The Tavua District of Fiji has lifted a ban placed on the fishing of kabatia (thumbprint emperor) from its waters.
The ban was lifted during a special ceremony in Tavua last Friday.
Speaking on behalf of the Tui Tavua, Ratu Nacaniela Uqeuqe, village elder Kitione Ratuba thanked Tavua’s fishing communities for respecting the ban that would help improve fish stocks and livelihoods.
“Despite the small sizes being caught, kabatia was still heavily fished because it is easily caught which is the main reason Tui Tavua called for the ban,” he said.
“He (Tui Tavua) is urging communities and fishers to fish responsibly and sustainably to ensure species continue to thrive for future generations.”
The district worked alongside WWF Pacific which carried out a six-month fish length based spawning per recruitment (LB-SPR) assessment which revealed the species of fish was one of the heavily commercially fished species within the area’s fishing regions.
According to WWF Pacific, the size limit catch for kabatia was 20 centimetres or more.
WWF Pacific fisheries project officer Laitia Tamata said the people of Tavua had set the standard for Fiji with fisheries management based on data.
“Setting the size limit at 20cm and increasing it as they see fit targeting 25cm by 2020 is really motivating for small Pacific island nations,” he said.
“Now they need the municipalities and the Ministry of Fisheries to work together in harmonising the fishing licenses and trading license in terms of set size as the way forward for the benefit of Fiji’s coastal fisheries.”
The LB-SPR survey, piloted by WWF-Pacific in Fiji, is a method of assessing the health status of reef fish populations and how to manage it.
It requires minimum amount of data which is collected by fisher communities and can be implemented at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional stock assessments.
2014, Fiji Times Limited