ONEATA ISLAND TRAINING AND AWARENESS PROGRAM 21st 28th of June 2018 This report documents the activities undertaken during the visit to Oneata which include Fish Warden training, General Fisheries Awareness, Awareness at School and other activities that were conducted during a one week trip. The report also captures feedbacks and issues raised by the communities and highlights recommendations that could solve the issues faced by the community of Oneata.
Acknowledgements Firstly, we would like to thank the participants from the community of Oneata for availing their time to participate in the awareness program and giving their constructive comments and raising their issues where we can use to establish our development plan for Oneata. We also thank the eight trained fish wardens for their willingness to take up their new role in the community. We would also like to acknowledge our partner the Coral Reef Alliance for their financial support that enables us to visit Oneata and conduct the training and awareness program.
1. Introduction Oneata is a small island situated at central Lau Group. It has 2 villages namely Waiqori and Dakuiloa with a total household of 32 and a population of 140 which is approximately 1/3 of those living in the urban areas. Oneata land mass is limited and could not support commercial agriculture; hence, people of Oneata depend heavily on fishing for their livelihoods. The visit to Oneata was a result of a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Fisheries and the Coral Reef Alliance. Following several meetings between the two organizations, the program was designed based on the needs of the community and was successfully implemented on the 21 st to the 28 th of June 2018. The aim of the program was to train the community members to become Fish Wardens and assist the Ministry of Fisheries in reducing illegal fishing activities in their fishing ground. Also, to raise awareness to the community members on new regulations imposed by the Ministry of Fisheries to ensure communities voluntarily comply with such regulations. Enlighten the communities on the importance of managing and conserving their marine resources for the present and future generations. 2. Fish Warden Training IUU fishing has becoming a major concern for fisheries management all over Fiji. The number of IUU fishing cases has increased every year which could potentially be driven by the economic value of fisheries resources. People have been practicing IUU fishing to maximize their economic return without respecting the management measures put in place by the Ministry of Fisheries and by the communities. Poaching in the MPA, catching undersize fish, unauthorized selling of catch, catching restricted species, fishing others iqoliqoli without authorization, etc. are the common IUU fishing happening in Fiji s coastal waters. Limited resources within the Ministry of Fisheries and the vast ocean area and geographical isolation of fishing grounds have posed a challenge to the Ministry of Fisheries in terms of Monitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) of all the fishing grounds in Fig 1. Participants having group discussion. Fiji. The Ministry could not effectively monitor all fishing grounds frequently; thus, there is a need to strengthen partnership with enforcement agencies and most importantly the communities who live and visit their fishing ground regularly.
The Fish Warden Training was conducted on the 23 rd of June at Waiqori Women s Centre with eight (8) participants including the chief of Oneata. Two of the 8 participants were from Dakuiloa Village and 6 from Waiqori Village who were nominated from the community. The major component of the training was the analysis of the Fisheries Act cap 158 which is the main law that regulates the coastal fisheries in Fiji. All provisions in the Act were discussed together with the offences and penalties under the Fisheries Act. Roles of the authorized officers which include fish wardens were clearly explained. The participants through the group exercise and presentation acknowledge that IUU has been happening in their fishing ground Fig 2. Group photo after presentation and with the powers given to of certificate. them as Fish Wardens; they could help curb illegal fishing. Fig 3. Presentation of certificate by Talatala Saimone Matebalavu to one of the participant. The communication channel, cooperation amongst key players and evidence gathering were also emphasized to the participants. The new fish wardens were informed of the new regulations put in place by the Ministry of Fisheries such as ban of kawakawa and donu during spawning season (i.e. June to September), turtle moratorium, UBA & sea cucumber ban and how important their role is to effectively minimized IUU fishing. Information from fish wardens could also assist the Ministry of Fisheries to make plans for major MCS operation that the Ministry of Fisheries is currently undertaking with New Zealand Navy Patrol Vessel and Fiji Navy. 3. General Fisheries Awareness The general fisheries awareness was conducted mainly to target the community as a whole which include both males and females and youths of Oneata. This awareness was conducted at Dakuiloa village hall on the 25 th of June with a total of thirty nine (39) participants whereby seven (7) were females and the rest were males.
The awareness was mainly done through PowerPoint presentations on critical matters that the community of Oneata needs to be enlightened on. The program began by informing the participants on the roles of the Ministry of Fisheries followed by new regulations that the Ministry of Fisheries recently imposed. Such regulations include ban of harvest, eat and sale of kawakawa and donu during their spawning season which is from June to September, moratorium of turtle, Varivoce and Kalia and the ban of the use of UBA and harvesting of sea cucumber. Not only were the communities informed of the regulations but they were also informed of the rationale behind these restrictions. The use of MPA or Tabu Area was also promoted to the participants. Fortunately, the community of Oneata has been practicing Tabu Area hence; they were informed of the importance of using it as a management tool. It was also stress to the participants the need for everyone to understand the objective of having an MPA and the need to everyone to work together in protecting and complying with the rules set for their Tabu Area in order for it to be effective. The participants were also enlightened on the provision of the Fisheries Act and its implications when committing an offence. Since most fishermen have been engaged in commercial fishing, they were informed to get a fishing licence and record and submit their daily catch to Ministry of Fisheries. During the discussion session, the participants raised the following Issues/matters; Restocking of existing MPAs Mangrove planting Market price of fish Lack of storage facility for their catch Fish size limit to be made available to middlemen in Oneata Fig 4. Participants of the General Fisheries Awareness workshop at Dakuiloa village hall. Fig 5. One of the presentation slides during the awareness workshop.
4. Awareness at School On the 26 th of June, students of Oneata District School were enlightened on the conservation and protection of marine resources through display and explanation of posters. Posters include mangrove ecosystem, coral ecosystem, land based marine pollution, roles of sea cucumber and fish size limits. Posters were later given to the School for display to the students. Being heavily dependent on the fisheries resources for their livelihood, the students were informed of the importance of protecting the marine ecosystems and resources and persuading the communities to utilize their fisheries resources sustainably. Fig 6. Oneata District School students during the awareness at the school. 5. Commercial Fishing in Oneata During one week staying on the island of Oneata, it was observed that people depend mostly on fishing for both consumption and trade. People of Oneata are so fortunate to have Bukatatanoa Reef registered as one of their customary fishing ground. Fishermen have been catching fish at Bukatatanoa Reef mainly for commercial purpose. Travelling to Bukatatanoa Reef; however, takes about an hour and used up 40 liters of premix to go and return to the island. In Oneata a liter of premix cost $3.00 so for one fishing trip a total of $120.00 spent on fuel only. By observing their catch over few days, the catch amount and size indicate that the reef is quite healthy. Hand line fishing at night is a common fishing method used by the fishermen in Oneata. The common species caught within the month of June is Kawago and Sabutu with a size range from 30cm to over 50cm at a weight of 0.8kg to 3.5kg respectively. Most catch are being sold to 3 middlemen based at Waiqori village with a price of $12/bundle to $14/bundle and each bundle weigh at 2kg to 3.5kg. Fish bought by middlemen are stored in deep freezer awaiting the franchise boat which visits the island every fortnight to transport it to Suva where it was sold at $20/bundle. The issue which fishermen are concerned of is the low price of fish that middlemen on the island offer. On the other hand, middlemen could not increase the price because they
need to consider the freight cost and Suva market is buying it for $20/bundle only. In addition, deep freezers on the island could not contain all the catch and it is very costly to run the generator to keep the fish frozen while awaiting the next available boat. Fig 9. Fishermen displaying their hand line catch after returning from over night fishing. Fig 10. Sabutu fish which weigh ~3.5kg per fish and sold at $12.00 per fish. Recommendations There is a need to have quarterly meetings with the 8 Fish Wardens in Oneata to clear issues that they might come across and ensure they continue to play their roles. Since, most trained Fish Wardens and other fishermen in Oneata do not have Boat Master License, thus, it is essential that Boat Master training is conducted on the island. Oneata Fish Wardens need to work closely and communicate with Police and Fisheries Officers at Lakeba in order to effectively reduce IUU fishing in their fishing ground. Existing MPAs could be stocked with Giant clam from Makogai Research Station and Sand fish. Communities and School children could be engaged in mangrove planting around the island. Solar freezer is an ideal storage facilitate for the fishermen s catch on the island because it is environment friendly and does not require fuel which is very costly. Since there are 3 middlemen buying fish on the island at a less price i.e. $12 - $14 per bundle, there is a need to increase the price to at least $17 per bundle. However, this requires a good market in Suva where the 3 middlemen could sell their fish to. At present, the middlemen sold their catch in Suva for $20 per bundle and they have to pay for other expenses such as freight cost.
To ensure resource owners gained more economic benefit, we need to support resource owners themselves to be primary buyers rather than engaging the companies to buy directly from fishermen. Companies/consumers can then buy for resource owners who are middlemen.