Ten years ago, Suva port was one of the region’s most preferred ports for foreign vessels fishing in the western and central Pacific ocean, says the president of the Fiji Fishing Industry Association (FFIA).
Speaking at the inaugural Fiji Tuna symposium recently, Radhika Kumar noted that due to policy changes by the former government, this has changed. “Most of these vessels opted for other ports, and the disappearance of these foreign fishing vessels—which are estimated to be in their hundreds—has also affected the economic spin-offs that the Suva economy used to enjoy.”
The FFIA president pleaded with the government to tread carefully when coming up with policies and laws that can have a drastic impact on the national tuna fishing industry and the foreign fleet that uses Fiji’s ports.
“What we must understand is that the fishing sector, especially offshore fisheries, is multi- jurisdictional in nature, meaning that we must comply with the laws of several government agencies to conduct our work,” Kumar said.
The symposium heard that Fiji’s domestic tuna industry contributes an average of FJ$200 million towards its GDP.
The two-day event was an opportunity to “assess our progress, analyse challenges and secure opportunities to bring to fruition our 2029 goals”, Minister for Fisheries, Kalaveti Ravu told participants.
Programme Coordinator for the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership Programme (PEUMP), Martin Chong reminded delegates that 55% of the world’s tuna catch comes from the region, that is: “2.5 million metric tonnes in 2021, with a value of $4.6 billion in annual catch.”
While the western and central Pacific ocean is the only areas where current stocks are considered biologically healthy and not subject to overfishing, this can only be sustained if changes are implemented to safeguard the tuna population in the future, Chong said.
Modelling has shown that if global and ocean warming continues at its current rate, there will be a reduction in tuna biomass in our region.
Human rights
Panellists also discussed the issue of working conditions in the industry. Seafarers are frequently subjected to unfair treatment and have their rights violated, noted Aliti Vunisea, a consultant with a wealth of knowledge on the coastal fishery sector.
Vunisea noted: “Sometimes when we are talking about gender issues or human rights abuses, we are not giving it any context, for instance, by looking at contracts or the working conditions on the boats.”
She related the experiences of the people of Kalekana in Lami. When crew members fail to show up to work, Vunisea says, fishing companies recruit labour from the community, often without proper signed contracts or training for the work they are recruited to do. She also noted instances of sexual harassment of women in the industry, and changes in traditional gender roles.
She believes the issue is not gender equality, “as it will not work in the fishing industry”, but rather gender equity—the fight for fair and equal treatment.
“No take” MPAs
The FFIA is concerned that social problems and unemployment will increase if the government decides to go ahead with plans to implement a “no take” condition for 30% of Fiji’s EEZ through 15 marine protected areas (MPAs).
Izaar Ali, Oceans Lead of the Prime Minister’s Office, told attendees that smaller countries had demarcated even more of their EEZs as no take zones.
“It is certainly not an easy task. It is to be a consultative, inclusive and transparent process. We cannot neglect stakeholders such as the Fiji Fishing Industry, and just go ahead and designate these areas as marine protected areas. Of course not!” Ali said.
“People fail to see that in climate change, there needs to be a balancing act with our economy. We cannot say, ‘Okay, no more fishing in this space’, and then see thousands of families go without food, because they’re dependent on the income generator for fisheries. The government certainly does not want to do that.”
Ali said the government is working through a consultative process on a marine spatial plan with the Waitt Institute. “30% is the bare minimum amount that needs to be preserved. Should the other 70% of our ocean be completely used up, that 30% has the potential to revitalise the 70% that we may lose out on,” he said.
In 2017, the Lau Seascape became part of Fiji’s commitment for marine protected areas. Championed by Conservation International (CI) and its partners, including the island communities of the Lau province, it covers about 26% of Fiji’s EEZ.
Conservation International Senior Director, Pacific Region, Susana Waqainabete -Tuisese revealed that the project will require a blended financing of around FJ$90 million, and they are working towards having FJ$21 million by 2030.
It will include community-driven MPA management, as well as setting up a sustainable fisherman’s market, the replacement of fishing vessels and a durable fishing port in which the local people can be supported.
In respect to marine tourism, “that’s a new thing that we’d like to bring on board, because of the number of yachts that travel through Lau, and the fact that any given time in the peak season, that could be as many as 100 yachts. We believe very strongly that our work will be something that’s very important in order to continue to protect the marine systems on those islands,” Waqainabete -Tuisese said.
Responding to concerns over Fiji’s national debt, Waqainabete-Tuisese said CI had moved away from the idea of having a bond. “Now we’re saying perhaps the government can directly finance these things without having a blue bond so that we can avoid having additional debt burden to the government,” she said.
“We are hoping that Fiji Development Bank and the Fiji government will be interested in these sorts of blended financing interventions such that they will be able to solidify our business models that we’re developing and also put their hands up to actually fund this.”
