A survey to determine the damage caused by Severe Tropical Cyclone Winston on the fisheries sector in the North was conducted last week.
Led by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the survey or post cyclone assessment aimed to understand the socioeconomic impact of Severe TC Winston on fisheries-based communities in Fiji.
WCS Fiji program director Dr Sangeeta Mangubhai said the assessment was to also help determine the recovery and rehabilitation efforts.
“The core objective of the assessment is to estimate the impacts of Cyclone Winston on fishing infrastructure like boats, engines and gear and to provide a monetary estimate to Government and donor agencies for recovery efforts,” Dr Mangubhai said.
“It is also to assess the villages’ dependence on local fisheries to determine the impact on food security and livelihoods.
“We will be collecting data on both men and women involved in fishing to ensure we understand the impacts to both individually and collectively.”
Dr Mangubhai said they had identified 37 communities in the Bua Province.
“The teams have experience conducting socioeconomic surveys but not one specifically targeted around the cyclone impact.
“We hope to be able to share some of our findings with the Department of Fisheries and the broader public by next month.”
WCS was engaged by the department to conduct the survey in Bua.
Other teams including non-government organisations such as the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area network, Women in Fisheries Network-Fiji, WWF, Partners in Community Development Fiji and the University of the South Pacific are conducting similar survey in other provinces.
2014, Fiji Times Limited.