Waitabu Marine Park Blog

Recognize anybody? Ten BAD Boys and Girls and six Gentlemen from Waitabu Marine Park have spent three days learning about Reef Ecology and Fiji's Fisheries Law, courtesy of the Coral Reef Alliance who fronted the costs for the Taveuni gang and SRMR and BAD who organized & financed the whole gig. Our thanks go to the Department of Fisheries , foremost to the Director, Commander Naqali for having accepted to run the course and for having sent us a team of brilliant lecturers. All the participants have assured me that they have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned heaps in the process! The result? 16 brand new Fish Wardens ! These are sort of "Park Rangers" who are given full authority by the Government to enforce the Fisheries Law. They can arrest poachers, inspect cargo, even confiscate catches and boats - great for monitoring and enforcing the fishing ban in our respective Marine Protected Areas! Fisheries tell me that they would welcome more such coop...

Marine reserves are widely used throughout the world to prevent overfishing and conserve biodiversity, but uncertainties remain about their optimal design. The effects of marine reserves are heterogenous. Despite theoretical findings, empirical studies have previously found no effect of size on the effectiveness of marine reserves in protecting commercial fish stocks. Using 58 datasets from 19 European marine reserves, we show that reserve size and age fo matter. Increasing the size of the no-take zone increases the density of commercial fishes within the reserve compared with outside; whereas teh size of the buffer zone has the opposite effect. Moreover, positive effects of marine reserve on commercial fish species and species richness are link to the time elapsed since the establishment of the protection scheme. The reserve size-dependency of the respinse to protection has strong implications for the spatial management of coastal areas because marine reserves are used for spatial zon...

February came and it was time again for the Marine Ecology team to head out to Waitabu village for their annual biological monitoring of the Waitabu Marine Park. This year’s survey was both fun and quite successful. Despite the slightly few wet days at the beginning of the week, spirits remained alive through the week and we completed all surveys as per schedule. Helen and I were joined by Rosemary Dautei from Reef Safari’s , Rachel Dacks, Nic Turrentine, Natalie Parker, John Leonard, Leslie Currie and Grace Yeung (posted in the village) of Peace Corps Fiji. To be part of the week long activities was an experience for them and an opportunity for us to exchange ideas and share experiences.  The village team of 11 volunteers were disciplined; excellent surveyors who definitely knew their stuff. Together we made a really dynamic team out of the Peace Corps , village surveyors and me, most of the time making sure we were doing it right. All this went on while Helen counted fish a...

This is going to be short.....pressed for time. John and I are back from our trip to Taveuni Island for the Reef Monitoring workshop we participated in. We had a great time with Grace, Rachel, Natalie, Nic and the local volunteers. In total we spent four days in the water practising various reef monitoring techniques . We spent an additional day at Nic's village, Waitabu , checking out the village-based tourism project he working on. We jumped off of a 50 ft waterfall. In fact, I was the first FRE-6 Peace Corps volunteer to take the plunge :) I still hurt from the jump. I am pretty sure Natalie will never be the same. Expect pictures and maybe even a video soon. Leslie & John in Fiji: The Update

In Memory of an Ocean Champion and Fearless Friend Vasemaca Rarabici Fiji Program Associate , Asia Pacific Program, SeaWeb May 17, 1975 – December 30, 2008 Va Rarabici with her daughter, Annie. Suva, Fiji, April 2008. Betty Oala, SeaWeb Vasemaca Rarabici joined SeaWeb in early 2007 after a successful career as a journalist in Fiji, where she worked for the three local daily newspapers and rose to the rank of deputy editor of the Fiji Sun and later the Sunday editor of the Fiji Times . At SeaWeb, Va discovered a powerful outlet for her love of her islands and for her well-honed communication skills. Indeed, despite a prolonged illness, Va’s passion and dedication helped build a foundation for SeaWeb’s success in the Asia Pacific for years to come. For those who knew her,...

20th of January 2009 PRESS RELEASE Tourism Fiji in collaboration with key industry partners including the Fiji Islands Hotel and Tourism Association (FIHTA), Society of Fiji Travel Associates (SOFTA) and Air Pacific confirmed that the necessary infrastructure, facilities and equipment to operate Fiji’s Tourism industry has been largely unaffected by the recent flooding with only minor damage reported by member Hotels, Resorts, Transport, Transfer and Cruise Operators, and International and Domestic airlines. The industry is unified in its efforts and working hard to reassure visitor’s considering travel to Fiji to take advantage of Fiji’s tropical climate, excellent deals and of course to enjoy Fiji’s biggest asset – it’s warm, friendly people. Key strategies to lure visitors to our shores include wide ranging familiarization visits commencing early next week to key tourism areas by prominent Travel Wholesalers, Travel Agents and Trade Press to demonstrate first hand the experienc...

THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF THE SHARK … was inspired by the finding that at the current rate, common shark species will be extinct in 10 to 15 years. In large regions, species that were once numerous have fallen to 1% of their original numbers. Studies of open ocean sharks estimate 80 to 90% of heavily fished species are gone. Yet these intelligent animals, also called the “Wolves of the Sea” are still fished intensively, and finned for “shark fin soup.” The oceans have evolved over hundreds of millions of years with sharks as apex predators, so their loss will destroy oceanic health. HELP SPREAD THE WORD: SAVE SHARKS FROM EXTINCTION 2009 - Year Of The Shark