Third SPC Regional Technical Meeting on Coastal Fisheries

Third SPC Regional Technical Meeting on Coastal Fisheries REPUBLIC OF THE MARSHALL ISLANDS COASTAL FISHERIES AND AQUACULTURE TECHNICAL ISSUES AND PRIORITIES

Coastal Fisheries Technical Priorities 1. Increase capacity of local governments in data collection programs to assist in the improvement of Small scale fisheries data collection for the RMI. 2. Invest in more research to develop sustainable livelihoods projects and explore market opportunities.

Aquaculture Technical Priorities 1. Expanding research in country in the area of culturing high value species and to increase aquaculture activities 2. Cost Benefit Analysis of Aquaculture Production and Marketing to assist with informing Government, Communities and the Private Sector

Actions taken since RTMCF 2 (Nov 2018) 1. Aquaculture & Aquatic Biosecurity: Hiring of Aquatic Biosecurity Officer and Aquaculture Officer in June 2019. With SPC assistance, finalizing draft aquaculture regulations to be ready for the public consultation phase. 2. Currently undergoing a stocktake of data collections systems and metadata within country through the CMAC. Still pushing for the hiring of a data officer for coastal fisheries.

Coastal Fisheries Issues or Challenges 1. Inter-island Transportation & Communication 2. Limited Capacity – National and Local levels 3. Small scale Fisheries Data Collection

Aquaculture Issues or Challenges 1. Inter-island Transportation & Communication 2. Limited Capacity 3. Export market access for new species of interest