Vanuatu hosts South-South Sea Ranching Training

Facilitated by Michel Bermudes (Consultant) and Jamie Whitford (Mariculture specialist, SPC) the workshop brought together professionals from across the Pacific from previous SPC sandfish training exchanges held in 2017 and 2018 to present the progress made at the national level in the sea cucumber aquaculture industry in their respective countries.

It also aims to develop a sea ranching strategy for Vanuatu based on its cultural, social and environmental context and experiences from stakeholders and the private sector.

Nineteen hatchery technicians and fisheries officers from Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu took part in the week-long workshop to develop this strategy.

Comprising classroom workshop and fieldwork participation, the workshop, amongst other outcomes highlighted current constraints from other countries, developed a step by step strategy developed for sea ranching collaboration between stakeholders, private sector and communities and developed a monitoring programme for sea ranching.

Other highlights include the completion of the construction of a sea pen at the Havannah Harbour at the Aquaculture solutions hatchery area and the release of 181 sandfish juveniles in the Aquaculture solutions newly built sea pen.

Director of the Fisheries Department, William Naviti, elaborated on the status of sea cucumber in Vanuatu in his opening remarks.

Each country had the opportunity to present an update on the progress of their sea cucumber hatchery. They also explained the status of sea ranching in their respective countries since the 2017 and 2018 workshops.

The participants got a lot of new ideas on how to run a low-cost hatchery operation during their visit to Havannah Harbour and Paunangisu village where they toured a sand fish hatchery. They also visited the Marina to see the sandfish juveniles in Hapa net cages.

Photo supplied Caption: Participants erecting wooden poles ready for the sea pen nets