Dreketi River is now a sanctuary, 18 years after the elders of the district made several attempts to halt overfishing as fish stocks dwindled.
Yesterday, President Ratu Wiliame Katonivere also recalled how he tried to help in conservation efforts after taking over the chiefly role of Tui Macuata in 2013.
And while there were many obstacles, he said he and local leaders persisted in their attempts to protect the Dreketi River.
“Villages in the district of Dreketi have formed committees of protecting marine ecosystem,” he said.
“Before there was a lot of fish found in the Dreketi River but it has been depleted over the years due to overfishing.
“There is a plethora of threats that the Dreketi River and estuary face and these pressures are expected to increase in intensity and duration.
“Pollution and destructive fishing practises such as overnight gillnetting are two main threats identified,” he said.
Today, he said all village leaders were united in the decision to ban fishing in the Dreketi River from November to April annually.
“My plea to you all as the leader of the province of Macuata is to refrain from fishing in the Dreketi River during the five months,” he said.
“There are species of sharks in the river that are listed as critically endangered and two species of rays as vulnerable.
“You can all continue to fish in the Dreketi River from May to October. This initiative will only benefit you all,” he said.
The idea of conserving the Dreketi River was mooted by an elder of Nabiti in Dreketi, Penaia Salakubou.
Macuata Provincial Council co-chair of the customary fishing area of Cokavata, Seru Moce, said Mr Salakubou and a few others had been trying since 2005 to put in place conservation strategies at the Dreketi River.
Mr Moce said thanks to a study undertaken by Andrew Paris of the University of the South Pacific, Dreketi River is now a sanctuary.
“According to the study, three species of shark, hammerhead shark, the scalloped hammerhead shark and bottlenose wedgefish, are red listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature of threatened species as critically endangered and are found in the Dreketi River,” he said.
“Also two species of rays, the ocellated eagle ray and pink whipray listed as vulnerable, are also found in Fiji’s deepest river.
“The high proportion of shark and rays indicates early life residency and they use the river to spawn from November to April.”
Mr Salakubou said attempts for the Dreketi River to be a sanctuary were unsuccessful as authorities were more focused on Viti Levu and islands of Mali.
“But we are thankful to the World Wildlife Fund and United Nations Development Fund for listening to our plea,” he said. He said the six-month ban would benefit all the villages that eat from the customary fishing areas of Cokovata. |
