ABSTRACT

This chapter reviews the potentials for strengthening fisheries in the Pacific islands specifically for the purpose of alleviating malnutrition. The Pacific islands need to be discriminating and ask how much of which kinds of food should be exported or imported, under what sorts of conditions. Traditionally most fish consumed in the Pacific islands have been marine fish taken from nearshore or lagoon waters. The high level of imports of fish and other food to the Pacific islands are of concern because these islands are relatively poor, their economies are fragile, and they show evidence of substantial malnutrition. Large quantities of fish are exported from the Pacific islands, mainly tuna which draws a relatively high price on world markets. Most of the fish is caught in large-scale, capital-intensive fishing operations, often in joint ventures with foreign firms, or through the licensing of foreign fishing fleets with no local operations at all.