As it is in many island states across the South Pacific, fishing is a means of survival in Fiji; it is embedded in the daily rituals of the people who live in the archipelago’s islands.
“I have been fishing all my life,” says Aviuta Ramoli. “Most of our resources come from the sea.”
Aviuta has fished in the spectacular turquoise waters surrounding his home for nearly seven decades. He now has six children, 24 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren.
But Aviuta and other fishers are finding it more difficult to find enough fish stocks close to shore and many are forced to travel long distances for fish to feed their families and generate income. Aviuta says an increase in unsustainable fishing means fewer fish grow to maturity, and there are less stocks available.
“When I first started fishing, there was very little commercial fishing, and we caught much bigger fish,” he says. “We still catch fish, but the size is much smaller, half of what we caught in the beginning.”
Fiji is one of the Pacific region’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS). They include some of the world’s most remote countries whose coastal ecosystems are bearing the brunt of pollution, overfishing, marine degradation and climate change. In this International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA) 2022, FAO is bringing to light some of these challenges and celebrating the contribution of small-scale fishers, fish farmers and fish workers.
Through one FAO project in Fiji, fishers are learning how to access aquatic species further offshore and being given the skills and equipment they need to do it. The project is named FishFAD after a technology central to this work, the fish aggregating device (FAD). The FAD is anchored to the sea floor with buoys on the surface to attract small pelagic fish such as mackerel and larger high-value fish like tuna that are not found closer to shore. FAO assists fishers in constructing this device on-shore before transporting it by boat and fixing it at a stable location up to 10 kilometres offshore.
“The fishers are learning new types of fishing so they can fish in deep water,” says Mike Savins, FAO’s chief technical advisor for the project. He emphasizes that it’s not just about increasing catch diversity and numbers: “They also learn how to use the equipment and learn more about management, as well as how to add value to their fish processing techniques.”
It’s about building capacity and resilience as well as vital food security and nutrition since fish accounts for between 50 and 90 percent of animal protein and provides key nutrients in the local diet.