Coastal Fisheries Programme
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Traditions-OK
Number 35 - July 2015

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Group Co-ordinator and Bulletin Editor:
Kenneth Ruddle, Asahigaoka-cho 7-22-511, Ashiya-shi, Hyogo-ken, Japan 659-0012.

Production:
Information Section, Fisheries Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems Division, SPC, BP D5, 98848 Noumea Cedex, New Caledonia

Produced with financial assistance from the Australian Government, the European Union, France and the New Zealand Aid Programme


Note from the editor,

This edition contains four contributions. The first, “Local benefits of community-based management: Using small managed areas to rebuild and sustain some coastal fisheries”, by Glenn Almany and three co-authors, begins by discussing the scientific evidence that underpins the theory that marine reserves can play an important role in precautionary fisheries management. Marine reserves are then discussed in a western Pacific context, highlighting some costs and benefits that coastal communities may consider when establishing one on their traditional fishing grounds. Almany et al. then summarise the results of a recently published study, where they worked with five fishing communities on the south coast of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, to test whether and how communities benefit from a small managed area. In that study, scientists relied on recent genetic methodologies, local knowledge and the participation of over a hundred fishermen to quantify the distances that coralgrouper larvae dispersed from a managed fish spawning aggregation (FSA). Their findings were encouraging for community-based management, with 50% of coralgrouper larvae travelling less than 14 km from their birthplace, and the highest retention of larvae occurring near the managed FSA. In the Manus example, the community that protected its FSA received the greatest benefit from its actions, with a large amount of the larvae produced at the managed FSA spilling over onto their nearby reefs that remained open to fishing. This study also showed that because some larvae and fish travel across customary marine tenure boundaries, the Manus coralgrouper fishery represents one large stock that would be best managed collectively. The article ends by reporting how communities from southern Manus, inspired in part by the results of the coralgrouper study, recently created a collaborative governance structure, the Mwanus Endras Asi Resource Development Network. This tribal network covers eight tribal areas spread across approximately a third of Manus Province, and seeks to make collective fisheries management decisions.

The second article is “Ancestral fishing techniques and rites on ‘Anaa Atoll, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia", authored by Frédéric Torrente. His article is an important contribution to the environmental knowledge and fishing techniques of traditional societies on Polynesian atolls. An important feature is that some of the fishing techniques used by the community on ‘Anaa before the evangelisation of the Tuamotu Islands are described, based on local knowledge narrated by Paea-a-Avehe and Teave-a-Karaga, the last two holders of ‘Anaa’s pre-Christian local knowledge.

The third article, “Making Hong Kong’s coastal wetland a resource for tourism development: A cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary project to understand historical background and coastal heritage,” is by Sidney C.H. Cheung. From some perspectives, some of the challenges that confront Hong Kong resonate with those facing many Pacific Islands; a large population, small area, congestion, rapid changes that diminish resources, and limited options for supporting development. The latter demands particularly creative thinking. This article describes how small-scale and seemingly mundane resources can be promoted to help diversify the resource base for tourism. I include it in the hope of stimulating similar thinking in Pacific Islands. This article examines Hong Kong’s northwestern coastal wetland area, which is facing a threat resulting from the decline of freshwater fishing industry that might cause the loss of both traditional occupation and environment balancing conservation and community lifestyles. The article demonstrates a book project designed to enhance the awareness of this unique coastal wetland resource through nature-based tourism. It aims at transferring knowledge generated by various groups or stakeholders (farmers, bird watchers, conservation groups, among others) to visitors (both domestic and international) to Inner Deep Bay and neighbouring communities through an integrated design of an ecotourism package from a multi-disciplinary perspective and attracting the public’s attention to coastal development through creating a “four seasonal models of wetland tourism package”. The emphasis on seasonal change in the area not only serves to attract people for multiple visits, but also enhances the appreciation of lifecycles both in nature and in local rural communities.

It is my sad duty to record that the lead author of this edition’s first article passed away shortly after completing the contribution. Thus, the fourth contribution to this edition is an obituary to Glenn R. Almany, prepared by Richard Hamilton, his co-author and close friend. Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Glenn personally, through his co-authored article published here and from the obituary, I feel that I have.

Kenneth Ruddle


Contents

Local benefits of community-based management: Using small managed areas to rebuild and sustain some coastal fisheries
Almany G.R., Hamilton R.J., Matawai M., Kichawen P. (pdf: 823 KB)
Ancestral fishing techniques and rites on ‘Anaa Atoll, Tuamotu Islands, French Polynesia
Torrente F. (pdf: 285 KB)
Making Hong Kong’s coastal wetland a resource for tourism development: A cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary project to understand historical background and coastal heritage
Cheung S.C.H. (pdf: 986 KB)
Glenn Richard Almany, 14 August 1967 - 24 March 2015
Hamilton R.J. (pdf: 191 KB)

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