From Matangi Tonga Magazine, Vol. 15, no. 4, January 2001.

A multi-million fisheries co-venture between ‘Alatini Fisheries Company Ltd. (Tonga) and the Fortuna Company (Australia), to harness Tonga’s Broadbill Swordfish resource, began with the arrival in Nuku‘alofa on December 18 of the 132 tonnes fishing boat Sao Pedro.

Tricia Emberson, pictured, the General Manager of ‘Alatini Fisheries, said that during the next six months the Sao Pedro would fish mainly in the Tonga Trench and the Tonga Ridge areas, between 18 and 25 degrees south and 175 and 172 degrees west. They wanted to ascertain that Tonga had a large and sustainable Swordfish resource, and that Tongan Swordfish would meet the import requirements of fish importing countries such as the USA.

If at the end of six months the findings of Sao Pedro were positive, as was anticipated, this Broadbill Swordfish project would proceed to its second phase and set up packing facilities. This stage of the project was expected to be completed by mid-2002, before the two companies acquired four additional vessels, with the same capacity as the Sao Pedro. The average annual catch of each vessel is 200 tonnes, therefore when the project is in full swing, 1000 tonnes of swordfish is expected to be air-freighted out of Tonga annually starting in 2003.