 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Sub-Regional Office for the Pacific Islands, based in Samoa, has a number of technical corporation projects called TCP projects with various countries. Within one of these TCP projects, the Republic of the Marshall Islands requested a training video on capture techniques for targeting the abundant and underutilized flying fish resource of the Marshall Islands. This video captures the latest commercial capture techniques for flying fish that have evolved in Kiribati. The value-addition processing techniques also conveyed in this film actually double the value of flying fish when processed as demonstrated. When good quality flying fish are utilized, this offers some of the best economic increases when further processed. Fishers in Kiribati have developed an interesting and effective system to harvest flying fish, a pelagic species which can be harvested for commercial income generation for small-scale fishers. The common skiff design often used in Kiribati proves an ideal craft for this gill net fishery. The boat used for this tutorial is rolled into the water in preparation for today's fishing trip. The nets are loaded in what we call sets. Each set is a net bundle of three by 100 meter lengths of netting. This, when made into a fishing net, is suitable for two people to carry and load onto the boat. First, the net is placed into the boat so it will be deployed easily. You will notice they tied the other net sets together to make three net sets joined as one. The net bundles are joined to make the desired length of netting for a day's fishing. The ideal fishing grounds are in deep oceanic water on the leeward side of an island and when the conditions are calm. The net is set starting in approximately 15 meters depth and set directly out to sea at 90 degrees to the shoreline. Fisher say that you do not do this fishery during rainy periods as the flying fish will go into deeper water during heavy rain. The boat is motored at approximately four knots while setting the net. Not too fast as the crew need to be able to carefully untangle the net as it is being deployed. In this manner, the net continues to be set. Getting towards the end of the set, the captain and crew carefully try to judge when they have approximately 80% of the net deployed. Then, they will use the remaining 20% for the hook shape in the end of the net. When setting the hook shape into the end of the net, note that the boat is in reverse gear and towing the end of the net into this desired hook shape on the end. Now that the boat is holding the end of the net and in reverse gear, it is towing the net to maintain the hook shape in the end. Now the crew are waiting for the flying fish schools as they come along the coastline of the island. Fisher say that any time of the month and any time of day, you can do this type of fishery. As schools of flying fish are seen approaching the net, the boat and engine are used to scare the flying fish along the net and into the hook end. When hauling the net, it is important to place the net into the correct position. It floats on one end and let on the other end, so the net will remain as an effective system that can be deployed easily and quickly. Often, once they scare the flying fish into the hook end of the net set, they will only have flying fish caught in this end. So in this case, they will only haul the hook end of the net and remove the flying fish before resetting the net again. Note that the fishers will always try and maintain the hook shape in the end of the net, which is the most effective part of this fishing gear. The captain and crew will always try and maintain a well-set, well-shaped net. Here you can see a good outline of the set net and notice crew are watching for flying fish schools approaching the net. As the boat scares the flying fish into the net, they are quickly meshed. Once it is determined that there is sufficient flying fish in the net, they will haul the net, ensuring it is well placed in the boat. All fish are removed from the net and the net is collected carefully so that it's in good condition ready for deploying on the next trip. Note the hauling process. In particular, that the net is well placed into the boat as it is hauled, and the captain is motoring at approximately two knots. The speed is suitable for the crew to haul the net comfortably. Now we will demonstrate another method of catching flying fish. This is called Teh Tatai in Kiribati and Poti Mararang in Polynesia. This technique uses a fast speedboat with a homemade hand scooped net and a homemade head-mounted spotlight for use at night. The concept of this practice is to quickly see flying fish and scoop them out of the water. You can only do this fishing at night and while these fishers say you can do this any time of month, there's no doubt that a bright moon will make it difficult. The boat must maneuver very quickly and both the captain and the fisher on the bow must watch the spotlight and water carefully. Fishers will carry out this method most of the night, although they typically observe that from approximately 3 a.m. onward, the flying fish start to go deep and therefore are not able to be caught in this manner. Note the fast maneuvering and the quick work with the scooped net. This is a really fast-paced fishing method and care should be taken to keep within safe operation at all times. Although effective, this method is not the most commonly used by Kiribati fishers in the present day. Fishers aren't really sure why this is, but it's possible that the netting method became more effective with less fuel required for operation. Note the homemade spotlight using a motorcycle front light mount with a 12-volt car headlight inserted and powered by a 12-volt battery. Note the homemade scooped net is custom-built for the desired size. Flying fish are a very marketable product. Size portions of the split-hole fish make an ideal meal size or snack size. The flavor may be enhanced with the addition of some spices, however most commonly only salt is used. First all the scales are removed from the fish. Always be sure to thoroughly remove all scales and clean well so there are not scales remaining on the final product. A nice technique is to scale inside a garbage bin or bag if inside your home. The processing location must be clean and hygienic. Sanitizer can be made by mixing one capful or approximately 10 milliliters of household bleach per liter of fresh water. And this is used to ensure all surfaces, processing tools and hands are fully sanitized and clean of germs or bacteria. Processors should also do a fingernail cleaning and scrub well before beginning processing. Notice we have a sanitation standard operating procedure on display as well as the process log which includes directions for the recipe to be used. Next the heads of the flying fish are removed. We then cut down the back of the flying fish with a sharp knife. Always be careful to make nice clean sliced cuts. Not rough and messy as presentation is everything when it comes to any processed fish product. Here we have the local Kiribati style with all bones remaining in the product. This is the most common type of processing throughout the Pacific. Alternatively the fish can be prepared in a style where all of the bones are removed starting with the removal of the stomach cavity bones. This is the recommended style as it can help to improve appearance and make the product easier to eat and enjoy without worrying about bones. Now we remove the pin bone in the center of each fillet. Be careful not to cut through the skin as keeping the skin intact will also help improve the value of the product. Once the pin bone on one side is removed begin removing the pin bone on the other side of the fillet. Here we see on the left the Kiribati style with all bones remaining in the product and on the right the product with all bones removed. Take note of the obvious difference in appearance between the two. Next step is to marinate the fish. On the right we have a marinade consisting of half mug of light soy sauce, half mug of rainwater, quarter mug sugar, two teaspoons minced garlic and one tablespoon of salt. On the left we have an alternative marinade of a quarter mug sea salt per one liter of rainwater. Once we've thoroughly washed and rinsed the flying fish raw product we now place it into the brine for 25 minutes. For the purposes of this demonstration we have placed the raw deboned flying fish product into the marinade for 25 minutes. But ultimately these details will be up to you to experiment with. We encourage you to also experiment with different flavors so that you might expand your market potential. Now we rinse the brine product and place on the drying rack. Note that the brine should not be stored for future use. This would impart unsatisfactory taste. We now rinse half the marinated product and place onto a drying rack. We do not rinse the remaining product, we just place directly onto the drying racks. You get to decide which taste you like best. Here we see the marinated product for smoking has been placed on the drying racks for approximately 30 minutes. And now we touch the flesh to evaluate when it's ready to place in the smoker. The flesh must be tacky to touch so that the product will absorb the smoke correctly. If the product is too wet or too dry it will not absorb the smoke well. This is our homemade drum smoker. At the bottom we have a baffle to prevent flame reaching our product. And then above are the racks that hold the product. This is a simple design that anyone can use to make an at-home smoker. Now we load the product into the smoker. Be careful to document your smoking time well. This will help to ensure you have a good idea of what fish has been in the smoke and for what amount of time. It's important to ensure we have good smoldering coconut husks in place before the fire door is closed. You do not need large volumes of husk and you want to avoid large flames. Ideally you want a nice smoldering fire of embers. Once everything is in place close the lid of the smoker and continue to monitor the husks for smoke. While smoking turn the product over and continue the hot smoking at 80 to 90 degrees Celsius for 2 to 3 hours. The nicely smoked product once cooled must be packed in clean plastic pouches or containers. The product is shelf stable for 2 days from the finishing of the smoking. If stored at 4 degrees Celsius or lower the product is good for 10 days. Once you have your product processed we need to think about the best options to market our products. Here we demonstrate the option to market our flying fish in half size pieces. This offers better potential for higher value return than marketing the whole fish pieces. Here we demonstrate the process. Now we need to consider our packaging options. Here we have used a 70 micron thickness plastic tube that we cut to the desired length. Then seal with an impulse sealer. With packaging you need to get inventive. Presentation is everything and your financial return depends on how well you present your product to consumers. On the left we have a single pouch that is extended in length to incorporate a nice label. On the right we have used two pouches and placed a color label in between the pouches. Remember the consumer needs to receive a food safe product. It is well documented that plastic is acceptable when it is used to preserve our valuable food resources. Your packaging is also adding value to your product.