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Fishery and Aquaculture Country Profiles Fiji

 

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FISHERIES DATA

Commodity balance (1999):

STRUCTURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY

General

Fiji is an archipelagic nation comprising about 322 islands with a total land area of 18,272 sq. km. and a surrounding EEZ of about 1.3 million sq. km. The group includes two large high islands, several medium-sized high islands, and numerous small islands and atolls. Most of the islands are surrounded by fringing and barrier coral reefs. Much of Fiji's coastal waters occur off the main islands of Viti Levu and Vanua Levu and the islands of the Mamanuca and Yasawa groups.

There are three substantial rivers, a few lakes and some man-made impoundments where fishing and aquaculture take place, but marine fisheries are predominant.

About forty per cent of the residents of Fiji are descendants of immigrants from India. The indigenous Fijians control much of the inshore fishing areas and do most of the subsistence fishing, but a substantial portion of the coastal commercial fishing is carried out by Indians.

Although fisheries are important in the economy of Fiji, tourism is one of the largest industries in Fiji. Coastal tourism is an important component and this has important implications for fisheries development and management.
Marine fisheries

Fiji's marine fisheries are estimated to generate annual landings of about 36,400 tonnes. Fishing is divided into three sub-sectors: subsistence, coastal commercial, and offshore/industrial. The distinction between subsistence and the coastal commercial fishing in the larger, less isolated islands is often blurred as small-scale fishing activity is becoming increasingly monetised in these areas.

The subsistence fishery targets mainly finfish, beche de mer, octopus, seaweed, lobster, mud crab, and various bivalve molluscs. These resources make a large contribution to domestic food supplies. It has recently been estimated that 50 percent of all rural households are involved in some form of subsistence fishing and that about 21,600 t of fish are landed each year, or slightly more than half of all domestic production.

According to Fisheries Division data, 1,012 vessels and 2,304 fishers participated in the coastal commercial fishery in 1999. It is estimated that 9,320 t of finfish and non-finfish (i.e. invertebrates and plants) were harvested by this component of the fishery in 1999. By weight the finfish was responsible for about 52% of the landings.

The four most important exports from the coastal commercial fishery are beche de mer, trochus, aquarium fish, coral, snapper, and live food fish. According to the Fisheries Division, the annual production of beche de mer in the late 1990s was about 250 t. The 1999 production of trochus was estimated to be 92 t. In the same year the four aquarium fish businesses exported about US$762,000 worth of aquarium fish and about twice that value in various forms of coral. Coral extraction is one of the most contentious issues in the fisheries sector. In 2000 about 80 tonnes of snapper was caught, of which 29 tonnes was exported. About 8.4 tonnes of live food fish was exported the same year.

A survey on the main Island of Viti Levu in the mid-1990s showed that 60 percent of small-scale fishing took place in lagoonal areas. Close to population centres fishing driven by market demand has resulted in the over-exploitation of commercially important species in the inshore areas. Area closures and bans on gill netting for reef fish, particularly in the north and west of the country, seem to have been effective in restoring stocks of some species. Between 1998 and 1999 there was a 2.9 percent decrease in the number of fishing licenses issued for inshore waters. In the more remote areas, artisanal fisheries are not fully developed because they are constrained by lack of access to markets.

The industrial fishery is entirely tuna-oriented and has the following components:

• a pole-and-line fishery, mainly targeting skipjack and small yellowfin tuna. This fishery has declined in recent years. Seven vessels were active in the mid-1990s, but during the 2001/02 season only two vessels participated. Problems related to access to bait fishing areas and the economics of pole-and-line fishing are the major factors for the decline.

• a longline fishery targeting large bigeye and yellowfin tuna, taking most of its catch within Fiji fisheries waters, and landing the chilled catch for export by air to fresh fish markets in the United States and Japan. The fleet of domestic longliners has increased substantially. In recent years there have been between 40 and 50 vessels and landings are now about 5,500 t per year.

• a freezer longline fishery involving mainly Taiwanese vessels fishing under charter to the Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO). These vessels, which target mainly albacore tuna, fish within Fiji's EEZ as well as the EEZs of neighbouring countries, and international waters in the area. These vessels have landed between 2,000 and 3,000 t of tuna in recent years, primarily at the PAFCO tuna cannery in Levuka, but with some transshipment to other destinations.

• an occasional tuna purse seine fishery in the northern portion of the EEZ under the terms of the U.S. multilateral treaty. US and occasionally other purse seine vessels sometimes visit Fiji but this is usually only to obtain duty-free fuel. Actual fishing by these vessels normally only occurs in El Niño years, at which times it takes place in the extreme north of the country.

Apart from the multi-lateral tuna treaty with the United States, under which only sporadic fishing occurs, Fiji has access agreements in place with Japan, but only a very small amount of fishing has been done by Japanese vessels in Fiji waters in recent years.

Inland fisheries

The freshwater mussel (Batissa violacea) is the major freshwater species of commercial importance. It has been estimated that market sales of this species is around 1,000 t per year. Other inland fisheries for species such as freshwater prawns (Macrobrachium spp.) and fish, are at the subsistence level and there is no estimate of the amount of catch.

Aquaculture

The most important form of aquaculture in Fiji is the culturing of various species of tilapia (Oreochromis sp.). It was estimated that in 1999 subsistence and semi-commercial farmers produced a total of 297 t. According to the Fisheries Division, in 1999 there were 46 ha. of tilapia ponds in 16 commercial and 268 subsistence farms.

Culture of giant clams (Tridacna sp.) is undertaken at the Fisheries Division's mariculture research facility on Makogai Island. In 1999 about 270,000 clams of various sizes were being maintained at the ocean and land nurseries.

Two local companies produced about 150 to 200 t of penaeid shrimp annually in the late 1990s. A single farm cultures black-lip pearl shell (Pinctada margaritifera) for pearl production in north-eastern Viti Levu. An experimental pearl farm was set up at Nasavusavu with funding and technical assistance from ACIAR and ICLARM. About 3,000 pearl shells are under culture at the facility.

In 1999 a beche de mer hatchery was set up for studying the techniques of breeding and re-seeding reefs with juveniles.

Farming of Eucheuma seaweed took place during the late 1980s but ceased in the early 1990s, mainly as a result of changed market conditions. It was revitalized in the late 1990s under a promotional scheme known as the Commodity Development Fund. In 1999, 632 farms produced seaweed for export.

An initiative is currently under way to culture milkfish (Chanos chanos) for use as tuna longline bait. Twenty ponds of five hectares each have been constructed in 1998 and 22 additional sites were surveyed for development in 1999.

Attempts have been made to culture various other species in Fiji, but these have generally been unsuccessful. These have included bass carp, bivalves (Anadara, Gafarium, and Batissa), cockles, mangrove crab, molly (Poecilia mexicana), mullet, green mussel, eleven species of oysters, freshwater prawns, rabbitfish, tarpon, two species of donor fish (Puntius sp.), and two species of turtles.

Utilization of the catch

Most of the fish from inshore waters is consumed fresh locally. According to the Fisheries Division, about 70% is for home consumption by the harvestors and the remainder is sold through municipal markets and other outlets.

The beche de mer is dried and processed locally and exported to China by 13 licensed companies. Exports peaked in 1988 with 700 tonnes. The trochus is made into button blanks which are then exported to button factories in Asia and Europe. Aquarium fish are air freighted to the west coast of the United States and Europe.

There are a few small canneries and two major fish canneries in the country:

• the Pacific Fishing Company (PAFCO) cannery at Levuka on Ovalau Island, which cans domestically caught and imported tuna, principally for export and produces tuna loins for overseas canneries;

• the Voko cannery outside Suva, which cans imported mackerel, mainly for the domestic market.

In 1999 PAFCO exported about US$8 million of canned tuna and tuna loins. In 2000 the value was about US$7.1 million for the 9,920 tonnes processed During the same year about 5,000 t of fresh chilled fish (mostly tuna) were exported by air freight, mainly to the United States and Japan.

Demand

Studies in the mid-1990s have shown that 99.3% of coastal villages on the main island consume marine products at least once per week and that 50% of all rural households participate in fishing activities. The per capita consumption of fish has been estimated by the Fisheries Division to be between 44 and 62 kg in recent years. This is comprised of 45% subsistence production, 15% artisanal production, and 40% imports (both canned and frozen).

Economic role of the fishing industry

It has been recently estimated by the Asian Development Bank that the catches by subsistence fishing are worth US$24,675,061, by coastal commercial fishing US$15,231,519, and by locally-based offshore fishing US$25,639,724. The same study also calculated that this fishing is responsible for about 2.4 per cent of Fiji's GDP. Because fish processing and other post-harvest activities are considered in other sectors of Fiji's economy for GDP calculation purposes , the contribution of fisheries to the economy of Fiji is substantially larger than the 2.4 per cent from fishing alone.

The 1996 census shows that fishing provides jobs to 2.22% of the 280,505 people formally and informally employed in the country. The census indicates that an additional 1,100 people are employed in "processing fish".

Data from the Fiji Islands Revenue and Customs Authority shows that the fishery products represent 6% of the value of all commodity exports from the country.

Fiji receives about US$212,000 annually in fees for access by foreign fishing vessels to Fiji waters.

DEVELOPMENT PROSPECTS

Much of the potential for increasing fisheries production is from the offshore areas, especially the tuna resource. Promotion of the semi-industrial sashimi longline fishery has been quite successful in recent years and efforts to further develop the fishery will continue. Expansion of this fishery is highly dependent on regular airfreight service at viable rates. Through the use of fish aggregation devices (FADs), artisanal fishermen will be encouraged to utilise the large offshore tuna resources, thereby diverting effort away from the heavily-exploited inshore and coastal areas.

Aquaculture production, although still quite small, is gaining momentum. Tilapia farming, which has been carried out for several decades at the subsistence level, is now being attempted on a commercial scale. The production of penaeid shrimp has expanded recently and this trend will probably continue. Export oriented aquaculture will continue to face stiff competition from countries with low production costs and efficient transportation links to major markets.

The scope for increasing production from inshore and coastal areas is generally considered to be limited, and the government is focusing an increasing amount of attention on the management of over-exploited inshore fisheries. A central feature of the new management initiatives is the devolution of management authority to local government units and, beyond this, to coastal communities having traditional rights of marine tenure.

There is nevertheless scope for improving the value of the landings from coastal and inshore fisheries, mainly through improvements in the post harvest area. Increased use of ice and value-adding activities appear to be the most promising areas for future development. The scattered nature of the islands presents difficulties for marketing, but the growing demand for fishery products presents new opportunities for many of Fiji's islands. As a consequence, there is a need for improved fish transport arrangements and practices so that fishery products can be harvested in rural areas for marketing in urban centres.

Much fisheries development activity in the past has been carried out by government, but in future if this could be devolved to the private sector, the government will be able to focus more closely on fisheries management issues. This change in focus will involve skills that are not presently available, and some re-training of government staff will probably be required. Mechanisms need to be developed to ensure that any government interventions in the fisheries sector are relevant to the interests of stakeholders.

INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS

The laws governing the use of marine resources in Fiji are set out in Chapters 158 and 158A of the Laws of Fiji. Chapter 158 is also known as the Fisheries Act. The main features of the Act are that it:

• Defines the Fiji fisheries waters as all internal waters, archipelagic waters, territorial seas and all waters within the exclusive economic zone;
  
  

• Establishes a Native Fisheries Commission charged with the duty of ascertaining the customary fishing rights in each province of Fiji;
  
  

• Prohibits the taking of fish in Fiji fisheries waters by way of trade or business without a licence;
  
  

• States that every licence granted under the Act terminates on the 31st December next after the day of issue, licenses are personal to the holder, and licenses are not transferable;
  
  

• Empowers any licencing officer, police officer, customs officer, honorary fish warden and any other officer empowered by the Minister to enforce the Act;
  
  

• Empowers the Minister to appoint honorary fish wardens whose duties shall be the prevention and detection of offences;
  
  

• Empowers the Minister to make regulations (a) prohibiting any practices or methods, or employment of equipment or devices or materials, which are likely to be injurious to the maintenance and development of a stock of fish; (b) prescribing areas and seasons within which the taking of fish is prohibited or restricted, either entirely or with reference to a named species; (c) prescribing limits to the size and weight of fish of named species which may be taken; (d) prescribing limits to the size of nets or the mesh of nets which may be employed in taking fish either in Fiji fisheries waters or in any specified part thereof; (e) regulating the procedure relating to the issue of and cancellation of licences and the registration of fishing boats and prescribing the forms of applications and licences therefore and the conditions to be attached; (f) prescribing the fees to be charged upon the issue of licences and the registration of fishing vessels which fees may differ as between British subjects and others; (g) regulating any other matter relating to the conservation, protection and maintenance of a stock of fish which may be deemed requisite.

Several fisheries regulations have been made under the Fisheries Act. These have been consolidated into the Fisheries Regulations 1992. The regulations cover licenses/registration, prohibited fishing methods, mesh limitations, size limits, and exemptions. These regulations were modified twice in 1997. (Notices 17/97, and 65/97)

The Marine Spaces Act (Cap. 158A) establishes the archipelagic waters of Fiji and a twelve nautical mile territorial sea. The Act also establishes a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone over which Fiji has sovereign rights for the purposes of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing the natural resources of the seabed, subsoil and superjacent waters. Formal declaration of the archipelagic waters and the exclusive economic zone is contained in the Marine Spaces (Archipelagic Baselines and Exclusive Economic Zone) Order.

The management of living marine resources in Fiji is the responsibility of the Fisheries Division of the Ministry Fisheries and Forests. The Fisheries Division, headquartered at Lami near Suva, had 109 staff positions in 2000, of which 17 were vacant.

The Division's organisation reflects Fiji's national administrative divisions, so that divisional offices are located in Lautoka (Western Division), Labasa (Northern Division), Nausori (Central Division) and Lami (Eastern Division). To better serve rural fishers the Division also maintains offices at Rakiraki, Tavua, and Ba, in Western Division; Taveuni, Savusavu, Lekutu and Nabouwalu in Northern Division; Navua, Tailevu and Wainibokasi in Central Division; and Lakeba, Vunisea and Levuka in Eastern Division.

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

The Fisheries Division maintains direct contact on technical issues with regional and international organisations dealing in fisheries. Policy and other matters are managed in the first instance through designated contact points, most often the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fiji is a member of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the South Pacific Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) and the South Pacific Regional Environmental Programme (SPREP). Fiji is also party to a number of treaties and agreements relating to the management of regional fisheries, including:

• the Treaty on Fisheries Between the Governments of Certain Pacific Island States and the Government of the United States of America;

• the Convention for the Prohibition of Fishing with Long Driftnets in the South Pacific; and,

• the Niue Treaty on Cooperation in Fisheries Surveillance and Law Enforcement in the South Pacific Region.

Fiji was the first signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea UNCLOS). Fiji is also a signatory to:

• the Agreement for the Implementation of the Provisions of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982 Relating to the Conservation and Management of Straddling Fish Stocks and Highly Migratory Fish Stocks;

• the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean;

• the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

RESEARCH AND TRAINING

The Fisheries Division plays an active role in research in support of resource assessment, development, management, and aquaculture promotion. The Division has a research section within it's Lami headquarters, which carries out a range of research and monitoring projects, as well as freshwater aquaculture research stations at Naduruloulou and Dreketi and a mariculture research station on Makogai island.

Past research activities carried out by the Fisheries Division include:

• Aquaculture research: beche de mer, tilapia, pearl oysters, carp and milkfish;

• Monitoring of sales of fish, invertebrates and aquatic plants through Fiji's main markets;

• Study of the nature and extent of the subsistence fishery;

• Assessment of baitfish stocks and of the impacts of baitfish harvesting on juveniles of other commercially important species;

• Experimental culture and re-seeding of giant clams (Tridacna spp);

• Stock assessment of fresh-water prawns (Macrobrachium species), fresh water mussels (Batissa violacea) and mud-crabs (Scylla serrata and allied species).

The University of the South Pacific (USP) also regularly undertakes marine research activities in Fiji, often focusing on commercially important species. The University has undertaken biological studies on sea cucumbers, deep-water shrimps and marine algae, as well as carrying out social, economic and post-harvest research relevant to fisheries.

Two main institutions offer education and training relevant to fisheries:

• the University of the South Pacific, which is based in Suva, offers diploma and degree courses in fisheries and marine biology as well as specialisations in maritime law and post-harvest fisheries;

• the Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) offers training in engineering, refrigeration and other vocational skills relevant to the fishing industry. The Fiji School of Maritime Studies, which is a branch of FIT, offers seamen's training and certification, including various classes of skippers and engineers licenses.

In addition, many members of the Fiji fisheries sector have undertaken training at overseas universities and technical colleges.

AID

Fiji receives technical assistance in the fisheries sector from a number of bilateral donors including Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States. Assistance is also obtained from the international organisations of which Fiji is a member, including FAO and other United Nation agencies. The regional organisations serving Pacific Island countries, including the Forum Fisheries Agency, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, the Forum Secretariat, and the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, as well as several UN agencies (UNDP, ESCAP) have also been active in supporting Fiji's fisheries sector.

Some of the major recent donor interventions are: Australian Centre for International Agriculture Research (giant clam resource management), Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific (coral reef management), the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (marine turtle management), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (assistance with community initiatives in coastal resource management in Macuatu), World Wide Fund for Nature (coral reef management), and Biodiversity Conservation Network in association with the University of the South Pacific (community-based coastal resource management in Verata).

INTERNET LINKS

http://www.spc.org.nc/coastfish/Countries/fiji- Information on Fiji fisheries, links to other sites concerning Fiji and its fisheries, and some SPC reports on Fiji fisheries.

http://www.vanuatu.usp.ac.fj- Text of Fiji fishery legislation

http://www.fiji.gov.fj- Details of the Fiji government's Fisheries Division

http://www.unescap.org/drpad/vc/conference- Information on case study of community-based decision-making on coastal fisheries in Fiji

http://www.aciar.gov.au/publications/db/subjects- Contains the ACIAR publications on fisheries, including several on Fiji fisheries