Permanent Secretary for Fish­eries Craig Strong believes there is a need to conserve and manage giant clams and mud crabs because they are highly tar­geted and vulnerable fisheries stocks.

This was highlighted at the two-day ‘The Mud Crab and Giant Clam Management Strategy’ workshop at the Holiday Inn, Suva, yesterday.

“Giant clam species are listed un­der the Convention on the Interna­tional Trade on Endangered Species of flora and fauna (CITES), and thus are clearly threatened with extinc­tion within their geographical range on an international scale,” Mr Strong said.

“Mud crabs are also easily over­fished, and thus the need for draft­ing these very important policy guiding documents.”

He said people should leave be­hind fisheries stock that were still healthy and productive so that the next generation would still get to enjoy them.

Mr Strong said the mud crabs were a high-value fishery in the domestic market especially in the tourism in­dustry.

Edited by Ranoba Baoa

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