In March 2020, Papua New Guinea went into a state of emergency to contain the spread of COVID-19. For Ahus Island a small atoll community of around 600 people off the north coast of Manus Island the state of emergency had far-reaching consequences.
In July and August, we interviewed Ahus islanders about their experience of COVID-19, and what they did to cope.
Their stories from the first six months of COVID-19 offer insight into the impacts of the pandemic on small-scale fishing communities and isolated islands.
As the new normal unfolds, the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to reverberate across fishing communities. The stories from Ahus island reflect the experiences of other fishing communities across the Pacific. Other Papua New Guinean coastal communities struggled with food shortages, and needed external support for basic foods and services. Getting cut-off from markets and food can affect people’s livelihoods and well being in unforeseen ways.
Globally, there is a need to coordinate short and long-term responses to support small-scale fisheries, especially across the Indo-Pacific, where food insecurity is already a concern.
In Ahus, most people earn a livelihood selling fish almost no food is grown on the island itself, and there are almost no other jobs.
During the state of emergency, fishers and fish sellers struggled to get to markets and to sell fish, which put stress on fishing families. Normally, fishers sell fish at the town market, a 40-minute boat ride from the island. During the state of emergency, the market was deserted and there was almost no demand for fish. With no customers, people stopped earning income and were unable to buy food.
But the last year has shown many communities are ill-prepared for the economic disruption that comes with a pandemic. Pandemic responses that do not account for impacts on food and nutrition security may lead to non-compliance and foster distrust in the legitimacy of future directives.
Decision-makers, locally and globally, must balance management of pandemics with a recognition that fish and fishing communities are essential to local well being.
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