By CLIFFORD FAIPARIK
Wesley Dauwe from Parama Island used to go diving to catch Crayfish, a traditional marine food source for the people in Western Province in Papua New Guinea. After he got devastatingly injured two years ago during a Cray fishing trip when he fell down in the boat and dislocated his right knee, Dauwe now recruits his villagers to help dive for Crayfish on their home reef and they sell the catches at Sea food companies on Daru Island.
“My Island has a reef that extends about 200 meters out into the sea from the edge of our Island. And it is a home reef. Home reef is when you get out of your house and walk to the reef. To get on your boat to go to the reef that’s not a home reef,” Dauwe said.
But the Crayfish is under threat of extinction due to the increasing use of modern technology like stun guns and hookers to harvest them on traditionally owned reefs causing fear amongst the villagers in the Fore Coast-Kiwai Local Level Government (LLG) in South Fly District.
“The use of stun guns and hookers to catch Crayfish on our home reef is really affecting our Crayfish stock. And foreign businessmen on Daru Island (the site of Daru Town) are facilitating such reckless fishing practices. The foreign own businessmen are hiring local Crayfish divers and equipping them with stun guns and hookers,” Dauwe said.
This District is in the Arafura Timor SEA ecosystem region and it’s at the maritime border of Australia (far north Queensland and Northern Territory) and Indonesia (Merauke). These companies like Maru Marine, Aquila seafood , KonKon seafood and MJ Kaune then export Crayfish to markets in Australia , South East Asia and also domestically throughout PNG. However Dauwe and his fellow fishers are not catching large quantities of Crayfish that they used to catch. “My boys went diving last night and caught nothing. Hookers and stun guns were used to catch Crayfish in large quantities on our home reef. And our own village boys who are engaged by these foreign owned seafood bases in Daru are practicing such reckless fishing. And now we the ones who use traditional fishing methods don’t catch as many Crayfish than we used to do”.
Dauwe said that their traditional fishing methods to catch Crayfish were more sustainable. “Traditionally we dive down and shoot it with a spear, or we use homemade traps. When we see Crayfish in the crevice of the reef we put the trap over the crevice and poke the Crayfish with the spear and force the Crayfish go into the trap. Before, our grandfathers used to walk on the dry reef during low tide and when they see Crayfish in the crevice of the reef, they go and poke it with a spear and force it to the dry reef and they catch it on the dry reef. And doing so we have many Crayfish stock on our home reef by using traditional fishing methods. Now the Crayfish are hard to catch these days. We don’t have problems with other fishes like Barramundi, catfish, Jew fish, stone fish and other reef fish. They are still plentiful in stock. It’s the Crayfish is our concern.”
We love to catch Crayfish because it fetches good prices when we catch and sell them to the seafood companies. We have four sea food companies buying Crayfish from us and these companies have prices for exporting to international markets and for domestic markers.
For MJ Kaune price for live lobster is K40 per kg, dead lobster is K20 per kg, and only for the Lobster’s tail is K30 per kg. Aquila sea food, lobster tail export for international markets is K30 per kg, lobsters tail for domestic market is K15 per kg, live lobster K40 per kg, dead lobster K20 per kg. KonKon marine, lobster’s tail is K30 per kg, live lobster is K40 per kg, dead lobster is K20 per kg. For Maru Marine they pay lobsters for K30 per kg. These lobsters are then assessed and selected for international export and domestic exports.
These seafood companies offer various prices to buy our lobsters .
Mr Dauwe said that there are 14 villages in the Fore coast Local Level Government (LLG) and about 500 villagers in each of these villages and so the total population in this LLG is about 10,000. There are about 3,000 fishers in the Fore coast LLG, according to data. Since all these villages are along the sea shore, the entire villagers depend on fishing as their livelihood. Every one of us goes fishing as far as we can remember. Fishing is part of our daily livelihood. In fact fishing is our only revenue source. From the sales of our catches, we buy basic household items, food from the shops like sugar, rice etc, fuel for the boat, education …. Well basically everything “.
“We depend all on the fish stocks. We go out fishing and put out nets and catch whatever fishes we caught on our nets. We eat them and sell the surplus. The price for other fish are not too attractive for example Aquila seafood buy Baramundi for K5.50 per kg . So we sell them at the local market. But for Crayfish, it’s for specialized Crayfish divers and we go straight to where the Crayfish hide on the reef and catch them. The other fish stocks, let’s say we catch them by chances whenever they are caught on our nets. Our required net sizes are 7 inches and so we don’t catch juvenile fish”.
Dauwe also is concerned that the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) is not strict in enforcing the ban on the use of modern fishing methods in fishing for Crayfish. “NFA, which is the State Agency, is not protecting our marine resources.”
The ban has to be imposed on the use of modern fishing methods like stun guns and hookers to prevent overharvesting of the Crayfish stocks. Because using traditional fishing methods like free diving using traditional spears and nets are more sustainable in harvesting Crayfish stock where you don’t catch more that you need. Unlike modern fishing like stun guns. When you use stun guns, you not only stun the Crayfish. You also stun other marine-like fish in the reef. You also destroy the coral. So the NFA needs to ban the use of modern fishing equipment during the Crayfish season.
Dauwe is welcoming the Project saying that the project will help them manage their own reef and will ensure that Crayfish are harvested sustainably. The Kiwai-Fore coast LLG Project Officer Epesi Dabu also support ATSEA-2 project saying this project will help villagers protect the marine ecosystem.
“And mangroves are the nursery of the marine ecosystem. Fish lay eggs in the mangroves and then they migrate back to the sea. While the eggs hatch into juvenile fish and then when mature, they migrate back into the e and the breeding cycle continues. Our mangroves are important. When we cut down mangroves for firewood, we destroy it. When we put sadi (traditional fish poison made from juice extruded from plants) in the mangrove swamp, we kill the spawning fish. So we are spoiling the ecosystem. We must protect spawning fish in the swamp”.
Mr Dabu said that NFA only targets deep sea commercial fish like tuna and not reef fish where coastal communities catch fish from within the 3 nautical miles zone from the coast. “The project to have a local fishing management plan is for us indigenous land owners. And we have to manage and harvest fish at the right time. During our grandparents’ days they knew the right time to catch big barramundi, dugong and other big fish. This management plan is to manage our reefs and mangroves”.
Mr Dabu said that the management plan will see villagers taking ownership of their reef by enforcing it from exploitation. “Katatai and Katawa villagers own Wame reef, Parama villagers own Fonu reef, Tureture and Old Mawata villagers own Otoma reef, and we are to protect every fish and marine stock. We have to make bylaws to manage our reefs. Like you can’t use Sadi on the reef and the community must agree. Because when using sadi, it kills everything. And also using stun guns and hookers must be prohibited. I was told you fire the stun gun, it will electrocute all the fish. And it is unfair practice to compete against freediver who are using net and spear to get Crayfish”.
Meanwhile, National Project Coordinator of ATSEA-2 PNG Kenneth Yhuanje explains that this project is to protect the marine ecosystem in the AT Sea region and South Fly District is in this region. “We have only the fishing industry in this LLG and we depend heavily on fishing. So somewhere somehow we have to make laws to guide us to protect and not to over harvest and also to get benefit from fisheries. It’s very important that everybody must know.”
“This project done on the Fore cost Kiwi LLG is implemented in countries in this region. Why we have this project is fish doing respect international borders. The fish that escape you will end up in Merauke (Indonesia) or in the Torres Strait (Australia). And if only one country manages the fish stock it will not benefit the region”. .
“NFA only concentrates on deep sea commercial fishing and doesn’t really affect the coastal communities. The fish species that local communities depend on are not being managed properly. That’s why coastal people who depend on fisheries can see the differences. During our grandparents’ time, there were plenty of fish. Now fish stock has dropped so what will happen to our grandchildren’s future. And so we have to take action and enjoy the benefits. Our grandchildren also can enjoy similar benefits.”
Mr Yhuanje said that they will work with the communities to come up with community-based management plans. “And this plan will be endorsed by the LLG so that it becomes a bylaw. And so the community can enforce it and set penalties and punish offenders at community level”.
Meanwhile the NFA Adviser for the Western Province Odori Koloni said that this plan mooted by AT Sea is the bottom up planning. “It will be good for the local communities to make bylaws and protect their own reef. Right now yes I concur with the villagers about the use of stun guns and hookers on their reefs. And based on the complaints raised by the villagers NFA has now imposed a ban on the use of stun guns and hookers gears And the ban is effective as of 01st December 2022”.
The Reporter thanks ATSea and AJI for funding his trip to Daru to get this report.
