Page 20 - Islands Business January 2021

Fiji Fiji

A season ban on coral trout (Donu) was lifted earlier than scheduled this year due to COVID-19

DEATH BY SLOW STRANGULATION

FIJI’S INSHORE FISHING CRISIS

Words and photos by Sheldon Chanel and Shailendra Singh is higher than the world average, according to the Asian De-
velopment Bank.
Growing up in his settlement in Nadi, western Fiji, Sundar
Lal recalls an abundance of fish, crabs and prawns in the Killing the ‘golden goose’
nearby creeks, rivers and foreshore areas. Tunalia’s Lal, and his family, are just
“We never returned empty-handed,” he recalls. one beneficiary of Fiji’s rich fishery. But
Lal, 80, lives in a small farming and fishing community, Lal is concerned about a trend he has
called Tunalia, on Fiji’s main island, Viti Levu, in the South- noticed in the last few decades. “We’re
ern Pacific. not catching fish like we used to. We are
As part of Tunalia’s fabric, fish is both an important source having to go further out than before,” he
of protein and extra income. says.
Tunalia is representative of similar communities across the It is fairly well-known that inshore
Fijian archipelago, where fishing holds deep cultural, eco- fisheries, largely unmonitored and unregu-
nomic and dietary significance. Sundar Lal, from Tunalia lated in Fiji have been under sustained
According to the Pacific marine scientist, Professor Joeli Settlement in Nadi, is fishing pressure for decades.
worried future genera-
Veitayaki, Fijians have relied on the sea as a food source for tions may miss out on The reasons range from rising popula-
the abundance of fish
centuries. he once enjoyed. tions—resulting in increased fish consump-
Veitayaki says that because of their unique features, Fiji’s tion—to increased poverty, with more
tropical waters are teeming with a wide variety of fish. people turning to fishing to survive.
This marine life is supported by an abundance of seagrass, The stress on fishing is greatest whenever there is any eco-
and the world’s third longest barrier reef system, the Great nomic hardship caused by political upheavals and/or natural
Sea Reef, extending 200km from the western coastline of disasters.
Viti Levu, all the way to the north-eastern tip of Fiji’s second For instance, in parts of the country, entire sugar cane
largest island, Vanua Levu. farming communities displaced as a result of expiring native
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization esti- land leases turned to fishing.
mates that there are around 30,000 subsistence fishers in Fiji, More recently, the media reported a noticeable increase in
including 50% of all rural households. Significantly, women fishing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the 115,000 newly-
make up more than 80% of subsistence fishing in Fiji. unemployed citizens turned to the sea to make ends meet.
Fiji’s annual fish consumption, at 44 kilograms per-capita, Several scientific studies and reports indicate that unsus-

20 Islands Business, January 2021