MAJURO — Developing viable pilot fisheries projects on remote outer atolls in the Marshall Islands presents challenges that are extremely difficult if not impossible to overcome, leading an Asian Development Bank study to conclude that “under current conditions, an adequate foundation does not exist to support stand-alone pilot demonstration projects” as proposed by the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority.
MIMRA has set aside funding to support small scale, income-generating projects on the outer islands through a revolving trust fund. In support of that effort, the ADB commissioned a study to identify realistic opportunities related to fisheries for possible pilot demonstration projects.
The exhaustive 126-page report issued this week urges the government to consider four alternative approaches to developing commercially viable, small scale marine resource business options on the outer islands.
The ADB review of marine resource development in the Marshall Islands to date said that “with the exception of giant clam and black pearl culture, government-sponsored marine resources research and development activities resulted in little commercial enterprise.”
An analysis of the problems that two government-sponsored fisheries pilot projects experienced suggests that essential ingredients to establish successful commercial marine enterprises on outer atolls include a quick money return, strong and reliable long-term market, products with high monetary value that are easily shipped and stored, and a low labor involvement to allow time for other necessary activities.
“A review of markets and patterns of exploitation showed that the absence of a reliable marketing system for products other than copra-–dried coconut meat used for oil-–in the outer atolls was a major constraint to commercial activity,” the report said.
The ADB report reviewed such products as:
• unexploited marine resources for which a ready market exists, such as deepwater snappers and pelagic tunas.
• resources with markets, but which must be introduced or greatly expanded in the Marshall Islands, such as seaweed and sponges.
• resources for which markets must be further developed, such as salted and dried fish, fish jerky, dive tourism.
• currently exploited resources that have a ready market, including ornamental fish, live clams, live rock, shark fin, beche-de-mer, live reef fish for food, fresh reef fish, shells for handicraft, black pearls, lobsters and trochus.
Resources in the first three categories were rejected as unsuitable for pilot projects because they lacked clearly defined markets, needed more research and development before they could be introduced or expanded, or couldn’t be applied to the outer islands, said the ADB report.
Of the remaining category, five of the 11 products–-live clams, live reef fish, ornamental fish, live rock and lobsters-–were unsuitable for outer island demonstration projects primarily because of difficulties in storage, shipping and the level of technology involved in harvesting or processing.
Black pearls, “though having some potential, fail to meet the important criteria of providing quick financial returns and, along with fresh reef fish, requires an investment and support far greater than available funds could support,” the ADB said.
Beche-de-mer, or sea cucumbers, were also rejected because of the questionable size of the resource and the need to take a cautious approach to harvesting because the resource is “highly susceptible to over-harvesting.”
The three remaining products—shark fins, trochus and handicrafts–-were found to have some potential for development. But, the ADB report said, each “has specific drawbacks that make the application of pilot demonstration projects inappropriate.”
The ADB study concluded that “in spite of the existence of marine resources originally thought to be appropriate on which to base pilot projects, the state of existing marketing systems and limited scales of production results in a lack of comparative advantages for the outer atolls that are very difficult to overcome.”
But recognizing that the Marshalls fisheries department has set aside funds to assist people in the outer islands and that the political will exists in the Marshall Islands to move forward with the loan project, the ADB study recommended four options for consideration. The first option, in collaboration with the Marshall Islands Development Bank, would preserve the idea of a loan fund; the other three aim at solving some of the major challenges to business development on the outer islands.
The study recommended:
• integration of fisheries funds with a planned micro-credit scheme of the Marshall Islands Development Bank. While it wouldn’t support the scale of projects envisioned under the fisheries department’s original plan, this has the potential to provide modest benefits to producers under current conditions.
• refocus activities toward those atolls that already have fish bases, and expand the use of the bases to help solve larger problems of marketing systems and lack of commercial infrastructure.
• expand the trochus resource through “translocation” by seeding other atolls where the resource is not readily available.
• expand handicraft production by teaching and encouraging new producers.
