Page 22 - IB December 2022

Fisheries

FIJIAN FISH WORKERS IN FOREIGN

OWNED FISHING BOATS

Fishing boats, Suva habour.

By Vijay Naidu was done orally. Often, they were told ‘one thing on land’,
and ‘another thing at sea’. Wage rates could vary widely from
In the Pacific Island countries including of course Fiji, fish- $20 to $35 a day. In a recent case the worker concerned had
ing plays a critical role in people’s livelihoods. Fisherfolks, be been paid F$1000 for 3 months’ of work at sea at the captain
they subsistence fishers, artisan fishers, or workers in com- and agent’s discretion. This amounted to $333 a month or
mercial and industrial fisheries live and work in circumstances $83.25 cents a week or for each day, just $11.89! Whether
that are diverse and extremely variable. Work and livelihoods the workers are given a share of the bycatch and/or shark fin
depend on the weather, the availability of targeted fish, the money depends on the ship captain’s discretion.
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market, and the price of fuel and other essential supplies. Without written contracts, it is near impossible to verify if
Fishing can be dangerous work with injuries and deaths being the employers’ mandatory Fiji National Provident Fund con-
common occurrences. Given that fisher folk are so vulner- tribution is paid. It is also not unusual that wages are not paid
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able to these factors, the ‘fishing businesses’ require more in time. This makes life very difficult for workers and their
research and support. families reliant on a hand-to-mouth existence. They are ad-
vised to borrow from money lenders and some agents offer to
Our talanoa lend money. In both instances, high interest needs to be paid.
In the afternoon of Friday 28 October 2022, Dr Patricia Kai- The foreign Asian workers do have contracts but the condi-
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lola and I engaged in a talanoa with six iTaukei men in Walu tions and pay they actually receive are not reflected in what
Bay, Suva who had been working on foreign-owned fishing they have in writing. When their vessels return from fishing
boats (ships owned by companies from Distant Water Fishing and remain in port for some days, these workers are lodged
Nations). The arrangement for the conversation was made by in crowded accommodation in Flagstaff, Lami and Toorak and
Dr Kailola with contact persons in the fisher community. The other areas of Suva and Lami. Those who do not have a visa
discussion centred on the terms and conditions of employ- are kept on vessels moored in the harbour.
ment on these fishing vessels, and the nature of work the It is unclear if there is any registration of Fijian fish work-
fishermen did. ers. The captain of a fishing vessel is supposed to provide a
The fishermen who participated in the discussion were in crew list to Fiji Customs, the Marine Safety Authority of Fiji
the age group of 25-45. Their work experience ranged from and to its company. The actual enforcement of, and compli-
three years to more than 10 years, averaging five years for the ance with this regulatory provision is not clear.
group. Three recruiting agents facilitated their employment
on foreign fishing boats. These agents interfaced between Demanding and dangerous work
ship owners, boat captains and the iTaukei fishers. The latter Long line fishing is extremely demanding and danger-
recognised the pivotal role played by the agents but pointed ous work. Baiting the 3,000 to 4,000 hooks quickly requires
to a number of concerns they had: these included the fact experience with the ever-present danger in a rocking boat of
that the agents retained their passports, and also demanded hooking one’s own limbs. The process may take as much as
money as commission from the workers for being employed three to four hours depending on the number of hooks and
through them. length of the mainline. Although in most foreign fishing vessels
the crews are of mixed nationalities (especially Indonesia and
No employment contracts Philippines), the heavy work of lifting fish and putting them
Surprisingly, the fish workers said that they had never had
written contracts of employment. Employment engagement Continued on page 41

22 Islands Business, December 2022