By Antoine Teitelbaum and Alex Meloty

 

In November 2006, SPC's Aquaculture Advisor and Aquaculture Officer (mariculture) visited the Solomon Islands. The main objective of the mission was to program joint activities (particularly mariculture based) with the new Aquaculture Division of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (DFMR). Alex Meloty, the new Head of Aquaculture was recently appointed after Gideon Tiroba left the Department for the EU-funded seaweed project, as project manager.

 

Field visits by SPC staff, together with DFMR aquaculture staff, began in Honiara with the two marine ornamental livestock suppliers, Aquarium Arts and Solomon Island Marine Export. SPC staff and Alex Meloty then flew to the Western Province where they met the EU seaweed project staff and visited seaweed farming sites at Vaghena (south of Choiseul) and Rarumana as well as the seaweed project base in Gizo and their nursery sites around Mbabanga and Nusa Tupe. While in the Western Province, the team visited the WorldFish Center field station in Nusa Tupe and viewed the work with ornamentals (clams, lobsters and corals), sponges, and blacklip pearl oysters.

 

 

The marine ornamental trade in the Solomon Islands

Aquarium Arts is a Honiara-based company that exports marine ornamentals throughout the world, although its major clients are in the US and the EU and its parent company is based in the US.

The company operates two large systems, a fish system and an invertebrate system, in warehouses located between the town and the airport, near the seafront. In both systems, the water is re-circulated through home-made biofilters; foam separators are used for the fish system. UV is used for packing the animals before shipping. The survival rate in the warehouse is high and animals are shipped once they are acclimated, thereby reducing mortality on arrival at their destination

 

They have recently been marketing farmed ornamental corals and crustaceans produced by rural Solomon Island communities together with NGOs, such as the WorldFish Center and the Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (FSP). Aquarium Arts has a good market for cultured corals, and a few hundred pieces are exported by airfreight every week. Small shipments of spiny lobster and cleaner shrimp reared in the Western Province are also exported.

Aquarium Arts used to export giant clams (several species) produced by rural communities with support from the WorldFish Center, but since the period of ethnic tension, no clams have been shipped from the Solomons until recently. However, several batches of Tridacna derasa are being grown out in the Western Province and will be sold to Aquarium Arts for export.

Traditionally, the company buys wild-caught products captured by Solomon Island divers, mostly around Guadalcanal, Ngella and the Western Province. Recently, the company has brought in professional divers from the Philippines in order to increase production, and to access deeper and rarer species that are valuable and much sought after.

Air-freight routes remain the main bottleneck of the operation. Shipments into the US have been recently reduced from three to two times a week because of the change in flight schedules. Furthermore, the company only has access to interesting prices if the volume shipped is large enough (2 tonnes of cargo per shipment). To achieve this, they work closely with Solomon Island Marine Export (SIME).

SIME specializes in exporting live invertebrates for the aquarium trade (anemones, sea stars, soft corals, small polyp hard corals, large polyp hard corals, fungids, and live sea shells). They have their own team of collectors and they harvest their products mainly from around Ngella. SIME divers have reported that some species were getting harder to find and were enthusiastic about accessing more farmed corals in the future.

Ornamental fish and invertebrates have proven to be valuable resources for the Solomon Islands. Farming and collecting activities provides rural communities with a cash income. Also, the WorldFish Center project on post larval fish and invertebrates capture and culture in the Western Province has proposed a new panel of products, most of which have benefited from successful marketing. At the top of the list are tiny spiny lobsters that are sold at one Solomon dollar (farm gate price per piece) each. Some farmers earned over 200 Solomon Island dollars  per month with these products, which is a good supplemental salary to traditional rural activities.

 

 

WorldFish Center aquaculture activities at Nusa Tupe Station 

In the Western Province, the team visited communities using simple technology for capturing and culturing post larvae. Near the island of Naru and Rarumana village, crest nets are used for capturing reef fish and cleaner shrimp (Stenopus hispidus), and coconut log traps are used for catching lobsters. This fishery is well adapted to the rural Solomon Island lifestyle. The team had the chance to discuss the EU seaweed project and aquaculture issues with key community members in Rarumana and had good feedback from this project. Many people are currently expecting the giant clams from the WorldFish Center hatchery in Nusa Tupe, because they were a good source of cash income in the past. The growing worldwide demand for clams and the recent spawning of Tridacna derasa at the Nusa Tupe field station should soon create exports from the Solomon Islands.

Other commodities targeting the ornamental trade are being developed by the WorldFish Center and partners at Nusa Tupe, including hard corals from the genuses: Porites, Montipora, Acropora, Seriatopora, Turbinaria and soft corals from the genuses Sarcophyton, Cladiella and Sinularia. A workshop on techniques for farming coral fragments was recently run, and involved villagers from surrounding communities.

Sponge farming trials with Coscinoderma matthewsi were also in progress, as well as with small colorful sponges that would be of interest to the ornamental trade. The work on C. matthewsi is a mini-project funded by ACIAR, and recovery and growth rates are studied under different conditions. There is a niche market for natural sponges (e.g. cosmetic, curios, and baby products), and the technique could be relatively well absorbed by a local rural industry as it is low tech and low capital input. The final product, which takes about a year to grow, is easy to process locally and export. 

Several thousand adult blacklip pearl oysters cultured from wild spat are being held at the Nusa Tupe station in anticipation of a Japanese consortium that has shown an interest in conducting research leading to commercial development of pearl farming in the Solomon Islands. Subject to the signature of an appropriate agreement, the WorldFish Center will consider assisting the consortium with the research. The Solomon Island government is strongly interested in developing this commodity throughout the country and an EU-funded project to assess whitelip pearl resources, and the development of an investment plan for prospective entrepreneurs, is about to be undertaken.

Recent status of seaweed farming in the Solomon Islands

Vagehna Island, 120 km northeast of Gizo, is one of the main seaweed farming sites, inhabited by an I-Kiribati community. In 2005, Vaghena produced up to 40 t/month of dried seaweed, although since then, production has been at a steady decline to about 10 t/month. Several reasons for the decline include the drop in beach price, which has gone from SBD 2 to SBD 1.5.

During visits to seaweed farming areas, many abandoned plots were observed, and there were hundreds of unused stakes and little activity, except a few households that were still farming in the area. Vaghena inhabitants reported that with the downturn in seaweed prices and the moratorium on sea cucumber exports, they have turned their fishing skills to catching sharks and crayfish (tails).

The team also visited Rarumana village, which achieved a peak seaweed production in excess of 20 t/month in 2004. There, we met with Maloe Daga, the village chief (80 years old), who was one of the most productive farmers with 3000 lines in the water. At present, there are only six seaweed farmers, compared with 146 farmers in 2004. It was reported that in the past two years, this site has experienced poor water and meteorological conditions for farming. Rarumana is a fertile island and female seaweed farmers have gone back to tending crops (Gizo market is 40 minute boat ride); men fish for shark fins and collect trochus, and are also involved in timber milling. We visited seaweed farming areas in the lagoon alongside reef crests. Rafts were used for initiating seaweed growth, and the plants were showing encouraging signs of growth.

The EU seaweed project is carrying out extension work in other Solomon Island provinces. The sites that have been identified for suitable farming include Ontong Java, the Reef Islands, and north Malaita. It is thought that the communities residing in the artificial islands of north Malaita will be highly productive farmers. Fisheries staff have also carried out trials in south Malaita, Marovo and Makira. While these sites have shown potential for good production, Vaghena remains one of the most suitable and sustainable sites in the Solomon Islands. Efforts will be made by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources (DFMR) and EU project staff to rejuvenate production at this island.

The major activities carried out by the project include the:

• transfer of seedlings to potential farming sites;
• improvement of equipment in the farming areas: building of warehouses, implementing email equipment for communication, providing materials;
• appointment and the training of extension officers and buying agents;
• training of farmers; and
• implementation of a farmer database as part of the EU project.

A large effort has been made towards on-site quality control, targeting poor or unscrupulous post-harvesting practices by farmers A quality control manual is currently being published.

Future prospects for Solomon Island aquaculture industries

With the re-structuring of the DFMR aquaculture division, and the increase in capacity in terms of funds and staffing, the future looks promising for the Solomon Islands aquaculture industry. Furthermore, the NGOs are in a good position to continue to solidly contribute to the development of the industry by supplying training, extension and research and development services.

DFMR’s aquaculture division will soon implement its strategic plan for 2007–2010. Part of this activity will be supported under an NZAID-funded institutional strengthening project. The government’s aim is to expand the role of aquaculture, through creating livelihoods for coastal communities, and strengthening regulations. SPC will continue to advise and assist the DFMR by providing technical assistance and training.