Challenging times are facing nations like Fiji, which are attempting to develop their fishery resources for maximum benefit while undertaking to ensure their sustainability. The transition from subsistence to commercial and industrial fishery exploitation places more stress on the fisheries. The increasing number of fishers and their greater capacity will make the situation acute. Although the development of deep sea fisheries may help to reduce the intensity of fishing in inshore areas, the dominance of foreign interests in the exploitation of resources in the sector is cause for concern. It is unlikely that Fijian interests will dominate in this sector within the foreseeable future. There is a need for education to promote the importance of exploiting the resource in a manner that will enable future generations to enjoy the same resource that we are exploiting today.
The task of sustainable fishery management is made more difficult by the fact that the marine environment is being changed by the impacts of human activities and the reduced fish biomass. The preferential fishing demanded by the market places some species at greater risk. In addition, the impact of depleted fisheries on the ecosystem generally is uncertain. Thus the resources, their range and their nature are little known to people who are trying to manage them (Veitayaki and South 1993; Slatter 1994). The figures used for management are approximations based on what people hope are reasonable assumptions and estimations. In the meantime, the business-as-usual approach continues in the hope that the current exploitation levels are within the capacity of the stocks to limit the impact of fishing.
The industrial fishery development in offshore areas is especially welcomed in Fiji because of the opportunities it provides to food provision and income earning. Offshore resources provide useful alternatives to intensively exploited inshore resources. The difficulty of establishing local markets for offshore fishery products and the problems associated with the need to extend fishing to offshore areas are related to traditional fishery resource-use customs. Unlike inshore areas, the offshore is open and the government is responsible for the management and control of all activities outside of customary fishing areas and extending outward to the edge of Fiji’s EEZ. In these areas, enforcement of legislation is a necessary but costly exercise.
Maximum production is not the only way of attaining maximum gain. Improving post-harvest treatment and processing can enable people to maximise their gain and simultaneously protect their resource base by encouraging people to catch fewer fish and thus cause less disturbance to the marine environment. Reducing post-harvest loss is an aspect of contemporary fishing which is new to Fijian communities. Fijians traditionally did little of the processing they are now required to do by the commercial fishing in which they are involved.
The loss of traditional management arrangements currently experienced in Fiji is linked to the social changes taking place in traditional communities. Although the systems of resource-use of traditional communities are appropriate and effective, they have been quickly eroded and replaced by modern systems. There is a serious dilemma now in trying to save what is known of these rapidly changing systems of resource use. Current experience is showing how the useful elements of traditional resource use systems can be put to good use. The Customary Marine Tenure system for example, is a traditional management arrangement that is addressing the issues of open access characteristic most contemporary fisheries.
It is critical to understand fully the sociocultural situation affecting fishery use. Often, fishery projects that are planned elsewhere are imposed on people whose system of doing things is not well understood by those planning the projects. The lack of consistency among Fijian fishers in villages, the cultural factors that hinder commercial fishery operations and the people’s lack of interest in certain fisheries are all related to traditional customs. Fijians need to be trained in marketing skills and fishery valuation.
Marine reserves and protected areas should be encouraged because of poor knowledge about marine habitats and organisms. Fishery resource management at the community level provides a workable unit for implementing this management concept. The chances of success will be better if the necessary scientific knowledge is made part of the system. The customary fishing areas are part of the people’s heritage which they will need to manage.
A good system of education is required to improve the management of fishery resources. Modern scientific knowledge and data collection methods need to be disseminated through an effective education program that targets not only schools but all categories of users. Public education is as important as the development of curriculum for schools and tertiary education institutions. The proper use of fishery resources will demand commitment from all people and a good education system should be used to mobilise community support. Education is also critical to the acceptance of rational fishing in line with sustainable fishery use.
The traditional culture of fishery resource use is important to the sustainable utilisation of fishery resources in the future and should be taken into consideration when fishery developments are being planned. It is important to involve local communities in sustainable fishery development and to convince them through the use of good education programs. Fishery resources are important to the people and should be utilised in a manner that enables the people to enjoy the use of these resources now and in the future. For this purpose, Fijians need to employ all available fishery resource use culture to draw up effective methods for contemporary resource use; methods that allow maximum benefit and at the same time protect the resource base.