Fish stocks are critical to the continuing viability of many Pacific communities. Subsistence fishing is still an important aspect of daily life in many Fijian villages, and it places considerable stress on reef ecosystems. Coral reefs are under pressure from overfishing, climate change, dredging, mangrove destruction, pollution, and fertilizer or pesticide runoff. Coral is dying and bleaching. The Fijian culture has inbuilt mechanisms that are begining to address this problem. Strict land ownership rules are also applied to reef systems in Fiji. Waters connected to local villages are known as qoliqoli and are considered part of the village. Qoliqolis are managed and protected in the same way that farmers take care of their land, not just for themselves but for all future generations of the village. More and more villages are establishing sanctuary zones over parts of their reef so that they can recover. All users of the reef assist in monitoring and decision-making regarding the qoliqoli and any rules that apply to it.
In a strange twist, some studies have shown that the move from traditional canoes and outriggers to motor boats has not had a negative impact on the qoliqolis, as villages mostly use the reef for subsistence fishing, and do not take more than they can consume immediately. Fishermen have more time to target their catch and fishing pressure can be more evenly distributed across the qoliqoli.
Offshore fishing is important to Pacific nations, as an income earner through the sale of fishing rights to foreign fleets, and as an employer of locals on fishing boats and in support industries onshore. The tuna industry is especially important, representing some 94% of Fiji’s total export earnings from fish. However, tuna fisheries are under enormous pressure worldwide due to insatiable demand. The collapsing bluefin fisheries in the eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean and Southern Oceans are a sad reminder of the spiralling state of migratory tunas and billfish numbers worldwide. This trend is particularly worrying, as there are few species as highly regulated or studied as tuna. Regulations, international committees, and commissions continually prove ineffective against the scale of illegal fishing and greed aimed at tuna.
Longlines and purse-seine trawls are common methods of catching pelagics in the Pacific and both practices result in a high proportion of bycatch, especially in terms of sharks and seabirds. Trolling and pole-and-line fishing are less harmful methods environmentally. Tuna farming is not yet proving to be the answer, as significant fishing pressure is also applied to fishfeed species. For the extremely carnivorous tuna, it takes up to 15 pounds of fishfeed to produce the one pound of tuna.
Yellowfin, albacore, bigeye and skipjack are commercial and recreational targets in Fijian waters. Gamefishing is a popular tourist attraction, and large dogtooth tuna are considered a prize catch also. The value of tourist gamefishing is recognised and protected by the government, and Fiji is moving to restrict the extent of longlining and purse-seining within its waters. Gamefishing, recreational angling and subsistence fishing do not threaten stocks of fish, and the ocean-loving Fijians are increasingly mobilising against unsustainable fishing practices and the greed of the international fishing fleet.
Seafood Trails 