From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 18, no. 1, March 2003.

Five long-line fishing boats will join Tonga’s fleet of 27 long-line boats in early 2003.

Manase Felemi, the new Secretary for Fisheries said that the boats were gifts from the government of South Korea to the Government of Tonga, “and government wants to release these boats to the Private Sector.” Manase said that the boats would go to two fishing companies, “one for the South Seas Fisheries and the rest for G. and J. Fisheries.”

The release of the fishing boats was formalised with the signing of an agreement on February 20 between the Ministry of Fisheries and the two fishing companies.

Manase said that the agreement also stipulated that each company deposit a bond, amounting to $100,000 pa’anga for South Seas Fisheries and $200,000 for G. and J. Fisheries, “the bond will be repaid in installments to the two companies over a period of 12 months. The purpose for the bond is to ascertain that the boats are being used efficiently and are taken care of properly.”

The South Seas Fisheries has been operating in Tonga since mid-2002, and after buying out Discoveries Fisheries, it has an existing fleet of four fishing boats. The G and J Fisheries has been in operation with one boat, and the four new long-liners will also give them a fleet of five fishing boats.

Old boats

Va‘inga Palu, the former director of Tonga Trade and now the new director of the Tonga Visitors Bureau, visited South Korea last year and signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the behalf of the Tongan  government and the government of South Korea, accepting the gift of fishing boats from the Koreans.

Va‘inga said that they were second-hand boats, which needed refurbishing. He estimated that the Tongan companies would spend $100,000 per boat, and he stressed in February that the boats had to leave Korea within the next three months.