The member for Gazelle, Jelta Wong has pledged his commitment to serve the people of Papua New Guinea as the new Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources. After the swearing-in on Tuesday, Minister Wong highlighted the importance the Fisheries sector has on the economy, stating the commitment remains to create employment opportunities as well as protecting the fisheries stock from environmental damage.
“The Ministry for Fisheries and Marine Resources has a significant function for our country right now and into the future, as our marine resources must be managed properly and must be harvested in a sustainable way,” Wong added.
PNG has the largest fisheries zone in the South Pacific with a total value market estimated at K400million per year. However, it remains under-developed with no space for downstream processing and tangible support for local markets to survive.
“As Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, it is clear that there is a lot of heavy lifting ahead in the coming weeks, months and years.”
“Over the past three years our Government under Prime Minister Marape has sought to implement long-overdue reforms in the sector, but much of this work was undermined by the interruption of the pandemic,” the Minister said.
With a Fisheries Strategic Plan for 2021-2030 already in place, it provides PNG with the opportunity to adapt to the changing global economy in the fisheries sector. And sustainability is one key area in achieving that goal for the country.”
“Considering the needs of our future generations is also a reason that I intend to lead a crackdown on illegal fishing in our waters. The Prime Minister has indicated his support for the expanded export of sustainably harvested fresh seafood to global markets.”
“We will also work with investors under this plan to value-add in the processing of our tuna and other seafood in our own production facilitates,” said Minister Wong.
Minister Wong will serve his 2nd term in Parliament and has previously held office as the Police, Health and State-Owned Enterprises Minister.
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