SFA president Gene Weaver in an interview yesterday said they did not stop finding ways to make commercial fishing a lucrative economic activity in the CNMI.
Weaver said this time, they are developing a marketing strategy that will assure the feasibility of their new venture.
“Basically, we are trying to bring everybody to the table and put our heads together and come up with a solid plan,” Weaver said.
Before Weaver became the group’s president in 2007, SFA was awarded $150,000 in federal grant by the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council to open a fish market in Garapan.
Due to high cost of rent and utilities, the store shut down after one month and the brand new equipment ended up in the storage room of the Division of Procurement and Supply.
Weaver said he believes the plan they are now developing is going to work as it involves the facility that used to be a fish market at Garapan Fishing Base.
“We’ll have the right plan in place and the right location,” he said.
Back in 2003, Weaver said the design for the Garapan Fishing Base complex was already completed but the new administration three years later said it was reserving the area for a “big investor”
“Our fishing project supposed to be a big facility and the group got a $400,000 grant for the design,” Weaver said.
He added that this time, they will make it work.
