Eritara Aati Kaierua is one of more than a dozen observers who have died since 2009. A year later his family are still waiting for answers.
In his last email to his family, Eritara Aati Kaierua told them he loved them and apologised for not being in touch sooner. “Fish is a little scarce or maybe this location is not fertile, we are now fishing in Papua New Guinea and we are still here,” he wrote to his wife, Tekarara, on 21 February 2020.
“Please try to stay well … and I will try my best to stay healthy from here too,” he wrote.
Almost two weeks later, the 40-year-old father-of-four was found dead in a cabin on the Win Far No 636, a Taiwanese-flagged fishing vessel that by that time was in waters off Nauru.
An initial pathologist’s report said the independent fisheries observer had died of “severe traumatic brain injuries” and police in his home on the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, where his body was brought, opened a murder investigation.
But over a year later, Tekarara is still waiting for answers from the investigation she was promised.
The death of Kaierua, who was employed by the Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries, is the latest in a string of observer deaths and alleged abuses around the world that attract scant attention, and few penalties.
Being an observer, which involves monitoring fishing practices and catches to make sure boats follow the rules, is a dangerous job that can put observers in conflict with the crews on the vessels on which they are working, often hundreds, or even thousands, of kilometres from the nearest port.
According to the Association of Professional Observers, there have been over a dozen cases of observers dying on the job since 2009 alone, including three involving Kiribati nationals.
There was Antin Tamwabeti, who according to the company that hired him was harassed and threatened by the crew of one Taiwanese-flagged boat shortly before his death. He died on another boat in May 2019, in circumstances which have not been reported, though his case was ruled a suicide.
Moanniki Nawii died in 2017 on board a Taiwanese-flagged purse seine vessel; his family is still attempting to get an autopsy from authorities.
Then there was the 2009 death of Tabuia Tekaie.According to a New Zealand media report months after he died, the crate containing his body was at one point dropped into the sea when the captain of the Korean-flagged vessel attempted to transfer it on to a police boat. The cabin where he died had also been made “scrupulously clean” after his death thus obliterating any evidence, according to a New Zealand detective sent to Kiribati to investigate. The media report said that a subsequent autopsy found Tekaie’s death was not suspicious and his body was returned to his family for burial.
The list of cases goes on.
According to the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA), of which Kiribati is a member, “observer safety is a matter of utmost importance for FFA members”.
A spokesperson for New Zealand’s Foreign Ministry confirmed it had provided funding for the purchase of two-way radios, without specifying when, at Kiribati’s request.
“In this particular circumstance, the procurement of equipment and management of fisheries personnel is a government of Kiribati responsibility,” the spokesperson said.
Kiribati’s Ministry of Fisheries did not respond to requests for comment.
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