Analysis of catch data from an artisanal coral reef fishery in the Tigak Islands, Papua New Guinea.

Abstract

For the period 1970-1982, landing records from a small-scale coral reef fishery in the Tigak Islands, northern Papua New Guinea (PNG), are summarized and analyzed. Fishermen in the Tigak Islands spear, net, or handline the majority of the catch. Mugilids, carangids, lutjanids, letherinids, serranids and scarids comprise 76 percent of the total weight of the fish caught in these islands. From 1970 to 1982, 303 tonnes of reef fish caught by island fishermen were landed at a government fisheries station in Kavieng. This involved 9,131 beach side transactions. Landings offish from the Tigak Islands increased between 1976 and 1982 and the possible reasons for this are discussed. Population size and annual rainfall did not have a significant affect on fish landings, but fish landings in two villages which owned copra plantations were negatively correlated with the mean annual copra price. As the distance from Kavieng increased, the incentive to fish decreased; more than 30 percent of the total landings for the period originated from within two kilometers of the government fisheries station. However, mean weight of landings increased with increasing distance of the source of the catch from the fisheries station. The implications of this analysis for fisheries development planning are discussed.