The company had to meet a number of requirements, including having a state-of-the-art live seafood holding facility and complying with all environmental and food safety regulations.
Staff of Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd, which has secured a deal to export live seafoods to San Francisco.
Southern Star Seafood has successfully secured a deal to export live seafood such as mud crabs, fish, slipper lobsters, and lobsters to San Francisco.
With over 30 years of experience in wholesaling and exporting live seafood, the company is owned by its Australian parent company Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd.
Business Development director, Edmond Wong said they believe there was a strong demand for high-quality, live seafood in the US market, and they were confident that their products would meet the high standards of its customers.
After a rigorous process Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd managed to secure the deal, he said.
“No company has exported live seafood from Fiji since 2006,” Mr Wong said.
“We are the first company granted the licence and with strict conditions,”
“We communicated with various Ministries and departments such as Fiji BioSecurity, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Trade and Ministry of Fisheries.
“The responses from them are very positive and after four months of process, we finally got our export permit on 8th August, 2023,” he added.
The company had to meet a number of requirements, including having a state-of-the-art live seafood holding facility and complying with all environmental and food safety regulations.
“We are committed to sustainable fishing practices,” said Mr Wong.
Staff of Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd, which has secured a deal to export live seafoods to San Francisco.
“We are working with local fishermen to promote day fishing and one-line one-hook fishing, which are both more sustainable methods of fishing.”
Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd is confident that its success will pave the way for other Fijian companies to export seafood to the global market.
“We have established Live Seafood Holding tanks in Nadi which is approved by the Ministry of Health,” Mr Wong said.
“Everything we do is done with sustainability in mind.”
“We are going to up-skill local fishermen to start doing day fishing One Line One Hook and much more targeted to the donu and kawakawa which will allow them to earn 2-3 times more per kg,”
Mr Wong also said Investment Fiji had responded to their enquiries and facilitated meetings with the Western Division of Fisheries, as well as providing and attending a few of the key meetings.
Investment Fiji chief executive officer, Kamal Chetty said it was great to have Southern Star Seafood Pty Ltd exporting live seafood to export to Hong Kong and USA.
“This is a major milestone for the company and for the Fijian economy,” Mr Chetty said.
“This export is a sign of the growing confidence of the Fijian seafood industry and its ability to compete in international markets,” he added
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