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Briefly

• The development of tuna “waste” as a pig food in the Solomon Islands gave the pig industry a boost and an export industry may not be too far away. Tuna have been canned on Tulagi since 1973 by a Japanese company on a com mercial basis. But only about 45% by weight of the fish went into the cans. Pig rearing had reached a stage where it became necessary to import protein concentrates in the form of fish meal from Australia. A technologist from the Tropical Products Institute of London visited the Solomons and developed a process of fish meal preserva tion through adding formic acid to the cooked fish. This was mixed with rice bran or meal and fed to the pigs’.

Feeding trials were satis

factory.

A TPI animal nutritionist estimated in 1976 that silage production could reach a stage where 16 000 pigs could be fed, far more than the local demand. Now there are possi

ble export markets, nearby in Bougainville, and further afield. As the cost of the Australian product was $6O a tonne, fish meal has become an economic proposition for the Solomons. • Last year was a good year for tourism on Guam. There were 245 828 visitors, an in crease of about 20% on 1976.

Japan provided 63% of the visitors, 13% came from North America and Hawaii, 8% from Micronesia and 2% from Asia, other than Japan.

With expenditure per head estimated at $450, the tourism revenue was close to $llO million. • Mr Barry Fennell has been appointed manager of CIG Bougainville Pty Ltd, and will be based at Kieta. He was formerly CIG customer services supervisor with the South Queensland branch. • Mr E. A. Ryan has been appointed general manager of Pagini Brambles Transport Pty Ltd in Papua New Guinea.

Mr Ryan, who was controller.

Brambles Transport Group at the company’s Sydney head quarters, succeeds Mr F. J.

Cook, who resigned to take up

a senior appointment with Namasu, which is based in Lae. Mr Ryan is no stranger to PNG. Before joining Pagini Brambles, then Gordoka Road Transport, as com mercial manager in April, 1972, Mr Ryan had spent two years as company accountant for Collins and Leahy Pty Ltd, a large PNG company with interests in trade stores, transport, hotels and coffee.

He was in Australia from 1973, with Seatainer Ter minals Ltd and with Bram bles. • Officials from US Pacific territories have made positive moves towards setting up an agency to regulate a proposed 200 nautical mile fishing zone agreement for the Pacific.

These officials met the US En vironmental Secretary of State, Mrs Patsy Mink, in Honolulu, and agreed that regulation of a zone agree ment should be done through a multi-national body to be known as the South Pacific Regional Fisheries Agency.

Mrs Mink said later the con clusions of the meeting would be referred to Washington for final policy decision-making before the next round of talks, tentatively scheduled for Suva. Apart from Mrs Mink,

those at the meeting were Peter Coleman, Governor of American Samoa, Carlos Camacho, Governor of the Northern Marianas, Guam Cabinet members and Robert Law, Trust Territory liaison officer. Past heavy investments by the pijj Government in a pine sch eme, hydro-electricity development, cane farming expansion, cattle schemes and commercial fishing should start to bear fruit in about three years, and the economy

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Mr Charles Stinson, made that forecas , in an address to F iji accountants. He did not ex J pect a rapid upturn jn the economy for two years, but that he was confident.

The impact of the investments he men Uted would be subs tantial, and Fiji’s sensitivity to outside economic forces wou|d be reduced • Ten African students from Rhodesia are spending 1978 at the University of the South Pacific, Suva. They are studying under a Corn monwealth programme aimed at helping African Rhodesians to prepare to take over ad ministration of the country.