WomenI N F O R M A T I O N B U L L E T I N

M A R I N E R E S O U R C E S D I V I S I O N - C O M M U N I T Y F I S H E R I E S A N D I N F O R M A T I O N S E C T I O N S

i n F i s h e r i e sNumber 9 – September 2001

Contents

News from the Community Fisheries Sectionby L. Lambeth p. 2

What’s happening within the region p. 8

General p. 8Vanuatu p. 8FSM p. 9Guam p. 10CNMI p. 11Kiribati p. 11Australia p. 17New Zealand p. 19

What’s happeningoutside the region p. 20

General p. 20Alaska p. 21Africa p. 22

Books and publications p. 23

Welcome to the ninth issue of the Women in Fisheries SpecialInterest Group Bulletin. This issue will be my last as coordina-tor of the Women in Fisheries Bulletin. I have enjoyed puttingtogether the growing amount of information around the regionon women, small-scale fisheries and community fisheries man-agement. It has certainly been an excellent way of keeping intouch with what is happening, both in and out of the region.But after six issues it is now time to pass the role on to someoneelse. I would like to invite those who are interested in taking onthe responsibility of coordinator of the SPC Women in FisheriesBulletin to please contact:

Fisheries Information SectionSecretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)

BP D598848 Noumea Cedex

New CaledoniaPh: +687 262000Fax: +687 263818

email: cfpinfo@spc.int

This issue reports on the activities of the SPC CommunityFisheries Section, and includes workshops in American Samoaand Federated States of Micronesia, the third fisheries modulefor SPC’s CETC participants in Fiji and the second Heads ofFisheries meeting in Noumea.

From around the Pacific region we have a new village-basededucation system being developed in Vanuatu; a project to pro-tect coral reefs in Guam; an article on past and present fishingin Kiribati; recent developments in native title over the sea andcoastal areas in Australia; and an upcoming course for PacificIsland small-scale fisheries trainers in New Zealand.

Coordinator: Lyn Lambeth, Community Fisheries Officer, SPC, B.P. D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia. [Phone: +687 262000;Fax: +687 263818, E-mail: LynL@spc.int]. Production: Information Section, Marine Resources Division, SPC [Fax: +687 263818; E-mail: cfpinfo@spc.int]. Printed with financial assistance from Australia and New Zealand.

ISSN 1028-7752

Secretariat of the Pacific Community

Coral Sculpture, Yap

Introduction

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 20012The news from outside the region includes a global symposium on women in fisheries to be held in Taiwanin November; an article about women working in commercial fisheries in Alaska; and a women fisher’scollective in Mozambique, Africa.

Details and reviews of books and publications appear at the end of this issue.

Contributions in the form of articles, papers, news and information are welcome. Articles can be in Frenchor English; the bulletin is published separately in both languages. This and other SPC bulletins are avail-able online at http://www.spc.int/coastfish/

Please address all inquiries to:

Fisheries Information SectionSecretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)

BP D598848 Noumea Cedex

New CaledoniaPh: +687 262000Fax: +687 263818

email: cfpinfo@spc.int

As usual it has been a very busy year for the Community Fisheries Section, with work including the finaltwo in a series of four small-scale fisheries workshops for Federated States of Micronesia, a workshop oncommunity fisheries management in American Samoa, the finalisation of five new field reports, the com-pletion of the third fisheries elective for CETC participants, the second Heads of Fisheries meeting inNoumea, and work in the Marshall Islands looking at management aspects of nearshore resources (sub-sistence and artisanal fisheries).

The Community Fisheries Adviser trav-elled to American Samoa in March 2001to facilitate a five-day training work-shop for the Department of Marine andWildlife Resources (DMWR) staff. Theworkshop, conducted by experienced

American Samoa communityfisheries workshop

Fatima Sauafea, head of theCommunity Fisheries Management

Programme, conducting a practical exercise U

eta

Fa’a

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SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 3of recommendations from the draft report,Technical Input into the Community FisheriesManagement Project of American Samoa.

Samoan fisheries extension staff, trained newextension personnel at DMWR in the community-based fisheries management process, which wasestablished in Samoa. This workshop was a result

Chuuk and Yap fisheries workshopsIn May the Community Fisheries Officer conductedtwo workshops for women involved in small-scalefisheries activities in Chuuk and Yap. The work-shops were a follow up to surveys done in 2000, andfollowed recommendations made in the reports: Anassessment of the role of women in fisheries in Chuuk,Federated States of Micronesia and An assessment of therole of women in fisheries in Yap, Federated States ofMicronesia.

The reports recommend that more training pro-grammes be provided to those involved in subsis-tence and artisanal fisheries, particularly women.The SPC Community Fisheries Section agreed toassist in running workshops in both states, target-ing those involved in small-scale fisheries activitiesfor the local market, with no previous access tofisheries training.

The workshops for Chuuk and Yap were the finalpart of work begun in FSM two years ago. In 1999FSM requested assistance from the CommunityFisheries Section in assessing, documenting andsubsequently training women involved in small-scale fisheries. This work was done with the assis-tance of national counterparts, Estephan Santiago(National Fisheries Section) and Anne Luior(National Women’s Interest Officer). It was agreedthat, because of differing cultural and fishing prac-

tices in each state, separate visits and reportswould be undertaken for Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuukand Yap. State-level counterparts were identified toassist with each visit.

The Community Fisheries Section work in FSM hasresulted in the production of four assessmentreports, followed by small-scale fisheries training,for all four FSM states. The work reflects a commit-ment by the FSM National Fisheries Section toensure both men and women are considered in themanagement and development of the domestic fish-eries sector. Successful development of the medium–and large-scale fisheries sector is dependent on hav-ing a broad base of people with experience andtraining in all sectors of the industry: harvesting,processing and marketing. Those currently involvedin the small-scale fisheries sector are where develop-ment efforts should begin. In most Pacific Islandcountries, women are involved in post-harvest andmarketing activities and, when commercial fisheriesdevelop, they are often employed in various capaci-ties onshore. Basic training in seafood quality,spoilage, handling, processing, preservation, busi-ness and marketing is often lacking.

Topics covered at the Chuuk and Yap workshopsincluded seafood quality control, fish processingand handling, small-scale marketing and businessskills, seafood preservation, and fisheries manage-ment. During the workshop, participants built andtested a small fish smoker.

Follow-up activities recommended include:

• further training for Yap, and the outer islands ofChuuk, to be provided by national fisheries agen-cies, with SPC support as needed. Training shouldinclude practical fishing and harvesting activitiesto emphasise correct handling from

• continued support from SPC with the productionand distribution of relevant training material;

• increasing awareness on pollution issues inChuuk and Yap; and

• supporting key participants identified by theCommunity Fisheries Section for further regionaltraining opportunities. The Section will liase withregional agencies and other sections within SPC inthe selection of participants for further training.

The Chuuk workshop trained 34 women, includingone staff member of Chuuk Marine Resources andtwo from COM-Land Grant. Tanseny Reynold

Bechyal culturalcenter, Yap

Lyn

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The timing of the workshop coincided with a visitto Yap by Francis Itimai, Head of the NationalFisheries Section. Francis gave participants anoverview of fisheries from the national perspective,and discussed the work of the National FisheriesSection. Andy Tafileichig, Chief of Yap MarineResources and Management Division, presentedthe state perspective, with a talk on the role of theDivision, and marine resource management issuesin Yap. Seafood quality and handling, and marineconservation and management were consideredthe most useful topics by participants at the con-clusion of the workshop.

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 20014

Lyn

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(Special Assistant for Women’s Affairs) was the maincounterpart, assisted by Ramio Osiena (DeputyDirector of Marine Resources) and Shinobu Poll(President of the Chuuk Women’s AdvisoryCouncil). The workshop venue was the waterfrontpatio of the Truk Stop Hotel. Apart from the topicscovered by the Community Fisheries Officer, pre-sentations were also given by Ramio Osiena (fish-eries and marine environmental regulations ofChuuk), Julita Albert of the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, and Bernard Billimont from theMayor’s Coordinating Office (traditional fisheriesand marine resource protection). During the evalua-tion at the conclusion of the workshop, everyoneagreed that all the topics were useful, with smallbusiness skills and conservation and managementsingled out as being especially useful.

The Yap workshop trained 16 women and threemen, including one staff member of the FSMFisheries and Maritime Institute, two COM-LandGrant staff and one from the Yap Community ActionProgram (YapCap). Three other staff of the FSM

Fisheries and Maritime Institute also attended thesessions on conservation and management ofmarine resources. Denitha Palemar of Yap Women'sAssociation provided organisational support for theworkshop, assisted by Yap Marine Resources andManagement Division, YapCap, and Com-LandGrant. The workshop was held in the YapCap con-ference room, with practical sessions conducted out-side the Small Business Centre.

Chuuk participants prepare a marinade for smoking fish

Women prepare the fish smoker, Chuuk

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Men prepare the fish smoker, Yap

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SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 5

Lyn

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Preparing the fire for fish smokingduring the Yap workshop

Francis Itimai of the FSM NationalFisheries Section addresses the participants

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Forum Fisheries Committee Meeting (FFC48)

In May 2001, the Community Fisheries Adviser(CFA) travelled to Rarotonga, Cook Islands, to attendthe Forum Fisheries Committee Meeting. The prima-ry objectives of the travel were to: discuss the SPCCommunity Fisheries Section with interested headsof fisheries, hold discussions with FFA on the sec-tion's work on gender issues in tuna managementplans, and learn about the Cook Islands ra’ui system.

The CFA was fortunate to meet with the President ofthe Koutu Nui (body of traditional chiefs), and ini-tiator of the ra’ui Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) inCook Islands, Te Tika Mataiapo Dorice Reid. MrsReid knows a lot about the traditional system thatrequire Cook Islands communities to undertakeobligations for the management of MPAs, under theguidance of traditional chiefs. More interesting washer view on the need for village rules to be accordedlegal recognition. She spoke against the phenome-non of legal recognition which is true in the case ofsmall island countries like Cook Islands.

The CFA also met with Jaqueline Evans, coordina-tor of the WWF South Pacific Program in the CookIslands, who played an important role in raisingpublic awareness of the ra’ui MPAs. The discus-sion was very useful in light of her own viewsabout the ra’ui and the involvement of the Ministryof Marine Resources.

The contribution of the Ministry of MarineResources, through its technical advice and assess-ment of the ra’ui MPAs was deemed appropriate andimportant in many aspects.

There are eight ra’ui MPAs throughout Rarotongacovering about 42% of the Rarotonga lagoon area(Evans 2001) with different terms and conditionsdetermined by the various communities for theirmanagement.

Third fisheries module for SPC Community Education and Training Centre

In July, the Community Fisheries Officer travelledto Suva to assist with the third fisheries module forthe SPC Community Education and TrainingCentre (CETC) programme, in collaboration withthe University of the South Pacific’s Post Harvestlecturer, Tony Chamberlain.

CETC runs an annual seven-month programme forwomen from the Pacific Island region. All traineesare involved to some degree in community-basedwork in their home countries. During the pro-gramme the trainees study a wide variety of topics

including nutrition, media, public awareness andagriculture. In 1999 USP’s Post Harvest FisheriesDevelopment Project (PHFDP) in collaborationwith the SPC Community Fisheries Section devel-oped and delivered a pilot fisheries module. TonyChamberlain of USP and Patricia Tuara of SPC, asthe main resource people, developed a draft manu-al to support the training. The module was offeredas an elective and included theoretical and practicalskills in sustainable harvesting techniques, geartechnology, seafood processing, seafood preserva-tion and marketing. The pilot module was success-

On day two the participants tried their luck atbeach seining and spent some time identifyingand collecting reef and lagoon resources, includ-ing shellfish, sea plants and sea urchins. They alsopracticed knot tying, rigging and net mending.Days three and four were spent on laboratory andpractical activities related to seafood spoilage,seafood-borne disease, quality, safety, handlingand processing. Many products were madeincluding smoked fish, tuna jerky, various seaplant dishes, shellfish meals and urchin roe.

The workshop ended with discussions and activ-ities on fisheries conservation and communitymanagement before being closed by Nu’ufouPetaia, CETC Principal, and Professor RobinSouth, Director MSP. This was the third success-ful year of the workshop and participants foundthe module useful (and fun). The closure andfinal words of thanks by participants andresource people were topped off by a feast ofsample dishes prepared during the workshop —delicacies such as smoked fish, sea vegetablesalad, Gracilaria relish, clear Sargassum andspinach soup, Gracilaria mould, seafood chowderand raw sea urchin roe.

ful and the fisheries elective has now become a reg-ular part of the CETC course.

This year, the one week Fisheries Elective Modulewas conducted from 16 to 20 July at the MarineStudies Center, USP. Fifteen trainees attended theworkshop conducted by Tony Chamberlain, PostHarvest Fisheries Lecturer, USP and Lyn Lambeth,Community Fisheries Officer, SPC. Other resourcepeople included Jone Maiwelagi, Fisheries Officer,USP; Johnson Seeto, Marine Biologist, USP;Samasoni Sauni, PhD Student, USP; Aliti Vunisea,Social Scientist, USP and Jope Lesavua, PostHarvest Fisheries technician, USP.

Theory sessions were held at the new “SeafoodVillage” which was built at the Marine StudiesCenter for the purpose of community-level train-ing. The open building with gravel floor proved tobe a good venue for such activities. The workshopwas opened by Dr Ken MacKay, from the Canada-South Pacific Ocean Development Program, whichpartly funded the workshop. Participants took partin participatory exercises aimed at raising aware-ness on fishing methods, gender issues, destructivefishing methods and the sustainable harvesting ofmarine resources.

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 20016

Learning how to tie a bowline

Playing the “fish handling game”, a board gamedeveloped by the Marine Studies Programme of USP

Beach Seining

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Lyn

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SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 7Second Heads of Fisheries Meeting

The Second SPC Heads of Fisheries Meeting inJuly bought together regional fisheries representa-tives and observers to discuss a range of issues,including SPC’s fisheries work programme, aqua-culture, live reef fisheries, bycatch issues indomestic longlining, and community fisheriesmanagement.

As well as reporting on the work of theCommunity Fisheries Section since the last meet-ing in 1999, the Community Fisheries Adviserchaired a special session on community-based fish-eries management in the region. Dr Mike King ofthe AusAID-supported Samoa Fisheries Projectpresented a paper on Samoa’s experiences ininvolving villages in the management of subsis-tence marine resources. After the presentation,there was a discussion that addressed the legalissues of enforcement of traditional or village rules,especially on people from outside those villages.Many delegates shared examples of the varying

degrees and types of customary marine tenure andtraditional regulations versus national manage-ment measures that exist in their countries.

Fatima Sauafea, head of the Community FisheriesManagement Programme, presented a paper on asimilar project recently started in American Samoa,with the assistance of SPC’s Community FisheriesSection. The project is currently running in three ofthe six target villages for 2001.

Alava’a Navy Epati spoke about the traditionalraui system used to set up marine protected areasin the Cook Islands, outlining the important role ofwomen in initiating and ensuring the success ofthis form of marine resource management. Thespecial session on community-based fisheries man-agement was greeted with interest and enthusiasmby country and territory delegates and a number ofdraft recommendations were made endorsing andguiding SPC’s work in this area.

Marshall IslandsIn August the Community Fisheries Adviser trav-elled to the Marshall Islands to look at manage-ment aspects of subsistence and artisanal fisheries.A draft report including suggestions on involving

communities in the management of nearshoreresources is to be submitted to the Marshall Islandsfor consideration.

Publications and Information

The reports, An assessment of the role of women in fish-eries in Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia and Anassessment of the role of women in fisheries in Yap,Federated States of Micronesia have been printed asfield reports and distributed to relevant agencies atthe state and national level. These and other publi-cations may be found in pdf format (and html forthe Women in Fisheries bulletins) on theCommunity Fisheries Section homepage at:http://www.spc.int/coastfish/Sections/Community/index.html

Publications are also available from SPC'sPublications Distribution Assistant:

Secretariat of the Pacific CommunityBP D5

98848 Noumea CedexNew Caledonia

Telephone: +687 262000Fax:+687 263818

email: Publications@spc.int

A series of eight community training manuals arecurrently being developed by the University of

the South Pacific and the SPC CommunityFisheries Section. Originally designed to serve theneeds of the fisheries module delivered each yearto students at SPC's Community Education andTraining Centre, the manuals are now beingdeveloped for use throughout the region. Whenfinished, they will provide a training resource forcommunity training at a level similar to the work-shops held in Chuuk and Yap. The first three orfour manuals in the series should be printed in thecoming months. The complete set of manuals willcover the following topics:

1. Fishing2. Seafood in our Meals3. Sea Plants

3.a Guide to the common edible and medicinalsea plants of the Pacific Islands

3.b Sea vegetable recipes for the Pacific Islands4. Seafood Spoilage and Sickness5. Seafood Handling6. Seafood Processing7. Business Skills8. Fisheries Management

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 20018

GENERAL

A growing network of small business developmentcenters is expanding its work across Micronesia.

Casey Jeszenka, acting director of the Chuuk SmallBusiness Development Center, has just been inMajuro to assist the Marshall Islands center with aworkshop for people starting new businesses.There also is a center on Yap, with one soon to openin Palau and another in Pohnpei next year.

The Marshall Islands center is supported by theUniversity of Guam-based Pacific Islands SmallBusiness Development Center Network, the U.S.Small Business Administration, and the UnitedNations Development Program. “We train localpeople so that the program is available to the pri-vate sector on an ongoing basis,” Jeszenka said. It

provides a range of counseling, training and work-shops, help with business planning, and setting upother key aspects of business operations, includingrecord-systems.

In other islands, the business development centershave helped people to develop credible businessplans, which in turn have led to loans from banks,Jeszenka said. The centers are linked into a hugenetwork of small business agencies throughout theU.S. All can be tapped to provide a variety of tech-nical assistance to local firms or people starting upa business, he said.

Source: Pacific Islands Report/Marshall IslandsJournal/PINA Nius Online, July 2001

Micronesia’s Small Business Centers push private sector expansion

VANUATUVanuatu pioneers new village-based education system By Len Garae

A new village-based education system being devel-oped in Vanuatu could also benefit other PacificIslands countries. The new system, “Basic LifeSkills”, has been developed by Vanuatu’sCurriculum Development Unit after Fiji and Tongawere approached to try it out but did not agree.

The project is funded by NZODA, New ZealandOfficial Development Assistance, and coordinatedby the Friends of the South Pacific VanuatuProgram. Under the new system, students who are“pushed out” in year six for lack of sufficient spacein secondary schools can still go to school, but in

their own village or community. Among the sub-jects, emphasis is placed on customs and culture,health, housing and land.

The Curriculum Development Unit plans to havetrained teachers in the villages to help with teach-ing. Their assistants could be chiefs or fathers andmothers who are skilled in the traditional way oflife. Mark Imbert of the project, said: “It is amazinghow we can discover a wealth of knowledgeamong our own people. “Our elders are so intelli-gent that their skills and experiences and wisdomare equivalent to the academic qualifications

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 9gained in higher institutions of learning in thewest.” Imbert said the present education systemwas handed over to the government by educationplanners from the colonial times. The planners didnot take into consideration anything to do with thecustoms and culture of the indigenous people ofthe country. “Holders of western qualifications liveaway from home, from their own people and cul-ture, to achieve their qualifications,” he said.

The problem, he said, is they become alienatedfrom their own society in the process. “This iswhere the danger is because if we are not careful,our children and their children will eventually beswallowed up by a foreign education system whichis not suitable for our society,” Imbert continued.

Himself a former teacher, Imbert has found thatthere are so many qualified people in the villagesfrom Torba to Tafea who are equipped with similarprofessional qualifications or higher, “in ourindigenous culture.” In Melanesian traditionalsociety, customs rule supreme and land is heldclose to the heart. When children reach a certainage, their parents help them to build their ownhouses. They move from their parents into theirhouses to start on the road to self-reliance andindependence.

“We’d like to help the children to appreciatereturning to the land and benefiting from it,”Imbert added. “They can turn the land into a busi-ness to generate revenue and employment at the

village level. “Eventually, if a young man wants toget married, he is prepared because he has theresources at his finger tips.” Furthermore, Imbertexplained: “Through teaching, we want to con-vince the students to want to stay in their villages.”Teaching the students to know and be proud oftheir customs is the basis for their learning process.

Respect for one another is another important aspectof learning. The “Basic Life Skills” project isdesigned to be used first in a pilot project in the twoislands. Then an assessment will be made. Askedwhat the reaction from the villagers was like,Imbert replied: “Both the chiefs and parents say thisis what is lacking and they would definitely go forit, especially as it is going to train the students tostay home on their island and work the land.”

If successful, it would be taught throughout theprovinces to benefit hundreds of students fromyear 6 in both English and French primary schoolsevery year. This would reduce urban drift. With areduced number of young people in Port Vila andLuganville, there would be fewer social problemsin the towns.

With the participation of more school leavers in theeconomy in the rural areas, the level of economicactivity in the provinces and country in generalwould increase.

Source: Pacific Islands Report/Vanuatu TradingPost/PINA Nius Online, August 2001

FEDERATED STATES OF MICRONESIA

A five-year-old Coral Monitoring project is nowexpanding its data onto the World Wide Web.

The project is a collaborative effort betweenKosrae’s Division of Marine Resources and theKosrae Village Resort. It offers tourists a chance toparticipate and have fun while producing signifi-cant surveys and findings regarding coral reefs.

The project is looking for more new volunteerdivers to participate in the activities in September.“We are very proud of this program,” said KatrinaAdams of the Kosrae Village Resort. “It has pro-vided a great deal of useful data for the resource

managers, as well as contributing to the globalinformation on coral reefs.” One can get the latestUnited Nations Reef Check Global Data Base onthe Coral Reef Monitoring Web site(http://www.ust.hk/~webrc/ReefCheck/home.html). The program includes a long-term survey andanalysis of adopted reef areas around the island.

The findings will determine how damaged the reefenvironment is due to human contact, develop-ment and erosion.

Source: Pacific Islands Report/Kosrae VisitorsBureau, April 2001

Kosrae reef project on the web

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200110

As oceanographer Eric Wolanski, clad in scubagear, descended into Fouha Bay in Umatac, henoticed something seriously wrong: He couldn’thear anything but his breathing. “The reef makesno sound anymore,” said Wolanski, a researcherfrom the Australian Institute of Marine Science.When a reef is healthy, fish and shrimp are plen-tiful and when they eat, their mouths make asnapping sound, Wolanski said. “There shouldhave been crackling,” he said. Instead, there wassilence, because the reef is far from healthy, suf-fering in part from years of sediment flowing intothe bay, preventing coral from spawning and suf-focating some of the existing coral. That’s whyWolanski and other scientists were in Umatac lastmonth setting up testing equipment. That’s whythe federal Environmental Protection Agency haskicked in nearly $800,000.

It’s all part of a project to find a balance betweenman’s use of the land and bays, and coral’s needfor a healthy environment. So the sea can onceagain crackle.

The results will be used from Australia to Hawai‘i,and anywhere else people are trying to preservecoral reefs, said University of Guam marine biolo-gist Robert Richmond. “This is unique research thathas never been done within a tropical area before,”said Richmond, who wrote the grant application.The grant is from the U.S. EPA’s Science to AchieveResults, or STAR, program, which requires scientiststo work directly with government and the commu-nity to develop a plan of action. That way,Richmond said, the results don’t just end up in a sci-entific journal, unused.

The first stage of the project is gathering data andthen making it understandable to average residents,Richmond said. About three weeks ago, Wolanskiand Richmond and their crews set up equipment inFouha Bay, to record how freshwater run-off andsedimentation affect the reef. On Friday, they col-lected the equipment and then began analyzing theinformation during the weekend. What they are try-ing to find out is exactly how much fresh water andhow much sediment is too much for coral to sur-vive. “Before you spend a nickel on restoring a reef,you need to deal with the problems that are causing(reef destruction) in the first place,” Richmond said.

Marine snow

It’s snowing in the tropics. As the soil runs off theland into the bays off Guam, it is combining withplankton to form a substance scientists call marine

snow. But it’s not the kind of snow people wouldwant to sing carols about. As it settles on the coralbelow, it acts like a plastic bag and suffocates it,Wolanski said, viewing pictures of marine snowfrom Fouha Bay.

People don’t know about marine snow, said GeraldDavis, chief of the Guam Division of Aquatic andWildlife Resources. But when people build roads,homes or hotels, they often are creating the sub-stance. “Education is one of the keys,” said Davis,whose role in the project is to get government offi-cials to understand the research and know why itshould be used. Davis will take the data fromRichmond and Wolanski and calculate how mucherosion control is needed to bring the levels ofrunoff down so the reef can rebuild itself.

In September and the ensuing months, scientistsand a sociologist from the University of Hawai‘iwill talk with community members on Guam togauge how much the reef means to the culture andthe economy, Richmond said. One thing the projectwants to emphasize is the importance of people’sinput, especially those who use the reef either forrecreation or their livelihood, Davis said.

“Oftentimes cultures, through constant fishing,will see changes long before scientists can ever findthem,” Davis said. When all is said and done, thescientists want to be able to go to the government,lawmakers and businessmen and tell them howmuch an investment in soil erosion yields in suchareas as tourism dollars.

Richmond said they are not anti-development. Infact, a restored reef system would benefit everyonefrom hotel owners to people who fish on the week-end. “We want to be able to tell people ‘While youmight save a couple thousand dollars in soil ero-sion (cuts), the island will lose millions and mil-lions in natural resources,’” Richmond said.

Fewer reef fish

Twenty-five years ago, Umatac Mayor TonyQuinata said he remembers heading out to fishwith his friends and wanting to head back a half-hour later. “In half an hour, I would be tired,because there were so many fish,” Quinata said.“Now, it’s kind of scary.” Richmond said whenroutes 2 and 4 were expanded in the early 1990s, noenvironmental impact study was done and therunoff from the projects hit the reef there hard. Butin general, it has been poor land use, lack ofenforcement, and some over fishing that has affect-

GUAMProject to protect Guam coralBy Scott Radway

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 11ed about 60 percent of the reefs negatively,Richmond said. As proof, Davis said, the island iscatching 70 percent less reef fish than it did 15years ago. “And that is with an increased numberof fishermen,” Davis said, adding that a reef underthe right conditions could return itself to a healthystate in 15 years.

Fouha Bay in Umatac was chosen as Guam’s testcase for the project, because it has lost much coralfrom rain runoff and there is lot of historical dataavailable about the area’s erosion, Richmond said.As part of the project, two sites in Palau will betested, Richmond said. The completion date isabout two years out.

Quinata said he is ready to give whatever help hecan to push the project over the finish line. Whenthe scientists were testing Fouha Bay, he gavethem his office to use as a command center.

“We need to address this channel to correct theseproblems. I am not that much of a fisherman, butI am hearing from some of our constituentsabout it,” Quinata said. “And I am not an expertso we let them come in and, hopefully, they willprovide us with vital information to help restoreour reefs.”

Source: Pacific Islands Report/Pacific Daily News,August 2001

NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS

Northern Mariana Islands importing less fishA sharp decrease in the Commonwealth’s fishimports in recent years indicates that an increasingnumber of local businessmen have ventured intocommercial fishing, according to a report from theDepartment of Commerce. Commerce officials saidthis development is spurred by the increasingdemand by the islands’ hotels and restaurants forfresh sea products.

The Central Statistics Division noted that fishimports dropped by close to 85 percent in a six-year period, from 1.194 million pounds in 1992 toonly about 184,300 pounds in 1997. Since 1992,CNMI has witnessed a declining trend pertainingto the importation of fish products into theNorthern Marianas. Fish imports dropped by 43percent from 1992 to 1993, then down again by 24percent in 1995.

The biggest drop on an annual comparison wasrecorded between 1996 and 1997 when fish importsfell by 55 percent from 410,690 pounds to only184,363 pounds. A study previously commissionedby the Commonwealth Ports Authority recognizedthe bright potential for fish transshipment in theNorthern Marianas. A proposed fish transshipment

program that may be implemented by the CNMIgovernment would handle at least 150 boatloads of15-20 tons per month, bringing at least $3,500 inwharfage revenue to the seaport each month. Also,there are opportunities to transship by air freshand frozen tuna to the Japanese market.

The Central and Western Pacific Ocean is home tothe world’s largest tuna fishery, which is currentlyworth approximately $1.7 billion a year. TheCommerce Department’s report showed thatimports still comprise more than half of the total fishsold in the Northern Marianas each year. In 1996alone, a total of 846,686 pounds of fish products weresold in the CNMI. About 410,690 pounds of that totalwere imported from countries in Micronesia andAsia, and the mainland United States.

In 1997, 380,135 pounds of fish were caught andsold in the Northern Marianas, with reef fishesconstituting the largest common species, followedby skipjack tuna and mahi mahi.

Source: Pacific Islands Report/Saipan Tribune,May 2001

KIRIBATI

Let’s go fishingby Jane Resture

Fishing and associated activities form an intimatepart of the Kiribati way of life. From the preparato-ry work and fishing procedures to the final act of

consumption, these also relate to certain norms ofbehaviour and belief which until now have beentraditionally handed down in each generation.

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200112with edible cockle, clam, octopus, sipunculid (likea marine worm), sea urchin and others, and it isquite easy to obtain daily food without much gear.Acquiring seafood may involve anyone, whether itbe woman or man. Only a few families utilise tech-nical skills of a specialised nature although somehave inherited a lot of such knowledge handeddown in folklore form. One example is the abilityto call dolphins to shore as reported by Sir ArthurGrimble in “A Pattern of Islands” (1952).

In the southern Gilberts the conditions are harsherwith little land and poor soil. Many islands have nolagoon at all and hence are limited in the abundanceof fish species compared to the atolls. The constantsurf around the single islands of Nikunau, Tamanaand Arorae requires fishermen with expertise in fac-ing the often six-to ten-foot waves encountered intheir small canoes as they cross the reef when leav-ing or returning to the island. As a rule, attitudestowards life are more reserved and are gearedtowards making the most from the limited and spo-radic marine resources throughout all seasons.Fishing skills and ideas are more closely guarded byeach from the open sea, while women concentratetheir activities in the lagoon waters and in the house-hold. From the shallow waters of the reef flat, youngboys are encouraged to venture past the breakersinto the sea and eventually to take part in spearfish-ing and handling of various catches beyond the reef.

Initiation into manhood involves a youth joining theolder men in fishing, handling the catch and thecanoe and finally doing all of this by himself andbringing in the quantities required by the family. Hewill then be regarded as evenako (a grown-up man).

The essential nature of fishing expertise in Kiribatiis dependent on the remarkable efforts and skill ofthe old men in transforming various naturalresources into something practical and useful tothe people. At least, so it is said! A successful catchis assured not only by employing the correct gearbut also by observing the strict behavioural normsattached to the fishing endeavour.

Other fish foods are now available in the stores fordaily use. A tin of mackerel not only serves as amore convenient substitute but is becoming anacquired taste. It is a known fact, however, thatthe I-Kiribati do get tired of such foreign food andreally prefer the taste of fresh fish, whether it iseaten raw or barbecued or cooked to any otherpreference.

Conservation and management

The operationals of artisanal (subsistence) fisher-men are controlled to a certain extent by the old menin the villages. This pertains mainly to the conserva-tion and management of the fisheries stock.

The ancient practices and attitudes as compared tomodern culture are not always easy to identifybecause they are normally passed on only withinthe family group. Fishing and exploitation of othermarine products are the mainstay of Kiribati lifeand therefore the traditions are closely guarded asbeing essential to survival of the culture.

Since the earlier magical practices, as recorded bywriters like Sir Arthur Grimble and David Lewisand as researched by the Fisheries Division, a lot ofchanges have come about. The present status ofKiribati fisheries differs from island to island andfrom family to family. The availability of alternativefoods and forms of recreation and the incorporationof new and modern ideas have all affected thenature of these changes. Major differences in atti-tudes about fisheries can be observed between theouter islands and the capital in South Tarawawhere a greater mix of customs and a larger con-centration of population exist. Besides theirremoteness from the urban centre, the northernand southern groups of islands are distinguishedfurther by differences in ecology which affect thenature of the fishery resources.

Generally, however, in the majority of the sixteenislands in the Gilbert archipelago, the fisheries cul-ture is little changed from the olden days. In thischapter, it is endeavoured to highlight the variousaspects of change, the associated problems and thepotential of ideas which are applicable in the pre-sent stage of fisheries development in Kiribati.

The “let’s go fishing” concept

Two terms commonly used by writers to describelocal fishing are “subsistence” and “artisanal”.These are normally understood to mean the catch-ing of daily food by families to acquire enough forone day. Only meagre gear is necessary and theamount of fish caught is dictated by the ability toprocess and preserve the catch beyond thatrequired for immediate use. Traditionally, I-Kiribati regarded fishing as meeting the basic needfor daily food. As the old saying goes, “You can liveonly if you go out and catch your food”.

However, there is also a connotation of enjoyment,for traditional fishing inevitably involves the com-munity in a social way - thus, the “let’s go fishing”concept. The thrill of fish pulling lines, the risksfaced on the water and the enjoyment of good orlarge-sized catches, all contribute to the tales toldby fishermen, to the food for thought by womenwhenever they get together and to the examples setfor the younger, upcoming fishermen.

In general, I-Kiribati in the northern islands havebetter access to fish and marine resources thanthose in the south. The northern lagoons abound

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 13For example, in the islands of Arorae and Tamanathe use of pressure lamps and other strong lights tocatch flyingfish is prohibited even today. Only thecoconut leaf torch that was traditionally used isallowed. This requirement is locally observed inorder to conserve the abundant flyingfish resourcesaround these islands. It is believed that continuoususe of much stronger lights will chase away thesefish which are a mainstay of the daily diet in thesouth. Lots of people in Kiribati now question thisconservative ruling of the old men from the past. Itis also believed, however, that this prohibition willact as a conservational measure in the face ofincreasing pressure for fish food by a rapidlyexpanding population. It is known that similar con-ditions are enforced in other parts of the world. In alike manner, the use of underwater torches in Aroraeby divers seeking to catch lobsters has threatenedreduction in the extent of this resource, but therestriction on such methods has helped in letting thelobster supply regenerate naturally.

There will be a need to alter some of these subsis-tence ideas in order to effect gains in some aspectsof modern development. For example, fishing bygroups may be more advantageous than by indi-viduals if maximum economic benefit is to bederived from relatively minimal equipment,resources and capital. For effective catching fromsmall canoes, the tuna and other fishes which areregarded as essential for survival of the peopleneed to be available close in to the islands.

Traditional beliefs and attitudes characteristic ofartisanal fishing will have to be considered careful-ly in the light of fisheries development plans whichaim to tap the larger resources farther out to seaand generally to encourage greater production ofdeep-sea fisheries.

Another clear example of restrictive fishing used inseveral of the islands which have no lagoons is theclosing of certain areas to trolling for tuna. Theseareas are instead reserved for a deep-line methodcalled te kabara, that is, a baited hook is fastened to asmall stone with a leaf wrapping; the stone acts as aweight and when lowered to the required depth isuntied by a sharp jerk on the line. It is believed thatin trolling, the tuna tend to move with the movinglure and hence any deep-line method, including tekabara, is rendered ineffective. The use of outboardmotors may be very effective in trolling but they areprohibited in most southern islands due to the noiseand speed which tends to disrupt those fishermenwho employ the kabara method.

When one thinks of maximising his catch, thenconflict arises if restrictions must be observed forconservation reasons. Already, in Tarawa trolling isone of the favoured alternatives as this generallyassures a better catch. However, it should be noted,

the rising cost of motor fuel has somewhat reducedthe advantage of this method. This is somewhatoffset by a rise in fish price. The benefits of conser-vation and the danger of overexploitation are wellunderstood by some local fishermen who usebonefish (te ikari) for bait. For example, they willstrip the bonefishes during the mass gathering ofthe ikari for their spawning runs. This strippingfacilitates the natural fertilisation process and per-mits more bonefish to propagate.

Most conservation measures are recognised as nec-essary to offset current fishing pressures. The verynature of exploiting different kinds of fishes andmarine life at different times of the year has so farcaused little worry about the state of existing fishstocks. Nevertheless, concerns are now beginning toemerge due to increasingly productive and effectivemethods of large-scale fishing to cater for the rapid-ly growing food demands in Kiribati.

Fishing methods and gear

Knowledge of fishing techniques is one of the mainaspects of culture that gives recognition and statusto I-Kiribati in the village communities. Exploitationof different inshore and offshore areas determinesthe type of fishing method to be used. There aremore than thirty known techniques practised inKiribati. Some of these are described here as appro-priate to a given area and fish species.

Reef flat and lagoon flat

Collection by hand or with simple tools or uten-sils (spoons, forks, sticks etc.) is common. This isdone mainly by the women and children. The pre-dominant method of fishing in the shallow watersis by a co-operative drive using gill nets.Monofilament gill nets are preferred and these arepurchased from local stores in the villages or fromfrom other nearby countries such as Nauru,Marshall Islands and Fiji. The Fisheries Division isselling modern gear through a subsidy scheme.

In South Tarawa, most household possess a smallgill net for catching small inshore fishes such as teninimai (silver biddies or Gerres oyena).Traditional netting is used rather little nowadays.Sometimes fishermen rig their own gill nets byusing buoyant local wood for floats and leadwhich is melted down from old battery plates forsinkers. Excessive use of lagoon resources is seen,especially in Tarawa, where there is an emergingneed to monitor the effect of new fishing gear andincreasing production on the available stocks.

At the reef edge

The long and narrow islands are edged by shortcoral reef slopes where a number of varied fishing

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200114techniques are employed. Essentially these involvelines with baited hooks or lures. Outrigger pad-dling canoes are used, as well as floats (te kai n tau-mata) to which hook and line gear is attached as anaccommodation while one is working in the water.For spearing equipment, the sling is made from arubber inner tube (car or bicycle) and the spear isfashioned from a metal rod, but this gear is nowbeing replaced with triggered spear guns andHawaiian slings, brought back from overseas byKiribati seamen and other travellers. In the past,binocular masks were used, being improvised froma shaped piece of wood with the glass piece fixedwith sticky breadfruit sap to waterseal the fitting.However, imported plastic and rubber masks arenow becoming more readily available.

In line fishing, specialised methods with differentlures, bait and baiting techniques are employed.For example, one-to-two-inch hooks with a whitefeather lure are especially valued for catching temon (soldier fish). At various seasons, other rockfishes are predominant and at certain groundsonly. Knowledge of the prime areas and preferredmethods is kept secret by local fishermen.Ordinary hand lines are used.

Eel fishing with traps is also done at the reef edge.A lot of rules and norms are associated with thismethod. Different baiting techniques are used inorder to catch a particular species or size of eel.This is one of the oldest traditional methods of fish-ing that is still practised. The house-shaped trapsare made from a heavy shrub or ironwood (Pemphissp.) and it takes at least four days to build one.Catches from this trap can be quite substantial. Asfar as I am aware, Kiribati is one of the few placesin the world where eels are caught by this methodin such great quantity, ranging from forty to fiftypounds per trap. This kind of eel fishing is espe-cially successful as practised by the people ofNonouti and Tabiteuea.

In the deeper areas, octopus is caught by using jigsor special curved and pointed rods. A few jigs sim-ilar to Japanese squid-jigs are getting to be com-mon in South Tarawa.

Turtles are sought in the crevices of the reef edge.At depths of not less than five to ten metres, diversseek out the sleeping turtles whose backsides pro-trude from the coral crevices. While the capturedturtles are then normally tied to a rope from a float-ing buoy at the water’s surface, barbed steel hooksare now found to be more efficient when attachedto the turtle’s flesh.

Recently adopted methods of fishing tend to bemore specialised and are favoured by the mostenergetic divers. These men have been known tostay underwater for more than five minutes.

Special training in traditional times, as describedby early observers, is practised, though there arefewer traditional divers left.

On the open sea

Pelagic fishing is done from canoes beyond thebreakers at depths greater than ten metres and asfar offshore as ten to twenty miles depending onthe capability of the craft. Essentially the canoe willbe equipped with monofilament lines for eitherdeep-bottom fishing or trolling, an assortment ofbaited or feathered hooks, a knife, a club to stun thebigger fishes and a bottle of water for quenchingone’s thirst. Tobacco has become a necessity, too,without which fishermen have been known toreturn to shore to replenish their supply.

Traditional hooks are rarely used anymore exceptfor pieces of wire three to eight inches in lengthand bent to form a V-shaped hook. Fish bones ofsimilar shape were used in earlier times for flying-fish. It is interesting to note that hooks and luresnormally used by fly or river-fishermen in otherparts of the world have been stocked in someisland stores but many of them are totally uselessin Kiribati waters. Various old-time trolling lures,shaped mostly from feather, fish skin, coconut leafand fibres, have persisted to this day. More impor-tant than these lures are the associated beliefswhich fishermen still depend on to recognise thenature of the particular fish they wish to catch.

The pole-and-line method, using a pearl-shell lureas depicted in many legendary songs about Teraka,the fishermen’s god, is now the most importantand prominent commercial form of tuna fishing.This technique and the art of making the lure arestill very much alive in Kiribati.

Deep-bottom fishing in depths greater than 100 fath-oms have been revived through a Fisheries Divisionprogramme. Little longlining is attempted due to thescanty gear available, though some longlining hasbeen trialled by the Fisheries Division.

Canoes

The manufacture of Kiribati fishing canoes haschanged little from the old designs. However, modi-fications have been made in the use of modern tools,paints and synthetic glues. Coconut sennit was onceutilised for tying together the planks of a canoe hull.While sennit is still employed by some craftsmen, itis now being replaced by monofilament nylon cordof twenty to thirty pounds breaking-strength. On theslightly larger sailing canoes, small outboardengines (two to eight horsepower) now serve as animprovised supplement or in some cases replace sailpower entirely. This modern substitution hasextended coverage and range of these canoes.

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 15In summary, the fishing methods and gear of I-Kiribati have changed with time and will mostlikely see even more developments due to theincreasing demands for fish and marine products.It must be noted, however, that locally knowninformation about fish behaviour, seasonal varia-tion and periodicity is an essential ingredient in thesuccessful adoption of newer methods. All of this–both traditional and modern skills and knowledge–have to be critically analysed and integrated ifgains for the proper understanding and better util-isation of fisheries technology are to be achieved.

New developments

The progress of Kiribati Fisheries Division pro-grammes had led to a concentration in four majorareas.

A TUNA POLE-AND-LINE FISHING COMPANY.Te Mautari Ltd. (now Central Pacific Producers),established in 1980, came about as a result of severaltuna-catch surveys and a study of the feasibility ofraising milkfish as live bait. The greatest asset in theoperation is attributed to the locally recruited crewswho readily adjusted and picked up the necessaryskills after only one year. By 1983 the four companyvessels were crewed mostly by I-Kiribati with onlyexpatriate chief engineers, who were providedthrough external funding for technical aid.

This development certainly goes against the beliefthat it is difficult for “locals” to spend monthsaway from home on a commercial fishing vessel.The company also operates marketing facilities onshore which have greatly changed local attitudesabout the quality and distribution of fish which arenow available for sale.

EXTENSION PROGAMMES IN THE OUTERISLANDS. In providing assistance to outer islandfishermen, few problems have been encounteredresulting from the introduction of new ideas andpractices. For example, the concept of forming fish-ing groups was well received, contrary to somescepticism voiced earlier. This move has initiatedand encouraged the greater production of fish. Themarketing of fish locally in the islands has alsobeen received favourably, despite a popular beliefthat traditionally every family should fish only forits own needs and not for other people, except pos-sible missionary or government workers who arenot native to the islands.

Introduction of new fishing gear has widened theexperience of some I-Kiribati. A modified canoe-type boat with an improved sail design for greatermanoeuvrability has helped to improve oldercanoe designs for more extended usage of the craft.Conversely, however, the tremendous expenseincurred by the introduction of aluminium boats

with fuel-drinking outboard engines has led to arealisation of the dependence which only a fewislanders can afford except some workers in gov-ernment service.

With increased fish production from the outerislands, external markets will have to be found togenerate foreign revenues needed to sustain thenational economy. Not only that but standards ofproduct quality and regularity of supply ship-ments will have to be guaranteed. These all addup to anticipated problems in trying to satisfy theforeign market at the expense of local consump-tion needs. Perhaps the most critical problem inmeeting the demand from overseas will be to holdfishermen from the outer islands to a regular pro-duction schedule. But since they have many com-mitments, social and otherwise, in the local com-munity, these calls on their time and labour maybe more pressing than the fulfilment of exportrequirements.

AQUACULTURE. Traditionally, milkfish fry weremaintained in inland ponds and raised extensive-ly for use during feasts, droughts and stormyweather. Milkfish is favoured due to its fatty anddelicious taste.

When Tilapia, a pond fish, was introduced by a vis-iting consultant to help the islanders in their pro-tein requirements, it resulted in the destruction ofthe milkfish population in most of the ponds. AsTilapia is not eaten nor liked due to its non-saltytaste, it is considered to be a pest and cries havebeen loud for its eradication.

Purchasing milkfish fry from villagers of the 80-hectare food and live bait production ponds atTemaiku in South Taro has given I-Kiribati anotherpotential source of cash income. Great interest hasnow been shown in most islands to have thescheme extended to their place. Despite somebeliefs that aquaculture is not suitable for develop-ment in Kiribati, it did exist in years past and ifmanaged properly it could provide alternativesources today for protein and income.

Trochus spawning and restocking has been tried bythe Fisheries Division, though it has proven difficultto check the survival of animals on the reef. Therestocking is aimed at providing income opportuni-ties for islands with limited lagoon systems. Theblack pearl aquaculture industry is still at theresearch stage. A Japanese project on sea cucumberrearing has also been established. Production of themarine seaweed, Eucheuma, is well establishedamong coastal villagers in Kiribati and forms thebasis of an important export industry.

TRAINING. The Division offers training in allaspects of fisheries, quite apart from its regular

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200116programmes to train assistants for outer-islandextension work. While it is true that we cannottruly teach our fishermen to fish – the majority ofthem know how already – the converse is also truein regard to the newer methods in fisheries whichare conducted on a larger scale. In this context, theteaching of older men by younger ones who arespecialists in the new developments is an interest-ing change because the reverse was normally thecase in the traditional past. Training of technicalmanpower for localised posts is not an easyprocess as the terms of reference are based on analien set-up and needs to be geared towards appro-priate compromises.

Commercial fishermen

Private and local commercial fishery ventures havestarted up in Tarawa. The fishermen have equippedtheir own 18 to 20-foot skiffs with outboard enginesand regularly fish for skipjack and yellowfin tunaabout four or five miles off Tarawa. Catches usingpoles and pearl-shell lures have been made up to1,000 kilograms per boat per day. This is clearly aremarkable application of traditional knowledgewhich has been lost in most other Pacific islands.

Changes in traditional attitudes are notable in theuse of machine equipment, cutting down onexpenses and getting a fair sale value for eachcatch. There is still room for improvement in thequality of the catches. Some problem existed earli-er in the fishermen’s idea that Te Mautari Ltd.should always buy the catch at the producer’sdemand price. Then the Company at one timestopped buying the independent fishermen’scatches due to a glut in the market and the need tolower its offering price for the time being. This dif-ficulty has since been resolved after many hasslesbetween the parties concerned. In any case definiteknow-how and training are required for upcomingbusiness-oriented fishermen.

Foreign involvement

Prospective joint-venture partners, private over-seas businessmen and other outsiders keep appear-ing in Kiribati to promote ideas which appear to bevery sound and sincere. But local management infisheries developments is not always in control ofsufficient information to properly evaluate over-seas capabilities. Many of the self-styled develop-ers do get away with making only a small commit-ment as Kiribati culture dictates kindness to allnewcomers. These proposals from external sourcesneed clearer analysis before immediate or futureinvolvement by I-Kiribati whether it be in the pub-lic or the private sectors of fisheries concerned.

Foreign fisheries aid is not always free of conditions.It is not always possible to manage and co-ordinate

programmes due to foreign aid restrictions. It is,however, realised that self sufficiency is required atthe Kiribati end. A final goal is always perceived andthat is the need to train local manpower to replaceexpatriate staff. While this may be expected to hap-pen in the long run, it will take much time andpatience. The handing over of management andtechnical responsibilities to local counterparts isconstantly preached, but how effective this will bewith the great cultural differences that exist betweenKiribati and the developed nations?

Foreign involvement in joint ventures is most prob-ably the answer to the immediate commercialdevelopment of fisheries in Kiribati, since littlecapital is available locally to initiate large-scaleenterprises. This strategy can be expected to have acorresponding effect on traditional values and cul-ture which is a problem to be faced and accommo-dated if we are to enter the international communi-ty on a more self-sufficient basis.

Conclusion

If the Kiribati culture is to persist for the purposeas people see and need it, then definitely somecompromises will have to be made. One very cleardifference from the traditional way of looking atfisheries is the monetary profitability of the wholefishing operation. Perceptions of expenditures, therunning costs of operations, are becoming primeconsiderations. This approach, however, is coun-tered by the concern of other commitments whichnormally obligate the island family and also thevillage community.

The concept of “Let’s go fishing” is changing to“Who gains from it and what will it cost me?”Cultural joy in fishing is still very much a part of ourheritage and the “fishy” nature of Kiribati fishermenpersists. This needs to be recognised, channelledand utilised more fully for the benefit of all.

It is seen as inevitable that much of our fisheriesculture will continue to change as it has alreadydone. Caution is urged, however, to align the var-ious new fisheries initiatives as near as possiblewith Kiribati culture as presently perceived or,more correctly, with full consultation of I-Kiribatiwho may be involved in any commercial venture.

In the face of all this and the emphasis which theGovernment places on marine resources for ournational development, there needs to be a reviewof all these matters that are the basis on which liesour future fishery culture. In the face of changewe need to keep reminding ourselves of suchquestions as these –”Are the old men ensuringthat the essential values and knowledge are beingpassed on?” and “Is our system catering for andcompromising this change?” Future development

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 17

The issue of native title over the sea and coastalareas is one of increasing importance. More casesare coming before the courts, and the well-known“Croker Island” case will be heard by the HighCourt later this year.

The trend in recent years has seen increasinglyambitious claims being brought by indigenousgroups, who assert traditional fishing and accessrights, as well as exclusive possession of the sea,the fishery and the seabed. By contrast, state andfederal governments are concerned to regulatefisheries to ensure sustainability, and to exercisecontrol over mining and exploration of seabedresources. Stakeholders, such as the fishingindustry, are also vitally affected. It is likely thatthe trend towards litigation will continue asnative title over the sea becomes an increasinglyheated issue.

Mabo and Wik

Until relatively recently, the established categoriesof native title did not extend over the sea, or theseabed. In the landmark Mabo case, which intro-duced the concept of native title into Australianlaw, a native title claim over the sea was aban-doned at an early stage. It was recognised by theclaimants that the sea claim was very complex, anduncertain of success.

Mabo established that indigenous peoples whohave maintained a continuous relationship with aparticular area, may have rights of access and occu-pation to continue to enjoy traditional activities,such as hunting, fishing or religious uses. Suchrights have been loosely termed “native title.” Theexistence of these rights is subject to demonstratinga continuous relationship.

This concept was extended in the Wik decision,where the High Court held that the granting of aCrown lease for the use of land, which lease wasnever taken up or exploited in any way, did not ter-minate the native title relationship with the landenjoyed by the indigenous inhabitants.

Elder

The recent spate of litigation involving native titlesea claims could be said to have begun with Elderv The State of Queensland (1997). In Elder, a nativetitle application was brought in the QueenslandSupreme Court over an area both within andbeyond the three mile limit of Queensland’s juris-diction. The claim, as brought before the Court,was outside the ambit of the Supreme Court’s juris-diction and was struck out without a detailed con-sideration of the substance of the native title claim.

Lardil

In the case of the Lardil Peoples v The State ofQueensland (1999), the Federal Court was calledupon to decide whether the granting of a consent bythe Queensland Government to construct a buoywas lawful. The native title claimants wanted thelicence to be set aside, to prevent the construction ofthe buoy. The Court held that the licence was lawfuland that the construction of the mooring could pro-ceed. The Court said that being a registered claimantfor native title was not the same as being a registerednative title holder. The judge was not satisfied, onthe evidence before him, that the construction andoccasional use of the mooring would be inconsistentwith the enjoyment of native title rights in theclaimed area.

Croker Island case

The most controversial case before the courts at pre-sent is the case of Commonwealth of Australia vYarmirr (1999), also known as the Croker Island case.

Croker Island is near Arnhem Land in the NorthernTerritory. The subject of the claim is almost all of thearea seawards of the island within three nauticalmiles. The claim is over the water, the seabed belowit, the air space above it and all resources thereinincluding fish, minerals and other natural resources.

The claim was heard before Olney J at the firstinstance, who held that:

AUSTRALIA

Native title over the sea - recent developmentsby John Kavanagh

promises benefits for us all but may impinge onour traditional concern which is “EnjoyingSurvival Through Fishing!”

Source: Jane’s Oceania Home Page , http://www.janer-esture.com/; Let’s Go Fishing: http://www.janeres-ture.com/ki33/fishing.htm; Copyright © 1999-2001 byJane Resture (jane@janeresture.com)

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200118• native title can exist in relation to the sea and

the seabed, at least out to the 12 mile territor-ial sea limit;

• the native title claimants did not enjoy exclu-sive possession, occupation, use or enjoymentof the waters;

• there was no native title right of control overany of the resources of the seabed;

• a native title right of exclusive possession overthe sea would be inconsistent with the right ofinnocent passage recognised in internationallaw and with the public right of navigation andto fish recognised by the common law; and

• the relevant fisheries legislation merely regulatesand does not extinguish native title fishingrights, which are capable of co-existence with theregulatory regime.

In short, the judge found that native title rights tothe sea and the seabed existed, but were limited tonon-exclusive access. An appeal was brought bothby the Commonwealth and the native titleclaimants to the Full Court of the Federal Court,which was heard in May 2000. The Full Court dis-missed the appeals of both parties, essentially leav-ing Olney J’s decision at first instance undisturbed.Special leave to appeal to the High Court wassought by both parties, which leave was grantedlate last year. The High Court’s decision is nowkeenly anticipated.

The East Arm case

Most recently, the Federal Court in the NorthernTerritory has been involved in a native title applica-tion in respect of a substantial portion of DarwinHarbour. The Government in the Northern Territorycompulsorily acquired all rights, title and interests inan area in Darwin Harbour known as the East ArmPort Complex in 1994. It is a major development forthe Northern Territory which has been designed toimprove Darwin’s existing port infrastructure, toincorporate the terminal for the Alice Springs toDarwin railway line and to support the offshore oilindustry and expansion for trade with Asia.

Until April 6, 2001, there were two native title appli-cations over the East Arm Port Complex. Bothclaims were being heard together, but in a recentinterlocutory application, the claim brought by oneof the claimants was struck out because the claimanthad failed to sufficiently identify the indigenouspeople for who the claim was being brought.

Once again, the claim is in respect of native titlerights to both the land and sea areas of the portdevelopment and will have far reaching conse-

quences for the future commercial development inthe Northern Territory. Its results are also keenlyawaited1.

Land grants

The relationship of native title over the sea withland grants to indigenous peoples has also been thesubject of litigation. In Director of Fisheries (NT) vArnhem Land Aboriginal Land Trust (2001), theCourt was asked to consider an applicationbrought by the Arnhem Land Trust, which soughtdeclarations that:

• The Arnhem Land Trust (as owners) be entitled toexclusive rights to the fishery adjoining ArnhemLand; and

• any fishery licences which purport to permit fish-ing within sea areas adjoining Arnhem Land bedeclared invalid.

The Arnhem Land Trust was established to hold intrust the land now known as Arnhem Land for thebenefit of indigenous people. The grant was specific,and excluded all land and waters seaward of the lowwater mark. Further, minerals beneath the land werereserved to the Commonwealth as well as someother minor exclusions and reservations.

In other words, the Arnhem Land Trust was givenfull title (as distinct from native title) to the land,which is now known as Arnhem Land. However,the grant stopped at the low water mark, and theArnhem Land Trust wished to extend the grantinto the offshore fishery. The primary judge heldthat indigenous people could fish exclusively onthe landward side of the high water mark. That isto say, the Arnhem Land people had the exclusiveright to fish in the tidal estuaries and rivers inArnhem Land, but otherwise had only a public,non-exclusive right to fish in the waters to seawardof the high water mark.

None of the parties supported the distinction drawnby the primary judge and an appeal was brought inthe form of questions to be answered by the FullCourt. The matter is still very much at large,although it is likely that the native title rights overthe sea areas adjacent to Arnhem Land will not beany different to the native title rights which are orwill be decided by the Croker Island case.

Conclusion

This is a continuously evolving and interestingarea of law and we expect that the boundarieswill continue to be defined by litigation brought

1. Coordinator’s note: Recent news from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. http://www.abc.net.au/news/state/nt/archive/metnt-12aug2001-3.htm) indicates that the Northern Territory Government and Darwin’s Aboriginal custodians will sign their first native titleagreements on 13 August. In respect to the East Arm Port Complex, the claimants have withdrawn their native title claims, and say in returnthey will become involved in urban land development.

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 19by indigenous peoples, the Federal and StateGovernments and by stakeholders such as fisherybodies, harbour authorities and mining/explo-ration interests.

John Kavanagh is a former mariner, and a traineesolicitor with the Queensland law firm, McCulloughRobertson in their Admiralty and Maritime Group.

Source: Professional Fisherman, July 2001

NEW ZEALANDRegional course for trainers of women engaged in small-scale post-harvestfisheries activitiesCollaborative work between SPC’s Fisheries TrainingSection and Community Fisheries Section hasenabled the design of a regional course aimed atbuilding a pool of national trainers of womenengaged in small-scale, post-harvest fisheries activi-ties. This course, funded by NZODA, is scheduledfor November 2001 in Nelson, New Zealand. It fol-lows two consecutive regional courses, which trainedwomen with managerial responsibilities in largerseafood enterprises (May 1999 and November 2000).

The overall objective of the course is to: providePacific Island women who are involved in small-scalefisheries post-harvest and community training, with aunique learning experience which will upgrade theirtechnical, teaching, and managerial skills.

Adding value and assuring the quality of seafoodproduction and processing are key factors in thechallenge to effectively use marine resources fromthe Pacific Region. These factors are supported bytechnical expertise and economic efficiency inseafood business operations. Throughout thePacific, women are playing an increasing role inthe development of the seafood industry but theirprogress and promotion is often hampered by alack of technical experience in seafood technologyand business management. National fisheriestraining opportunities for women are limited,with most fisheries agencies concentrating onmeeting the training needs of fishermen.

The New Zealand School of Fisheries has collabo-rated with the New Zealand seafood industry indeveloping new training programmes which meet

the regulatory and quality control requirements ofinternational seafood markets.

Consequently, the experience of the seafoodindustry in New Zealand provides an excellentbase for improving the skills of Pacific Islandwomen in all aspects of seafood technology, busi-ness operations and fisheries management.

Participants will be either currently or potentiallyresponsible for fisheries community training, espe-cially those involved in training women engaged insmall-scale seafood processing activities. The courseis an opportunity for those who have participated innational, small-scale fisheries workshops to build onexisting skills and experience. Topics covered duringthe three week course will include the following:

• seafood technology (quality and handling;seafood spoilage and sickness; sanitation;hygiene and food safety; product developmentand improvement);

• seafood business (record keeping, accountingand marketing);

• resource management (fisheries legislation andthe management of marine resources); and

• adult teaching and communication skills.

Enquiries for further information should beaddressed to: Michel Blanc, Fisheries TrainingAdviser, Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC)BP D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia, Ph:+687 262000, Fax: +687 263818, email:MichelBl@spc.int

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200120

GENERAL

Convenors: Dr. Nai-Hsien Chao-Liao, Dr. M.C.Nandeesha, Dr. Kathleen Matics, Dr. MohamedShariff, Dr. Ida Siason, Ms. Elsie Tech and Dr. MerylWilliams

The contributions of women to the society and tothe economy are progressively recognized andappreciated. In the fisheries sector, recognition ofthe roles and contributions of women and, moregenerally, the nature of gender considerations haslagged behind that in other sectors. While there isan urgent need to develop programs and policiesto address gender issues, more research still has tobe undertaken to further understand the complex-ity of gender issues in the fisheries sector and todevelop appropriate actions and policies.Cognizant of this need, in 1998 the Asian FisheriesSociety stimulated discussions on issues affectingwomen in fisheries with the aim of raising the levelof awareness and encouraging the development ofpolicies and programs that would better supportthe contributions by women to the sector. TheSociety further aims to influence national govern-ment policies and practices in the fisheries sectorby helping them develop gender sensitive policiesand fisheries professionals. With this vision, theSociety organized a special symposium on“Women in Fisheries” that coincided with the 5thAsian Fisheries Forum held in Chiang Mai,Thailand in 1998.

Following the success of the symposium, the par-ticipants recognized the need to organize a globalsymposium on women in fisheries that wouldprovide more opportunities for exchange of infor-mation on rapid developments taking place inthis field.

Global Symposium on Women in Fisheries 29 November 2001, Kaohsiung,TaiwanWomen in Fisheries:Towards a Global Overview

During the forthcoming Sixth Asian FisheriesForum, a whole day symposium on women in fish-eries shall be held with the following objectives:

• To assess the status of research, developmentand policies on gender issues in the fisheriessector of different countries/continents

• To establish linkages among different fisheriessocieties/organizations for effective exchange ofinformation on gender issues

• To increase gender awareness among fisheries pro-fessionals and promote the development of gen-der sensitive research and development projects.

During the Symposium papers will be presentedon issues related to women in the field of fisheries(capture, culture, processing, marketing, educa-tion, research, development, etc.).

We are also taking this opportunity to solicit thesponsorship of organizations/societies as well as theparticipation of interested parties to join in thisundertaking. Subject to availability of funds, someparticipants from developing countries may begiven partial/full travel grants.

For more information, please contact: AsianFisheries Society, P.O. Box 2725, Quezon CityCentral Post Office, 1167 Quezon City, Philippines.E-mail: afs@compass.com.ph Tel. No.: (63-2) 921-1914/Fax No.: (63-2) 920-2757

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 21

ALASKASeeking their fortuneThe cover story in the June 2001 issue of NationalFisherman, the monthly magazine dedicated tocommercial fishing in the United States, is aboutwomen involved in commercial fishing in Alaska.The article is written by Jennifer Karuza who, withher two sisters, spent six seasons working on herfather’s purse seine boat in southeast Alaska.

Women are working on purse seiners in the south-east, on processors on the Aleutian Chain andPrince William Sound, gillnetting in the CopperRiver and Bristol Bay, and longlining in the Gulf.They fish with fathers, sisters, brothers, uncles,husbands, and in some cases on their own. Themajority find their way into fishing through family,with many coming from fishing families or marry-ing fishermen. Women go to Alaska for the samereasons men go—money, adventure and nature,but according to the author “it’s what we findwhen we get there and what we take from it whenwe leave that makes the difference. We reach intoplaces before untouched to gather the strength,aptitude and sense of humor we didn’t know exist-ed. We leave Alaska with a new sense of ourselves,and we carry the lessons and the knowledge withus for the rest of our lives.”

Many, it seems, don’t leave. Sue Laird has been fish-ing commercially in Alaska since 1978, and gillnet-ting alone on the Copper River Flats since 1981.Laird doesn’t see her job as extraordinary, eventhough a very small number of women fishing inAlaska own and operate their own boats. She esti-mates that out of 500 permit/boat owners in the gill-

net fishery, fewer than ten are women. “People getheld back by mechanics,” she says. “I was deter-mined to make an independent living in a place Iwanted to live. If that meant turning a few wrench-es, then that’s what I chose to put my time into. Ithink the mechanics stuff is more about fear, likemath. You build a wall, but it’s all in our heads.”

To Laird, the ocean is neutral on the role of thesexes. “The breakers and the waves don’t care toomuch who is out there,” she says. “Some men comeup here and only last for one season or one week.It isn’t a gender-based thing, and it isn’t for every-one. I’ve seen God more than once out there. Yoursoul is stripped bare. You are always learningabout yourself out there because you are so alone.”

And then there’s Anne Mosness, who fished com-mercially in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska for26 years. Mosness grew up in a fishing family andbegan work as a deckhand for her father in BristolBay after graduating from college. She has spentseasons on Alaska’s Copper River Flats, BristolBay and Prince William Sound, and Washington’sPuget Sound. In addition to operating four ves-sels during her career, she has been a powerfulforce behind industry politics and issues affectingthe livelihood of all commercial fishermen. In1980, she joined the Women’s MaritimeAssociation and has served as its president foreight years. The Association is dedicated toimproving maritime safety, including the protec-tion of women working in what is sometimes ahostile work environment.

More fish FAQs from the US Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s website:

Do fish breathe air?

Yes, but not directly into the lungs as mammals do(except for some tropical fish). (Actually theybreathe oxygen not air.) As water passes over a sys-tem of extremely fine gill membranes, fish absorbthe water’s oxygen content. Gills contain a net-work of fine blood vessels (capillaries) that take upthe oxygen and diffuse it through the membranes.

How do fish swim?

Primarily by contracting bands of muscles insequence on alternate sides of the body so that thetail is whipped very rapidly from side to side in a

sculling motion. Vertical fins are used mainly for sta-bilization. Paired pectoral and pelvic fins are usedprimarily for stability when a fish hovers, but some-times may be used to aid rapid forward motion.

How fast do fish swim?

Tunas and tuna-like fish, billfish, and certain sharksare the speed champions, reaching 50 miles perhour in short bursts. Sustained swimming speedsgenerally range from about 5 to 10 miles per houramong strong swimmers.

Source: The US Northeast Fisheries Center’s web-site: http://www.wh.whoi.edu/faq/index.html

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200122According to author Jennifer Karuza, “a womanworking in a male-oriented industry faces particularchallenges that can be hard to overcome. Menacing,what’s-that-girl-doing-up-there? glances from malefishermen create self-doubt. Physical limitationsbecause of strength and size can create conflict. Thelooming possibly of sexual harassment hovers.”

Like many jobs, fishing is a team effort thatrequires a mixture of skills, and if one team mem-

ber is lacking in one area, they compensate byexcelling in another area.

One woman in the article found that, although shefaced more physical limits on a longliner than on aseiner, she could compensate for her lack ofstrength by focusing on different parts of the job.

Source: National Fisherman, June 2001

AFRICAMozambique

Proud of their achievements

An enterprising group of women from a remoteisland in Mozambique, get together to increasetheir income

By Nalini Nayak, a member of ICSF, in consultationwith the Institute for the Development of Small-ScaleFisheries (IDPPE), Mozambique

Tucked away in the lush mangroves, an hour’sboat ride from Angoche, in Mozambique, lies thelittle island of Mituban. With the impression thatone is sailing through a water forest, one alights inthe water, wades through the younger mangrovesand steps on to land as if alighting on another plan-et. Walking a little further, one realizes that one isin a fairly populous little village, with majesticcoconut palms and neatly thatched huts scatteredall over. The first little fence is the playground of arather large school, again with mud walls andthatched roof. People are gathered in the shade of alarge cashew tree. In the majority are the women,who then talk about their work.

This is an exclusively Muslim village. The menhave been hunting crabs using their small canoesand little spears and their hands. Selling thesecrabs to mainland merchants brings them the cashthey need to buy food. But, for the most part, thislittle island is self-sufficient, with potters whomake the utensils, carpenters who make the furni-ture from mangrove wood, people who thatch theirown houses and make rope from the coconut fibre.They grow their own vegetables and rice in themarshes when the salinity in the water falls. Peopleseem to be dependent on the mainland mainly formedical assistance and higher-level schooling.

It is on this little island, that the women fishershave a collective. The origins of this group areambiguous but from what the women say, it hap-

pened in mid-1998 when a couple from an NGOcalled PENDANA visited the island and interactedwith the women. They suggested that the womencould earn money through shrimp capture andsale. This couple brought in some small nylon gill-nets and insulated boxes and suggested that thewomen work in pairs, each pair using one net tocatch shrimp. As 32 women were initially interest-ed, 16 groups were formed. All went well and thecouple came regularly to collect the shrimp thatthey took to sell to the mainland. After twomonths, the women began asking for their moneyand the couple kept putting it off. This went on forsix full months. The couple then disappeared andthe women were left high and dry.

The local fishing community in Angoche, whichwas in the process of organizing through theNampula Artisanal Fisheries Project, a project initi-ated by IDPPE, heard about the plight of thesewomen. The enthusiastic secretary of the APPA(the newly created Fishermen’s Association), thentried to do all he could to get these women theirdue. The fisheries association helped the women’sgroup to elaborate a project proposal, that was thensubmitted to the office of the First Lady throughthe District Office. The project was approved and agrant was made available for the purchase of amotor boat for this group. Once the women had aboat of their own, they were able to take theirshrimp to sell directly and money started comingin. Enthused by this success, other women joinedthe group, which has now doubled to 64 members.

Each pair records the quantity of shrimp caught,and the women collectively decide on who goes tosell the catch. Two percent of the income from thesale is deposited in a common fund maintained bythe secretary of the group. Each woman has a bookin which her contributions are recorded.Interestingly, after being cheated in the initialstages, the women do not trust anybody with their

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 2001 23money, not even a bank. So they handle it them-selves and they have a fairly large sum stored awaysomewhere. Now they also have a loan from theAPPA with which they have bought more nets fortheir members. The group now owns two boats,one freezer and a generator. This is indeed aninteresting and enthusiastic group of women whofeel proud of their achievements.

All these women earlier gathered seafood for theirown consumption. Being so far away from civiliza-tion as it were, they managed with what they had.Their men still do not own any boats or gear but

continue to hunt crab and gather fuel from the man-groves. Being distrustful of outside assistance, thislittle group is determined to learn by trial and error.Their freezer is not yet functional and to operateand manage it will entail additional costs and skillsthat the women themselves do not have at present.

Nalini can be contacted at nalinin@md5.vsnl.net.inand IDPPE at lopes@idppe.co.za

Source: Yemaya, ICSF’s Newsletter on Gender andFisheries. No. 6 April 2001

This beautifully produced three volume set wouldbe better described as a “tryptich” than as a book.It really is a work of art. It is, equally, the culmina-tion of a staggering amount of research. This makesit, effectively, the encyclopedia of the world’s vital-ly important corals. Comprising over 1,300 fullcolour pages, the three volumes are carefully butlavishly illustrated. This makes it a pleasure to readand refer to.

With coral being such a large and vital part of theworld’s marine ecosystem we really should know a

lot more about it. There is no better way of doing itthan by reading this highly impressive publishingmasterpiece.

Available from the Australian Institute of MarineScience,PMB 3 Townsville MC, QLD 4810, Australia.PH: (07) 4753 4274, FX: (07) 4772 5852.RRP: US$175/A$265. e-mail:corals@aims.gov.auweb: www.aims.gov.au/corals

Source: Professional Fisherman, June 2001

In the late 1980s, the fishery that had sustainedNew England coastal communities for nearly 500years began to collapse from overfishing and poormanagement. In the face of this crisis, the fisher-men and scientists who know this ocean best havebecome locked in a strange, bitter conflict over howto count the fish that remain. The gulf of distrustbetween them, which hauntingly echoes deeperdiscords in our culture, threatens to destroy anychance at recovering our nation’s first bounty.

For readers who’ve come to know the NewEngland fishery through books such as Cod and ThePerfect Storm, The Great Gulf provides the story’snext chapter: that of fishermen and scientists who,working the same body of water but understand-

ing it in completely different ways, strive to find acommon vision that will revive this magnificentecosystem. Full of salty sea voyages, cutting-edgescience, unexpected humour, and the irrepressiblespirit of those who work on the water, The GreatGulf is a must-read for anyone interested in science,nature, or the ocean.

Hardcover - 256 pages (September 2000) Island Press - California; ISBN: 155963663Source: Amazon.com (http:www.amazon.com/)

Corals of the Worldby Jen Veron and Mary Stafford-Smith

The Great Gulf: Fishermen, scientists, and the struggle to revive theworld’s greatest fisheryby David Dobbs

SPC Women in Fisheries Information Bulletin #9 – September 200124

PIMRIS is a joint project of five internation-al organisations concerned with fisheriesand marine resource development in thePacific Islands region. The project is execut-ed by the Secretariat of the PacificCommunity (SPC), the South Pacific ForumFisheries Agency (FFA), the University ofthe South Pacific (USP), the South PacificApplied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC),and the South Pacific Regional EnvironmentProgramme (SPREP). This bulletin is pro-duced by SPC as part of its commitment toPIMRIS. The aim of PIMRIS is to improve

the availability of information on marineresources to users in the region, so as to sup-port their rational development and man-agement. PIMRIS activities include: theactive collection, cataloguing and archivingof technical documents, especiallyephemera (‘grey literature’); evaluation,repackaging and dissemination of informa-tion; provision of literature searches, ques-tion-and-answer services and bibliographicsupport; and assistance with the develop-ment of in-country reference collections anddatabases on marine resources.

Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System

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