Innovative small-scale tuna canning coming to PNG

by Rosalyn Albaniel-Evara | 4 December 2016 | News

By Rosalyn Albaniel-Evara, Pacific Media@WCPFC13
A mini-canning unit small enough to fit on a kitchen table is set to provide jobs for families and small businesses in PNG.
The secretariat of the 8-nation fishery bloc the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) came up with the idea of mini-canning as a way to minimise waste of by-catch from purse seine fishing.
The PNA has been conducting training for people from government and private sector in its member states on how to use the micro-canning units.
A company called KMI Enterprise in Majuro, Marshall Islands-which is the biggest transhipment port in the world- has already started manufacturing this product.
PNA plans to extend this venture into its other member states including Papua New Guinea, where it will help with food security and import replacement, as well as jobs.
PNA’s commercial advisor Maurice Brownjohn said Papua New Guinea is the next country to receive training.
Around 1000 cans of the PNA’s Skipjack Christmas pack have been sent to Nadi, Fiji ahead of the 13th Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.
Four PNA staff will be giving delegates to the WCPFC the opportunity to taste the product which differs from industrially processed canned fish.
This is because each can is packed with fresh raw tuna rather than cooked tuna. Added to that is bit of water, salt and a dash of virgin coconut oil. The fish is then cooked using a domestic pressure cooker.
“The product is safe as it has been done safely and to the highest sterility standards set in Australia,” Mr Brownjohn said.
He said when the mini-cannery was introduced they were using skipjack, yellow fin and rainbow runner but added that the same could be done using mackerel and trochus meat as well.
PNA has already distributed samples of the product along with a brochure to explain the back ground of the project, along with a brochure to a number of embassies and officials.