparison to these purse seiners that are being used now. In fact, if there is to be a Foreign industry, it should be limited to longlining. At least dolphins, whales and turtles do not get hooked, yet they are a minor part of the real damage.
Just look what the seiners have done to the rest of the world's fisheries.
Posted by: Bob Hall | January 10, 2014 at 10:01 PM