Muller: new fish to fry

OF all the new leaders of re gional organisations who take up their post this year, one may find it a little easier than the others.

Philipp Muller, 53, took over in mid- January as director of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC), after 11 years as director of Forum Fisheries Agencies (FFA). He was on the SOPAC founding committee when it was established in 1971, and has a background of scientific research in line with SOPAC’s work.

Muller also should feel at home at SOPAC headquarters in Suva he is of Western Samoan descent, but was born in Fiji and did his primary and secondary education there. He went to Western Samoa in the early 19605, then obtained a Bachelor of Science at the University of Auckland in 1962. In 1963 he became a trainee with the New Zealand Meteoro logical Service, and in 1964 returned to Western Samoa as officer in charge of the meteorological office in Apia.

In 1965 he became superintendent at the Apia Observatory. In 1976 he was appointed chairman of Western Samoa’s

Public Service Commission before be coming a Food and Agriculture Organ isation field expert in hydrology. He joined FFA in 1981.

He said FFA was protecting the ocear resources of its member countries and maximising benefits to them, but the competition from distant-water fishing nations was acute. Handicaps were lack of expertise, technology, funding and the market the core of the problem being the Pacific’s vast oceans and small economies.

Muller said there will be attempts tc get more involvement in tuna e.g. buying our own fleets and getting more canneries through joint ventures. How ever he warned that Pacific governments should not try to look after fisheries themselves.

Apart from tuna, Muller talks about development and coordination of dom estic policy how to manage or develop local fisheries as opposed to tuna. The FFA will be developing other ocear

resources and providing development

services.

Muller said he can understand the concerns of his FFA replacement, Sir

Peter Kenilorea.

“We in the agency are concerned with containing the foreign fishermen, maximising how much they pay. We have to keep the

Japanese, Taiwan

ese, Americans and Koreans at arms’ length. The SPC on their tuna research need cooperation and data from these fleets so they need to bring them closer there is a conflict.

“It is up to the (Pacific Island) countries to make the decision, but it’s al most at a position where one may de velop at the expense of the other.”

Muller said it was a delicate situation about fish prices and relations with coun tries some, like Japan, were big aid donors. He said he has a lot of refocuss ing to do, but mostly is confident he will feel at home with

Ffa. □

Refocussing: new director of SOPAC