status of fisheries in south pacific island … · maritime fishing culture) ... (small-scale...
TRANSCRIPT
STATUS OF INSHORE
FISHERIES IN PACIFIC
ISLAND COUNTRIES
Prof Leon Zann
Head, School of Marine studies
University of the South Pacific
Contents
1. Introduction: Importance of inshore
fisheries, case studies Fiji, Samoa
2. Inshore habitats
3. Inshore fisheries (production, methods
etc)
4. Status
5. Issues & threats
6. Management challenges
•Fish/shellfish traditional protein staples
•Fishing traditionally of great cultural importance (ie Fiji, Samoa, Kiribati maritime fishing culture)
•Traditional ownership of land/sea by tribe/clans (eg Fiji 410 fishing grounds - i qoliqoli)
•High fish consumption (eg Fiji, Samoa 40 kg/person/yr to Kiribati 150 kg/pers/yr)
•Subsistence landings high (eg Fiji 20,000 mt/yr)
•Artisanal (small-scale commercial) landings high (eg Fiji: 24,000 mt/yr (US$60 m/yr)
1. IMPORTANCE OF INSHORE
FISHERIES
Islands: generally
small, limited
terrestrial resources
High islands, high
rainfall: strong
connectivity land>sea
Coral reefs: shallow, inshore
highly productive but
Ecologically vulnerable
Difficulties in sustainable fisheries
Mangroves, seagrass:
Highly productive,
Fish nursery habitat
Outer reef slopes: limited shelf,
Steep slope, limited productivity
2. INSHORE HABITATS
(Source: R Kelly, ACRS)
The Red Emperor spends different stages of its life cycle
utilising different habitats
Ecosystem approaches
Important …
Catchmentscatchments
wetlands
lagoonpatch
reefs
Barrier
reefs
Outer reef slope
Case study … Fiji’s marine environment
One of largest PICs
884 islands and islets
130 inhabited
Land area: 18,500 sq km
Shelf area: 19,500 sq km
Coastline: 4,637 km
Mangrove area: 385 sq km
Reef area: 10,020 sq km
Reef types: fringing, platform,
barrier, atoll
EEZ area: 1.29 million sq km
3. Inshore fisheries … case study Fiji
Subsistence fisheries
Demand: >800 villages (40% of Fijian population)
Landings: approx (guess) 18,000 t/yr (43% total landings)
Artisanal fisheries (market):
Demand: cash economy /urban supply
Landings: 11,000 mt/yr (US$26m/yr) (25% total landings)
Composition: finfish: 4,000 t/yr; Inverts: 4,450 t/yr
1185 licensed fishermen
840 registered vessels
(cf Industrial fisheries (offshore)
longline 12,000 t/yr)
Total: 2.5% GDP
Inshore fisheries (target,
methods)
Coral reef fisheries multi-species (200-300 spp? Fish, invertebrates), different habitats, life histories etc many fishing techniques
Finfish: Lethrinidae (snappers), Serranidae (cods), Carangidae (trevallies), Lutjanidae , Mugilidae (mullet), Scrombidae (mackerel), Scaridae (parrotfish)
Invertebrates: bivalves, sea cucumbers, crustaceans (crabs, prawns and lobsters), octopus.
Fishing methods: hand-lining, gill-netting (reef gleaning, skin diving, fish traps, fish fences, seine nets, hand nets, fish drives, spears, poisonous plants etc)
4. STATUS OF PIC INSHORE
FISHERIES
Generally poorly known: Limited research, stock assessment, landings data. However, considerable anecdotal data from Fisheries Depts and fishers of declining catches of many species. eg
Fiji Fisheries Department (ADB 2005) (‘guess’)timates:
70 qoliqolis´ over-exploited,
250 fully developed
90 could sustain more fishing pressure.
Samoa Fisheries: Dept (FAO) inshore landings declines began to decline in 1970s. By 1990s, collapses of some stocks.
Major declines in reef fish stocks
Major declines (collapses):
Mass schooling species such as
Mullet (Mugulidae spp) eg Samoa 1980s, 1990s);
Tongatapu (late 1970s); parts of Fiji (eg Vulaga)
Mackeral scad (Selar) eg Samoa 1980s)
Predators such as
Large Coral cods (Serranidae spp), snappers &
emperor (Lethrinids, Lutjanids)
Humphead wrass (Cheilinus)
Sharks
Declining invertebrates …
Giant clams (Hippopus, Tridacna gigas,
derasa, squamosa extirpated in many
countries; declined in rest)
Beche-de-mer (Holothuria spp): over-
harvested in most PICs; reduced to
fraction of original biomass. (eg Fiji,
Solomons)
Trochus (Trochus niloticus): over-
harvested most countries
4. MAJOR ISSUES &
THREATS
Over-fishing (decline clams, trochus, beche-de-mer, some reef fish)
Loss of inshore habitat, clearing of mangroves (agriculture, urban)
Degradation of coral reefs (Crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks, Coral bleaching (massive event 2000), Elevated sediments & nutrients from changing land uses)
Ecosystem changes from eutrophication & over-fishing of herbivores an top carnivores
Increasing demand (incr human pops)
LACK OF KNOWLEDGE
5. MANAGEMENT CHALLENGES IN PIC INSHORE FISHERIES
• Subsistence/dietary importance to communities• Multi-species fisheries • Limited biological information• Limited national capacity in fisheries science & management (decline of Fisheries Depts, poor governance)• Limited fisheries information, stock assessment, monitoring• Importance of environment, fisheries habitat• Community marine tenure, locally-based management