In an effort to get more from the country’s Fisheries Sector, the Ministry of International Trade and Investment (MITI) has pushed for imposing a tax on all unprocessed fish caught in Papua New Guinea (PNG) waters by fishing companies and shipped overseas. Minister for International Trade and Investment, Richard Maru said the good news is that the government supports this initiative by the Ministry. “Through our initiative, we brought parliament to pass a law that by the first of July next year (2024), this country will for the first time introduce a 20% tax on all the fish brought out unprocessed,” said Minister Maru. He said this would go in line with the joint venture initiative between the State and RD Tuna Corporation to expand the fish canneries under a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) arrangement, because this tax would also ensure that fish caught in the country’s waters get processed here and then exported to overseas markets. He said this would come under a domestication policy that would ensure Papua New Guineans can operate their own boats and fish in the waters alongside overseas vessels licensed to fish in PNG waters. “We have been pushing that and I want to thank the prime minister and the Treasurer for their support, we are going to now impose a tax. So, those fishing companies who continue to take fish out without processing, are going to now be taxed, and they need to be taxed.” Minister Maru also said that the country needs to have tougher laws in place to protect the fisheries sector and one of the things that he has been pushing for is to have a policy in place to allow for fishing licenses to be issued to fishing companies, only on the condition that all the catch, will be processed here in PNG. That way the country’s fisheries sector will be better protected from illegal fishing and revenue loss and at the same time, create more employment for the people through the fish canneries.