S.J. Gale
The collapse of the marine fisheries of Suva Lagoon probably began in 1953 when the great tsunami wiped out the shellfish beds on which other parts of the marine food chain depended. Under normal circumstances we might have expected the recolonisation of these invertebrates and the return of the higher organisms that depend, directly or indirectly, on them. But these processes were overtaken from the 1960s onwards by the increasing impact of human activities, leading the Lagoon to the brink of ecological extinction.
Initially the pressures were indirect. Suva Harbour became an increasingly popular destination for cruise ships and the demand from their passengers for cowrie shells saw the stripping of gastropods from the reef. But from the 1970s direct depredations began to take their toll. The newly independent government encouraged fishing by giving people boats, engines, modern tackle and freezers for storing their catch. New and efficient ways of taking fish were developed that required little in the way of skill or knowledge. Dynamite liberated from the mines of the interior, for example, was used to blast the fish to death and duva ni Niukini (the root of Derris malaccensis, a natural source of rotenone) was employed to poison the fish so they could be scooped from the sea. Neither the direct impact of these practices on the environment nor their indirect consequences for the complexities of the marine ecosystem seem to have concerned anyone very much.
These problems were compounded by the expansion of pole-and-line tuna fishing in the late 70s and early 80s. This style of fishing is dependent on adequate supplies of live bait and meeting this demand decimated the lower trophic levels of the Lagoon.
Meanwhile, the Lagoon’s catchment had been transformed from a South Sea idyll direct from Central Casting to an environmental wasteland featuring such glories as the festering sore of the Lami Waste Dump and the Wailada Industrial Estate. The clearance of mangroves along the shores of the Lagoon led to the loss of habitat, and thus of spawning and nursery grounds. The remainder of the catchment experienced deforestation, pollution and uncontrolled urban growth. The result? Siltation of the Lagoon, nitrification of the water column, toxins in its sediments and waters, and everywhere a patina of gross pollutants dominated by plastic bags and disposable nappies.
The final indignity came in the 1990s with the growth of the trade in live coral and aquarium fish, and the uncontrolled poaching of the iqoliqoli (traditional fishing grounds) of the villages around the Lagoon, a direct consequence of the growth of urban populations and the breakdown of the social constraints that traditionally govern land ownership and land use in Fiji.
The first flicker of hope for the marine environment came in 2001 when the people of Vanua Navakavu, the tribal lands of four communities on the western side of Suva Lagoon, established a marine protected area (MPA) within their iqoliqoli. Small-mesh gill nets were outlawed, the number of fishing licences was reduced and duva poisoning was banned. But these interventions would have been unenforceable without the cooperation of the local people. The critical element was thus not the grandly titled MPAs, but the establishment of a Locally Managed Marine Area (LMMA). This involved the participation of the community in the protection of the fishing grounds and convincing the villagers that conservation was to the long-term benefit of them, their children and the environment. In Vanua Navakavu, the far-reaching decision was taken to implement a tabu within the LMMA, totally forbidding the catching of marine creatures.
The challenge was to prove that this approach works. The difficulty is that there is no baseline against which to assess the long-term recovery of the fishery. Official records of the state of the Lagoon extend back only a handful of years. It’s no surprise then that the goals of the Fisheries Department are very limited. Local knowledge potentially preserves longer histories, but the cultural tradition of the villages is oral rather than written, and documentary records of past events are non-existent. Nevertheless, it is to the oral record that Professor Randy Thaman and his students from the University of the South Pacific have turned in an effort to reconstruct baseline conditions in the Vanua Navakavu LMMA. There is a degree of urgency in this work, for the bulk of the ecological knowledge resides with the oldest of the villagers (Figure 1). Yet even in the four years the project has been running, seven of Thaman’s informants have died, and the last of those who knew the names of some of the creatures formerly found in the Lagoon have gone.
Figure 1. Knowledge of ecological conditions in Suva Lagoon prior to the 1953 tsunami resides with the oldest of the villagers of Vanua Navakavu (Source: R.R. Thaman).
One of the most important participants in the project is Asakaia Balawa, Fijian Fisherman of the Year in 2010 (Figure 2). Balawa records the taxa caught each week and cross-checks the species and local names with the oldest male and female fishers in the village. So far, the project has documented over 800 organisms, some of which have never before been seen by the current generation of fishers. Of these, 190 species have been recorded for the first time in over 40 years, 136 species for the first time in 20–40 years and 79 species for the first time in 10–20 years. A further 154 species have increased in size and abundance. Some of the creatures discovered by Balawa, such as the smooth box crab, burebure matatolu (Calappa calappa) (Figure 3), were identified by his aunt, Watalaite Ite, who had not seen them since the 1953 tsunami. Meanwhile, Balawa has recorded fish such as Cymolutes sp. (the razorfish), which have never before been seen in Fijian waters. Nor is it just marine organisms that have benefitted from the tabu. The increase in the number and diversity of marine taxa has attracted more reef herons to the Lagoon, including the white-faced heron (Ardea novaehollandiae), never previously recorded in Fiji.
Figure 2. Asakaia Balawa, master fisherman of Vanua Navakavu and one of the most important members of the project (Source: R.R. Thaman).
Figure 3. The smooth box crab, burebure matatolu (Calappa calappa), not seen in the Vanua Navakavu iqoliqoli since the 1953 tsunami (Source: R.R. Thaman).
Unfortunately, the increase in marine life has drawn less desirable beings to the Lagoon. Poachers and other illegal fishermen, attracted by the easy takings, are entering the tabu grounds and threatening to undo all the good work of the last decade. The authorities, predictably, remain indifferent.
