-) rv SPC/Inshore Fish. Res./BP 14 8 March 1988 ORGINAL : ENGLISH SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION WORKSHOP ON INSHORE FISHERY RESOURCES (Noumea, New Caledonia, 14-25 March 1988) The Fijian Baitfishery S. Sharma Fiji Fisheries Division Introduction 1. The Fijian skipjack fishery, modest in size relative to others in the Pacific, makes an increasing important contribution to the economy of the country. Established in 1976 as a means of increasing and diversifying the supply of tuna to the joint venture cannery at Levuka, the skipjack fishery has shown steady, rather than spectacular, growth to the point where 6507 tonnes were landed by 14 vessels during calendar year 1981. This year also marked the peak for baitfish catches logging an estimated 140 tonnes. At present IKA Corporation has 3 IKA owned and 2 chartered Japanese vessels fishing for them. There are also 3 private vessels, two from Kiribati and one local who are also pole-and-line fishing. This year one vessel from New Zealand has also joined pole and line operations. 2. Despite the success of purse seining in other areas of the tropical Pacific, pole and line fishing remains a viable economic enterprise and well within national development objec- tives. There are several issues facing the Fijian Government with regards to managing the multi-use aspects of fish resources, baitfish species being among them. This paper presents the characteristics of the fishery, research activities of the Fijian Fisheries Division, and presents a discussion on the management concerns with respect to traditional fishing rights and the concept of a permit system. Much of the information presented in this report appears in other publications from the Fisheries Division of Fiji (e.g. Lewis et al. 1983). Some preliminary investigations on the multi-species nature of the fishery is also presented. With analytical assistance from James Ianelli, SPC Tuna and Billfish Assessment Programme. 235/88