Aquaculture possibilities in some islands of the South Pacific

Abstract

The author’s observations in some South Pacific Islands demonstrate the urgent need of the inhabitants for protein food. The limited land areas of the islands, which are generally volcanic or atoll in origin, with extensive coral reefs, indicate that the greater bulk of protein food needed here must be supplied from the vast surrounding waters of the Pacific. In the inland and coastal waters of these islands, fish farming would be useful, especially for the islanders to participate in actively, even to the extent of producing their own daily requirements for fish protein food. To enable them to accomplish self-help in food production, the Consultant tried to evaluate the problems and simplify as much as possible the approach to probable solutions as presented in this report. Although some observations and data presented herein are incomplete, due to the limited time he could spend in each of the islands involved, efforts were made to gather information from many sources, both governmen t and private sectors.