Alia fishermen in the territory received a briefing from Director of Marine and Wildlife Resources Dr. Ruth Matagi Tofiga yesterday on assistance programs available from DMWR and eligibility guidelines.
About 25 alia fishermen and a representative from the government shipyard attended the briefing.
Tamatoa Tony Langkilde, Fishery Development Coordinator at the Department of Commerce was also present.
A little known subsidy program which helps fishermen purchase fuel for their fishing trips was one of the assistance programs that Dr. Matagi Tofiga explained.
The gas subsidy is disbursed Tuesday and Thursdays.
DMWR has also partnered with the shipyard at Satala to provide help for fishing boat owners when they need to repair their vessels.
Dr. Matagi Tofiga stressed the importance of marketing and also why fishermen need to record their catches and provide that data to DMWR.
This data is required by federal grantors and determines future funding assistance for fisheries related programs.
Fishermen present expressed concern that larger vessels are flooding the market by selling their by-catch at a lower cost which puts the small alia fishermen at a disadvantage.
Tamatoa‘s role at the fishermen’s meeting was how to better market and sell their fish.
He told KHJ News that there were only 3 active local alia fishermen but he was happy to see a great turnout yesterday and he hopes others will jump on board and take advantage of support from government agencies for the development of local fisheries.
An idea that came out of the meeting was to hold a local Fishermen Day, and the first one is set for September 10 in the parking lot of the Fagatogo marketplace.
The day will begin at 6am where all local alia fishermen will sell their catch.
You can get more information about this event or the assistance programs for fishermen from DMWR‘s Tepora Lavata’i and Yvonne Mika at 633-4456.
