FAO Digital Media Hub - Sustainable Fisheries in the Pacific Islands

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Sustainable Fisheries in the Pacific Islands

In the largest ocean in the world, the people of the Pacific face growing threats to their marine resources due to population increase, overfishing, pollution and climate change.

Duration 5m38s

Edit Version International

Video Type Video News Release (VNR)

Date 07/12/2017

File size 410.87 MB

Unique ID UF2T4M

All editorial uses permitted

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Shotlist LOCATIONS: Samoa, Fiji, Tonga

SHOT: April-May 2017

SOUND: Natural sound, music, Samoan, Fijian, Tongan, English

1. Aerial shot of the ocean/reef

2. Detail of fished tuna

3. Busy urban scene: traffic and crowd

4. Long shot of commercial vessel

5. Waves crashing over seawalls

6. Tuna being offloaded from a commercial fishing vessel (Samoa)

7. Detail of fish being sliced

8. Various of fishermen on canoes coming ashore

9. Various of family cooking and eating fish

10. Government buildings (Fiji and Tonga)

11. Various of fishing canoes

12. SOT Reverend Veta Su’a Lafoa’i, village of Faleasiu, Samoa (Samoan):

In the past, if you spent two-two and a half hours fishing, you would get a lot of fish. Now, it takes five or six hours, but not enough fish.

13. Various of villager gutting and cleaning fish

14. Various of workshop with Fisheries Department representatives in the village of Savaia, Samoa

15. SOT Magele Etuati Ropeti, Assistant CEO, Min. Agriculture and Fisheries of Samoa (English):

Our view from fisheries as Govt is if there are systems working in traditional ways where communities are involved, so why not work with communities to share the responsibilities of managing these resources.

16. Areal shot of fishing reserve in Savaia

17. Detail of giant clams

18. Various of fishermen on the shore and at sea

19. SOT Luailepou Voloti Tuala, fisherman, village of Tafagamanu Lefaga, Samoa (Samoan):

We banned fishing nets and other methods of fishing, and we use the traditional fishing line. This is a sustainable way of fishing in our village.

20. Fisherman catching fish

21. SOT Uini Lepale, villager in Savaia Lefaga, Samoa (Samoan):

We now have fish and shellfish like we never had before. Our coastal area provides an income for children’s schooling and donations to the church and the village.

22. Students walking along the road

23. Aerial shots of Fiji: sea, beach, detail of coconut palm

24. Village life, laundry, cooking husking coconuts

25. Aerial shot of village

26. SOT Alifereti Tawake, Chair Counsel FLMMA (English):

Tradition and traditional knowledge are the foundations of community based fisheries management in Fiji.

27. GVs of Rewa River

28. Various of women collecting mussels in the village of Deladamanu (Fiji)

29. Fisher woman walking along the river

30. SOT Aparosa Rabo, Officer from the Ministry of Fisheries of Fiji (Fijian):

We drew up the management plan together with community members and the help of their village administrator. Now they manage the marine reserve located in their fishing grounds.

31. GV river

32. SOT Miriama, villager in Delaidanamu (Fiji):

When the reserve was set up, fresh water mussels grew in size and number, providing us with good earnings for our daily needs.

33. Various of women in Delaidanamu collecting mussels

34. Fish market

35. Fishermen unloading fish from canoes

36. Aerial shots of Tongan sea

37. People walking in the marine reserve

38. Construction work and men fishing with nets

39. SOT Mosese Taunaholo, Town Officer in Atata Village, Tonga (Tongan):

There was just too many fishers from other communities who overfished in our area with their large fishing nets.

40. GV of sea

41. SOT Sione Mailau, Officer from the Ministry of Fisheries, Tonga (Tongan):

The village of Atata wanted to manage its coastal area because of the serious depletion of local marine resources.

42. Various of villagers meeting with representatives of Tongan Fisheries Department in Kolonga village, Tonga

43. Fisheries officers on a boat

44. SOT Soane Hamala, villager in Kolonga, Tonga (Tongan):

Kolonga’s community brings together fishers and families living by the sea, inviting them to join the committee that manages the reserve and informs people about areas where it is not allowed to fish.

45. Villager on a bicycle checking fishing reserve

46. Various of port

47. Aerial shots of Tonga

48. Various of fish market in Samoa

49. Various of fishing in Samoa

50. Montage of faces from Samoa, Tonga and Fiji.

ENDS

Script In the largest ocean in the world, the people of the Pacific face growing threats to their marine resources due to population increase, overfishing, pollution and climate change.

Historically, fisheries agencies focused on the development of large-scale commercial fishing while overlooking the management of fisheries in coastal areas. Over half of the Pacific island population relies on coastal fisheries as the main source of food and income.

Pacific leaders are now placing more emphasis on the management of coastal fisheries and have adopted the ‘New Song for Coastal Fisheries - Pathways to Change’. In Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, this program encourages and empowers fishing communities and their traditional roles to effectively manage their fishing areas. This is echoed at global level through the adoption of the “Voluntary Guidelines for Securing Sustainable Small-scale Fisheries” issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Under the program, communities in Samoa, Fiji and Tonga have seen major improvements and benefits from managing their own fishing areas.

Samoa’s community based fisheries management program was introduced in 1995 and is supported by the national fisheries agency. The program builds on the strengths of the communities working through village councils as the primary instigators of change. Many villages have set up marine reserves and regulations for fishing to protect marine life and habitat. The program has successfully expanded to 120 coastal villages. Preservation of marine areas has also attracted tourists, which provide an additional source of income.

In Fiji, 466 coastal communities have initiated a collaboration with the government and NGOs through the Locally Managed Marine Area Network known as FLMMA, which provides technical advice and support for management of customary fishing areas. The village of Delaidamanu, situated on the Rewa river relies largely on fresh water mussels for its livelihood, but depletion of marine life caused by overfishing is forcing fisher women to travel to other areas far from the village. In recognizing the importance of the traditional role of local communities in managing their fishing areas, national agencies in Fiji have pledged to continue empowering coastal communities to secure sustainable livelihoods for their future.

In Tonga, a new fisheries act was introduced in 2002 to enable community based fisheries management, through the establishment of special management areas. The cooperation between the government and coastal communities in the village of Atata has helped reduce the number of outside fishers and overfishing in the areas and thanks to this, other communities in Tonga have been inspired to join the community based program.

The growing attention on the state of the world’s oceans implies that voices of Pacific fishing communities must continue to be heard. Community-based fisheries management ensures sustainable fishing and food security for the livelihoods of coastal fishing communities now and into the future, preserving, at the same time, the unique environment and cultural heritage of the Pacific islands.

Further information on the New Song for Coastal Fisheries:

https://oceanconference.un.org/commitments/?id=17058

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