Solomon Islands Aquaculture Development Plan, 2009-2014.

The Solomon Islands Aquaculture Development Plan, 2009-2014 is a cross-sectoral national plan prepared with the goals of identifying and prioritizing the aquaculture commodities required to meet the national need for food and livelihood; establishing viable aquaculture enterprises and provide the training necessary to expand the sector; strengthening the national capacity to establish and manage aquaculture at all levels; attracting investment in aquaculture; developing competition (especially for export markets); providing technical support for key industry stakeholders, e.g. farmers, private sector, NGOs and donors; and developing responsible policies for aquaculture and gazette the supporting regulations.
Aquaculture is increasingly considered an important sector of food security, especially for rural households and from institutions such as boarding schools. To help with food security the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources will support individual requests to establish household level ponds to produce fish for their own consumption. Further, because aquaculture provides alternative local resources of fresh fish, government will support rural communities in developing management plans for inshore fisheries. The feasibility of introducing tilapia as a food source and establishing hatchery facilities for training purposes will also be explored.
In order to make aquaculture more productive and sustainable, the government has developed a prioritization process aimed at selecting a small number of highly feasible priority commodities that would generate income or food for Solomon Islanders. The four commodities chosen for prioritization are seaweed, tilapia, sea cucumber, and marine ornamentals including giant clam, coral, and crustaceans. Proposed activities include development of growth trials, establishment of quality standards, capacity building of Solomon Islanders in hatchery and grow-out techniques through training and research opportunities, site selection for the most suitable habitats, investigation of community based fisheries management models, expansion of aquaculture farming activities to other locations in Solomon Islands such as Ontong Java Atoll, Reef Islands, Malaita, other locations in the Western Province, provision of improved extension services, revision of aquaculture licensing regime, policy and regulations regularly incorporated in national development plans, etc.
The government actions designed to increase aquaculture productivity including the development of tilapia farming opportunities and sourcing value-adding opportunities for rural communities such as carving and handicrafts will naturally result in increased income levels and better overall economical standing for the rural communities. Further, government will focus on clarifying tenure issues to establish secure farming sites and reduce investments risks, and establishing financing arrangements for rural based satellite farms, offering tax relief for small-scale rural farmers, etc.
To enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems the government will introduce fiscal and market measures such as maintaining import prohibiting of live sea cucumber and export ban on wild clams, offer assistance of giant clam producers with marketing strategies, establish trade accreditation and regulations for trade, expand activities in the private sector, promote farming of corals as an alternative, especially close to efficient transport routes, identification of key donor agencies and funding sources available to Solomon Islands, encourage collaboration between government, NGOs and private sector, encourage competition at the level of exporters, identify suitable additional overseas buyers, assist representation of Solomon Islands industry at international conventions and trade shows, encourage the market to promote these products as farm-raised and label them as eco-friendly and sustainable, etc.
Regarding governance, MFMR is the lead government agency for statutory management of fisheries and aquaculture in Solomon Islands. Other state agencies include the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Lands, Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment, Conservations and Meteorology. The Ministry of Agriculture supports the rural agrarian sector, for which aquaculture is a potential alternative land use. The Ministry of Lands oversees land survey and land tenure. These are key issues for aquaculture ventures, which require a sound legal basis for occupying coastal or marine sites and developing farm infrastructure. Any environmental assessment work will require the assistance of the Department of Environment. In addition, a number of international agencies and NGOs are also involved with aquaculture activities. Examples include WorldFish, a close partner of the MFMR aquaculture programme with capacity and facilities to carry out experimental studies on relevant commodities, Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific – Solomon Islands (FSPSI) with a good track record of community-based marine resource management, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) that was commissioned by MFMR to assist with the Aquaculture Development Plan, etc.