[Music plays]
(Narrator) Just a few miles of sea
separate Western Province of Papua New Guinea
from the Australian Torres Strait Islands.
The waters between the two countries
boast diverse marine ecosystems
mangroves, sea grasses and coral reefs.
As well sharing the sea and its resources,
people on both sides of the boarder
have centuries of common culture,
traditions and long standing family bonds.
With this in mind, the Torres Straits Treaty
between the two countries was established in 1985
to protect traditional customs, conserve the environment
and promote sustainable development.
It’s the Papua New Guinean side that’s the focus
of a CSIRO project
characterising traditional small scale fisheries.
Funded by NFA and AFMA,
the PNG and Australian Fisheries Management Authorities
the project collected data
and information to assess the impacts of fisheries
on marine resources shared between the two countries,
and to understand the importance
that these fisheries have for the livelihoods of local communities.
(Dr Sara Busilacchi) To have a real assessment
of the status of marine resources in the region,
we need to have a clear picture of what was happening
in the two sides of the Treaty Island.
The Torres Strait and the PNG side
of the Treaty Islands have very different socioeconomic conditions.
While Torres Strait can enjoy a western lifestyle
on the PNG side, people fish for their survival,
to allow to eat every day
and to have a [indistinct – 1.55] for the main needs of their families.
(Joseph Posu) Western Province
is very dependent on fishing,
this is one of the main reasons today this Province,
especially in South Fly, has very limited agricultural land
as the place is always inundated and you also have a lot of
estuaries and waterways.
A lot of people depend on fishing for daily sustenance
and also for economic purposes,
to make money for school fees, special occasions.
Fishing activities disrupted, it affects a big part of their life.
(Narrator) In the last few decades the move from a traditional
to a cash economy has had a profound impact on the way people fish.
(Stanley Jogo) Previously they were using traditional methods
for their [indistinct words – 2.49], but now with the
higher demand, or the need to buy food and all this,
they’re going to new nets and all the new technology that
increases the volume of fish that is coming in,
and resulting also with the reduction
of stock along the coast.
(Narrator) Modern technology has coincided
with a strong global demand for marine products,
including high value products such as fish bladder
shark fin and sea cucumber
Mark Bize is a village leader in Bula,
a remote community close to the border with Indonesian, West Papua
(Mark Bize) The only way the people in my community make money
is through fish products
and dried fish products that we sell to Indonesian buyers who come over.
Indonesians are only interested in the fish bladder,
the Barramundi bladder, the Jewfish bladder and shark fins.
Well the rest of the fish, when it’s still fresh
the community takes it for their supper,
and if they are already dead then it is thrown away.
(Narrator) While there’s been a sharp rise in demand for marine resources,
there’s also been a significant growth
in the number of people making a living from the sea.
For years toxic sediment from the Ok Tedi mine
in the highlands of Western Province
has swept down the Fly River
impacting villages on its banks.
That combined with a severe lack of services
and infrastructure in those remote areas
has driven thousands of people to settle in Daru,
the coastal hub.
(Gabriel Apai) Our people left because of the pollution experiences
and the damages caused to our waters,
our garden crops, they migrated to Daru
around the 90s.
These people their livelihood is in the sea.
They’re everyday fishermen, they go out to the main reef,
which we share, catch fish,
come down here and sell for their daily earnings
and the survival of their children.
And there has been a bit of dispute,
because of them migrating here and staying here, and even using
the Great Reef, where the reef doesn’t belong to the people of Fly River,
but what should our people do?
(Reginald Sampson) We have those new settlers who came to Daru
from the outback villages.
They’re also fishing in the same traditional fishing grounds.
So the traditional owners just cannot control,
everyone is fishing together.
(Narrator) While population pressures are having an impact,
climate change is also making its mark.
Sea level rise is evident on the low lying coast line.
(Sagi Wasu) The village was right out, about 100-metres out,
and then just because of the
situation that we’re facing,
especially with waves and winds,
that’s why, we were driven back. So we may be looking for relocation,
‘cause I don’t think that it’s going to be stopped,
we are still being driven back.
(Narrator) Illegal fishing is also on the rise.
(Joseph Posu) You have a lot of illegal fishing going on,
especially with the closure of the [indistinct name – 6.31],
currently we have the [indistinct - 6.32] enclosure,
this closure, although it’s in place for the past three years,
this hasn’t been really effective in the Province,
because of the current illegal activities, that’s still ongoing.
(Narrator) The effect of these myriad pressures on fisheries
is reflected in a decline in the abundance
and size of marine products.
(Stanley Jogo) There has been a big reduction in the size,
especially, the size of the fish that’s been brought to the market.
(Reginald Sampson) We are coming to the problem that
we are running out of fish.
Fish have to be left to grow, to nurture.
But there’s no time for nurturing, we’re fishing every day.
(Narrator) Given the very real pressures on fisheries,
the involvement of communities and stakeholders
was a priority for the project.
(Dr Sara Busilacchi) One of the first steps was
that of capacity building
and having local people involved in the field work
and in the collection process,
and to make people understand the importance, that projects like this,
they have to understand how to better manage the fisheries,
which can sustain people’s livelihoods today, but also in the future.
Another priority of the project, was that of being able to
put them in touch, communities with management authorities,
so to create a continuous dialogue in-between the two parts.
(Joseph Posu) This project has been very successful.
We’ve seen a lot of positive feedback
from a lot of the communities;
they really appreciate us going around.
It is a really good thing that we can always come back,
come down to the community level
and really understand what’s happening in the community and the fisheries.
(Narrator) CSIRO and NFA
are now looking at how to provide communities
with the necessary scientific skills and knowledge
to manage and sustain their marine resources
in this fast changing world.
(Joseph Posu) We want the resource owners to continue
to use their fishing resources,
but we do want to see depleted in a short time
or in the years to come, we want something that’s sustainable,
that’s continuously useful and that continues to
sustain the lives of people who depend heavily on it.
[Music plays]