Pafco, Hangton Pacific reps: Fiji’s seafood industry is “open for business”

"All of us from Fiji, we want the world to experience our products and know that we are happy to discuss new ventures."
Hangton Pacific Finance Manager Ashneel Chand and Pafco CEO Saiyad Raiyum at the 2024 Seafood Expo Asia
Hangton Pacific Finance Manager Ashneel Chand and Pafco CEO Saiyad Raiyum at the 2024 Seafood Expo Asia | Photos by Cliff White/SeafoodSource
8 Min

Fiji’s seafood industry is back on its feet after the Covid-19 pandemic and is seeking to expand its international exports, according to representatives of two of the country’s largest firms.

Pacific Fishing Company, or Pafco, is running double shifts at its tuna-canning facility in Levuka, Fiji, according to CEO Saiyad Raiyum.

Supply of fish has been really good. So far this year, we've been doing really well,” Raiyum told SeafoodSource at the 2024 Seafood Expo Asia in Singapore, where the company was exhibiting.

Unlike most other seafood products, demand for canned seafood remained steady throughout the global inflationary crisis of the past two years. Pafco has concentrated on locking down the Pacific regional market with flavors geared toward local tastes such as its Sun Bell Curry Tuna Flakes and its Tuna Flakes in Coconut Cream.

“We keep improving our products and adding new flavors,” Raiyum said. “We want to be the favorite brand of the South Pacific.”

Pafco sells its canned products in Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and the United States. It also sells fishmeal to Saudi Arabia and Japan and has a large business selling frozen loins to major customers in the U.S. Raiyum said the company has targeted North America and Europe as key growth markets, but he said expansion may take longer than expected.

“Demand for canned food products, while there is stability in the U.S., is not as great as it used to be,” he said. “In the Covid period, we saw a much bigger hike than anyone anticipated. However, as people have returned more to work and things have opened up – restaurants and everything – there's been a bit of a hit on the products that are on the shelf in supermarkets; people are more inclined to go and eat out again, as opposed to cooking at home, and canned food is definitely taking a bit of a hit because of that.”

As for conditions in Fiji, Raiyum said there are “no issues.”

The Western and Central Pacific Ocean has a healthy and sustainable fish supply,” he said. “There is a shortage of labor, but that is a global problem, and in Fiji, it is variable. For us, labor supply is not an issue except in one or two technical areas.”

Raiyum said Pafco will continue to explore avenues to grow its global presence, with continued assistance from the Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), an organization helping to manage, control, and develop Pacific Islands tuna fisheries.

“I can clearly say FFA is doing a wonderful job. They have been stalwarts behind us through Covid and being here [at Seafood Expo Asia] and helping us go to [Seafood Expo Global in] Barcelona and [Seafood Expo North America in Boston] to showcase our products is only because of their support.”

Raiyum said he wants the global seafood industry to know that Fiji and Pafco are “open for business.”

“All of us from Fiji, we want the world to experience our products and know that we are happy to discuss new ventures,” he said.

Suva, Fiji-based Hangton Pacific is also looking to grow its overseas business, according to the company’s finance manager, Ashneel Chand. The deep-sea longline fishing firm supplies Marine Stewardship Council-certified fresh and frozen whole tuna to the U.S., Japan, and New Zealand.

As a Fijian company, Hangton Pacific has status that gives it access to fish in the country’s exclusive economic zone. It catches around 1,500 to 1,700 metric tons of tuna annually – consisting of around 50 percent albacore, with the remainder yellowfin and bigeye – from five fishing vessels, four of them newly built.

A new Chinese owner, now a Fiji resident, has helped stabilize the company’s finances and give it a more concentrated business strategy. At one point, Hangton Pacific was operating as many as a dozen vessels, but in recent years, it downsized as its fleet aged and it prioritized investment in a smaller number of newer ships. 

“We had to bring it down because the maintenance costs were high,” Chand said. “A big thing in Fiji’s fishing industry is the funding issue. There’s no funding facility in Fiji for construction of boats. It’s a big challenge to our hopes for expansion.”

The reduction did help the company address a labor shortage in Viti Levu, the island where the company is based. Suva is Fiji’s main fishing hub, and qualified labor is scarce there and quickly snapped up, according to Chand. As a result, Hangton Pacific has had to rely on foreign crew to man its vessels, and that, in part, led to issues that resulted in its Hangton No. 112 receiving a withhold release order (WRO) from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in August 2021.

Hangton Pacific General Manager Jitendra K. Mohan told SeafoodSource at the time his firm was working to improve its treatment of foreign workers and align its processes with international standards.

“Overall, [we] have identified some areas we have to get more involved,” he said. “As it seems, actions and conduct of recruiting agents needs greater scrutiny and monitoring."

According to the Fiji Sun, Hangton Pacific is a supplier of tuna to the Pafco, which has a processing agreement with Bumble Bee Seafoods.

In a statement, a CBP spokesperson said ...


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