Milne Bay
Illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing remains a problem in PNG but varies across the country. In the past, PNG has received warnings regarding its tuna industry. Populations of reef fish near dense human population centers come under heavy pressure, although more remote reef system fish populations may be protected due to their inaccessibility. A brief live reef fish trade briefly flourished in PNG but eventually collapsed when the new regulations were introduced because it was a marginally profitable business before regulations due to the remoteness of PNG and heavy losses in transportation.
Mangroves, a coastal marine resource important in PNG for food and building materials, experience high pressures near heavily settled areas with less pressure on remote mangrove forests. Loss of mangroves near settled areas results in loss of nursery grounds, loss of some direct food sources (for example, mangrove crabs), and loss of a source of building material.
Options for addressing illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing and other pressures on marine resources will be identified in a marine resources situational analysis and results chain currently under development and focused on Milne Bay Province. Milne Bay was added as an LGP priority geography due to its unparalleled species diversity within PNG and in the regional Coral Triangle. Additional options will be identified once engagements in Milne Bay Province are completed.
LGP is dedicated to honoring and strengthening customary natural resources management. Many coastal residents and fishers have little access to a variety of nutritional foods, making food security a possible threat. Remote island communities also have limited options for cash livelihoods to pay for schools, transport (fuel), medicine, and other daily life costs; these limited options may lead to necessary and intentional overexploitation of fish and mangrove resources. As clans disperse, with many of the communities’ youth moving to cities and other families migrating to outside areas, the population expands, and customary stewardship can become more challenging due to language, culture, or competition for resources. These challenges are compounded over time by the uncertainty of dependent ecosystems due to climate change.
LGP’s marine results chain describes new efforts to focus on the new geography of Milne Bay as one of the country’s highest marine biodiversity focal areas. The next step in this process is to incorporate any threats or conservation needs that are prioritized in the initial three LGP geographies, including the few activities already identified for implementation.
