Name: James Kora
Country: Cook Islands
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A glimpse into the lagoon’s inner workings
From the amazing journey of mullet, the giant clams’ team spirit, the size limits as a golden rule, the smart mesh for nets, or the privacy needed by groupers during their breeding season, the five animated videos in the first season of the Fisher’s Tales series give audiences a glimpse into the lagoon’s inner workings. These two-minute videos revealed the characteristics of several species’ groups, while highlighting sustainable practices to ensure that fishing can continue for a long time to come.
As with many other reptiles, the sex of a marine turtle embryo is determined by the temperature of the nest in which the eggs incubate. Warmer sand temperatures (>29°C) produce mostly female hatchlings, whilst cooler temperatures produce predominately males (<29°C). Scientists are concerned that due to human induced climate change, there will be an increase in female hatchlings, known as feminisation, leading to a decline in overall population due to the lack of male production.
Invertebrate surveys allow us to understand the status of species populations, not just what is caught. Data, such as abundance and length, are used to calculate stock densities and track sizes and help develop management strategies for the sustainable use of fisheries resources.
The BIEM Initiative, KRA 5 of PEUMP, implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) supported a collaboration between World Wide Fund for Nature Pacific (WWF-Pacific) and the Fiji National University’s Fiji Maritime Academy (FMA) to provide certification training to fishing crew in Fiji’s longline tuna industry.
To reduce mortality of by-catch and endangered, threatened, and protected (ETP) species mortality and encourage safer by-catch handling in Fiji's offshore fishing industry, 54 by-catch mitigation toolkits have been distributed to Fiji Fishing Industry Association (FFIA) member longline fishing vessels.
The supply of the by-catch mitigation toolkits was supported by the By-catch and Integrated Ecosystem Management (BIEM) Initiative implemented by SPREP under the Pacific-European Union Marine Partnership (PEUMP) Programme funded by the European Union and the Government of Sweden.