Papua New Guinea to Carry On with SEASMART; Severs Contract with EcoEZ

Editor:  A representative of the government of Papua New Guinea today announced that the country's National Fisheries Authority intends to pursue the SEASMART initiative created for and with the country by US-based EcoEZ Inc., headed by David Vosseler. Many legal questions remain, including what the program will be called and where it's operations will be housed. CORAL's Ret Talbot will be following this story.

PRESS RELEASE
From the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) of Papua New Guinea
Approved by Sylvester Pokajam, Managing Director NFA
January 11, 2011

The Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority has lost confidence in Eco EZ Inc. to develop the PNG Marine Aquarium Trade

Port Moresby - The Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority (NFA) has ceased the allocation of funds to the U.S.-based consultancy firm EcoEZ Inc., which formerly held the contract to carry out the “SEASMART” Program.  This decision comes as the contract term between EcoEZ Inc. and the PNG NFA neared expiration, and the NFA was not satisfied with EcoEZ Inc.’s level of performance. (NFA Managing Director Sylvester Pokajam, above.)

Funding to EcoEZ Inc. was cut short for the last quarter of 2010, which was the last quarter of the contract term.
 
EcoEZ Inc. entered into a contract with the Papua New Guinea NFA in 2008.  Initially a one year contract to conduct reef survey work in the reefs of PNG and test the feasibility of an aquarium trade, the scope of work and contract term quickly expanded to three years and the development of a sustainable marine aquarium fishery.

15 million kina, approx 5 million USD, were allocated to EcoEZ Inc to carry out the SEASMART program over the three years.  The government of Papua New Guinea, through the NFA, was the sole provider of funds to EcoEZ Inc.

Initially the program seemed to be going great, with EcoEZ Inc. training local fishers from over 8 villages to sustainably collect marine aquarium life. Exports of these organisms occurred throughout 2009 and 2010, primarily to US importers in Los Angeles.
                
PNG marine aquarium life impressed the international community with organisms of stunning beauty and rarity like the pictured PNG Lightning Maroon Clownfish, below, and will continue to do so when this fishery develops deep into the heart of the extraordinary biodiversity of PNG’s coral reefs and coastal communities.  (Photo courtesy Ret Talbot.)
However, shortcomings in the SEASMART program slowly started to become apparent over time, especially in 2010.  Five contractual objectives were in place that EcoEZ Inc. was expected to deliver on, and some of these EcoEZ Inc. simply failed to achieve.  These deliverables were:

1.)    Build and have in operation one MAC certified trial export facility based in Port Moresby;
2.)    Commission targeted number of MAC certified collection areas in Papua New Guinea;
3.)    Complete and have in full operation TRADE management software with key NFA staff trained on its use;
4.)    Develop and have in operation a specially tailored marine aquarium management plan for Papua New Guinea; 
5.)    Fully establish the marine aquarium trade in PNG in accordance with the PNG marine aquarium management plan. 
  
Obviously, MAC certification was not going to be a possibility, despite EcoEZ Inc. executive management insisting that MAC was a functional entity. When it finally became apparent that MAC certification would not be possible, the Papua New Guinea NFA allocated EcoEZ Inc. an additional 18,000 USD to develop a set of PNG National Standards that would be used in lieu of MAC certification. These standards were never developed. As a result, neither the export facility, nor the collection areas were certified.

In addition to the 5 million USD dollars EcoEZ Inc. was given to carry out SEASMART, the PNG NFA also allocated 180,000 USD for EcoEZ Inc. to develop and produce TRADE software.  TRADE was supposed to be a web based organism traceability software system, that EcoEZ Inc. promised would make PNG the world leader in organism traceability.  Six months was the established timetable for this TRADE software to be created, and shortly thereafter, NFA management was to be trained on its use.  However after nearly three years, EcoEZ Inc. was unable to deliver the software, despite spending all of the allocated sum.

EcoEZ Inc. was also unable to deliver a viable marine aquarium management plan within the established timeline, and ultimately, was unable to fully establish the marine aquarium trade in PNG as a viable fishery that could be run and developed by private sector entities. The combined effect of EcoEZ Inc. not meeting their contractual obligations left the PNG NFA no choice but to discontinue funding.

The National Fisheries Authority’s decision to cut funding to EcoEZ Inc. is not a reflection of NFA’s position toward the marine aquarium trade in Papua New Guinea however. The NFA still recognizes that the enormous untapped marine resources of PNG’s reefs can bring great benefit to the coastal people of PNG by channeling these resources through a sustainable, equitable aquarium trade.

The PNG NFA is planning to move forward with their own, internally run marine aquarium program, which will be largely based on the core principles of the SEASMART program: sustainability, equitability, profitability. The main aim of this NFA project will be to take the aquarium fishery in PNG from a “project stage” to a fully developed, private sector run industry. Profitability is the one previously unattained area that the NFA hopes it will be able to achieve in 2011. Many employees from the SEASMART program will be incorporated into the new, NFA-run program.

“A work plan and budget have already been established for the 2011 PNG marine aquarium program. This next year of operation is expected to deliver a great range and volume of marine aquarium organisms to our international customers. Fish from around the coast of PNG, as well as inverts and cultured corals, should be available at your local fish store by mid 2011,” says Kema Mailu, program “caretaker” of the new NFA-run PNG marine aquarium program.

The National Fisheries Authority of Papua New Guinea is a Statutory Authority set up by the PNG Government to monitor, regulate, and develop policy related to fisheries in Papua New Guinea.  The National Fisheries Authority of Papua New Guinea is committed to managing fisheries for sustainable benefit.

Editor: CORAL will publish a response from EcoEZ Inc. as soon as it becomes available.