Waitabu Marine Park Blog

Wednesday, June 18, 2008 ALUMECI NAKEKE Okostino Apao ... protecting the sea The love for his fishing ground and a request from his dying mother prompted 23-year-old Okostino Apao to put his studies on hold and look after the village marine protected area. Apao is originally from Rotuma but grew up in his mother's village of Waitabu on Taveuni . As Apao grew up, he never really understood the importance of the work his late mother Sala did, which is to manage the village marine protected area, now known as the Waitabu Marine Park as it is frequently visited by tourists. Sala was the force behind the setting up of the park with the help of Marine Ecology Fiji Consultant, Helen Sykes . After completing Form Seven on Taveuni, Apao enrolled at the Fiji Institute of Technology, but had to return to help his sick mother with her work. Sadly, she died in 2006. Since then, Apao said, he has continued to do the work his mother did and has never regretted leaving FIT because he love...

Sunday, June 01, 2008 ALUMECI NAKEKE A survey team includes villagers from Waitabu who are trained to monitor the tabu area TWENTY years ago villagers of Waitabu on the north eastern coast of Taveuni would never a give a second thought about their reefs or what dwelled on their shores. They walked on the reefs breaking the corals and took home whatever they could eat no matter how small. There was heavy seaweed growth because there was no more fish to feed on it. The state of the Waitabu Village coast was so pathetic that at first sight, Helen Sykes, a marine ecologist , had no hope it could return to its natural state and refused when approached by the community to set up a marine protected area ( MPA ) or tabu on their fishing ground. But with the community's continual persistence Ms Sykes agreed. As the project began, the community was constantly reminded that once the tabu was in place, they were to respect it. They were taught not to disturb the area by taking boats through t...

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 ALUMECI NAKEKE Elia (right) with CORAL 's Heidi Williams after receiving snorkelling equipment Elia Gasaiwai still reminisces about the days when men and women from his village would go to the reef in front of the village and return with their catch in just a few hours. They would return from fishing every day with enough for the whole family and there was not a day they would come back home empty-handed. He is now 64-years-old and said those were the good old days when everything was in abundance, especially fish. They never used fishing lines but women would go out to the reefs with their small nets and the men with their spears. The spears were often made of a long thin bamboo stick with several sharp, short iron rods tied with a wire at one end. "It was also fun to go with other boys and look for fish. When we see a school of fish gathered we would take a stone and throw it towards them and they would swim towards their own fish holes wher...