Research and development of seafood continues to be productive in terms of new and improved products for both food and non-food purposes. The use of biotechnology, microbiology. Computer modeling and advanced analytical techniques has led to improvements in processing and product safety. This recent book provides extensive new information on these developments.
Aquaculture is a relatively new development in the region, and in most Pacific Islands where it has been attempted: its history goes back less than 30 years. There's no fund of traditional knowledge for culturing fish and shellfish, just catching them, except in very specialized instances and areas. There is thus no great resource of aquacultural skill or infrastructure. This steep development path has perhaps not been taken into account in short-term aims and lacked follow-up. Despite the comparatively minor penetration of aquaculture into Pacific Island economies, and despite the loss of interest by most of the international development community after many short-term project failures, several Pacific Island governments have accepted the challenge. They recognize that expansion in capture fisheries is limited, and have made substantial investments in freshwater aquaculture and mariculture, often in concert with external sources of development assistance. |
