Page 4 - IB July 2018
P. 4
PACIFIC CONVERSATION WITH SPREP
Publisher’s Note
Congratulations to our Pacific islands!
We’re saving sharks!
Showing global leadership, the EEZ’s of The Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia,
French Polynesia, Kiribati, New Caledonia, Palau, Republic of the Marshall Islands
and Samoa are legally declared as shark sanctuaries! This means a total estimated area
Managing Director / Publisher of 17 million sq. km has been established as shark sanctuaries in our Pacific islands.
Samisoni Pareti
Group Editor-in-Chief
Samisoni Pareti by Samisoni Pareti
Staff Writer
Nanise Volau
Design Consultant Reign it in PM Hou
Dick Lee
Main Correspondents
Fiji Anish Chand It was a bitter-sweet kind of an anni- of concerned citizens venting on social
versary for the people of Solomon Islands media, one hates to think how patients in
Australia Nic Maclellan © Jim Abernethy
this past month when drug shortage in its these outlying hospitals are faring.
Cook Islands Helen Greig main public hospital in the capital wors- Prime Minister Houenipwela struck
Kiribati Taberannang Korauaba ened. What’s suppose to be a celebration up a remarkable reputation for being a Why do we need to save our sharks?
French Polynesia Nic Maclellan of what the island nation has been able to hands-on, doer instead of a talker type
achieve turned into a display of its many of administrator when in the midst of
New Caledonia Nic Maclellan Sharks help maintain the health of the marine life in the ocean, including the population of commercially important fish species.
shortcomings, not so much brought about the civil unrest that sent his country on
New Zealand Jason Brown by a country starved of good and hard a downward spiral in the late 1990s, he Coral reefs in particular benefit from a healthy shark population to maintain a balance in the marine food chain.
Niue Naea Michael Jackson working people but more about incompe- almost singlehandedly stood his ground
tency and a no-care attutude on the part as Governor of the Central Bank of Solo- Sharks are of more value alive, than dead. An individual reef shark is estimated to be valued at USD 1.9 M over its lifetime to the tourism
Papua New Guinea Sam Vulum
of some of its officials. mon Islands, defied threats by militants to industry, and the shark diving industry contributed USD 42.2 M to the Fijian economy in 2011.
Patrick Matbob This matter of the hospital running out plunder the national treasury or to relax
Samoa Taina Kami-Enoka of basic medicine has been around for a stringent foreign currency rules. Sharks are culturally important to Pacific Islanders as they are featured in our Pacific island legends, proverbs and songs.
Solomon Islands Priestly Habru few months, and despite assurances by I’d say his country’s health sector needs
Prime Minister Rick Houenipwela, his his urgent intervention now before pa-
Tonga Iliesa Tora Did you know that sharks are threatened with extinction?
administration still seem unable to come to tients start dying in the very institutions
Vanuatu Bob Makin grips with the problem. It is surprising that that was built to restore good health and
heads have not rolled for the drug shortage spirits. For what one would assume should Between 63 million to 273 million sharks are killed each year in commercial fisheries mainly to meet the high demand of shark fins.
to drag on this far, especially that of his be a simple logistic matter, it’s almost
Islands Business is published monthly by health minister and permanent secretary. criminal that medical drug supplies have One-third of species found in the global fin trade are threatened with extinction.
Front Page Limited For all we are reading and hearing are not been restored and distributed by now.
Editorial & Advertising Offices The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimates that 54% of sharks, rays and their relatives are threatened or near
117 Amy Street, the plight of patients in the capital, Ho- Reign it in Prime Minister Hou, or send threatened with extinction.
PO Box 12718, Suva, Fiji Islands. niara, God knows what the status is of home those in your administration that do
Tel: +679 330 3108 the hospitals and health clinics outside of not seem to know their job. The people of
the capital, out in the outer provinces of Solomon Islands deserve way much better. When it comes to protecting sharks, the Pacific islands have shone a beacon of leadership on the world stage.
Emails Solomon Islands. Away from the prying
Editorial: editor@islandsbusiness.com eyes of the Solomon news media and that In 2016 Fiji, supported by Samoa and Palau led the call for mobula rays, thresher sharks, silky sharks and the nautilus to have trade sanctions
Subscriptions: subs@islandsbusiness.com
Advertising: marketing@islandsbusiness.com placed upon them under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
In 2017 Samoa and Sri Lanka successfully lobbied to place the blue shark on Appendix II under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory
Printing:
PrintHouse, Suva, Fiji. Species of Wild Animals to help ensure their conservation. An estimated take of 20 million blue sharks are caught each year.
RUGBY FAIRNESS: PUSH FOR BIG GUNS TO GIVE BETTER DEAL P24
BUSINESS Let’s keep this momentum up and all work together to ensure the protection of our sharks and rays!
DECEMBER 2017 FJD $4.35
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It’s RAMSI
Pacific Peoples of the Year P8-12
•Australia AU$4.00•Cook Islands NZ$4.50•Federated States of Micronesia US$4.00•Fiji Islands F$4.35•French Polynesia CPF300•Hawaii US$4.50•Kiribati AU$4.00•Marshall Islands US$4.00•Nauru AU$4.00 Your region, your website
•New Caledonia CPF300•New Zealand NZ$4.50•Niue NZ$4.00•Palau US$4.50•Papua New Guinea K5.00•Samoa T4.00•Solomon Islands SL$8.00•Tonga P4.00•Tuvalu AU$4.00•Vanuatu Vatu300•
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4 Islands Business, July 2018 A resilient Pacific environment sustaining our livelihoods and natural heritage in harmony with our cultures.
