World Fisheries Day should be a reminder why people should sustain fisheries resources - Katonitabua

The World Fisheries Day is a one‑day event that serves to ultimately remind us again that we must continue to align our goals and ambitions to "Sustaining our Fisheries for sustainable communities."

These were the words of Acting Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Fisheries Naipote Katonitabua while officiating at the 2018 World Fisheries Day Celebrations at Shirley Park in Lautoka.

Katonitabua stressed that people must start today if they haven’t already, to sustain our fisheries for sustainable communities ‑ today, tomorrow, and into the future.

He highlighted that Fiji is a part of a bigger celebration, where different nations, communities and individuals all over the world acknowledge the seam‑less connectivity between our fisheries & the social, cultural and economic foundation of a nation.

Katonitabua says that in Fiji's people celebrate the importance of the Ocean and surrounding coastal waters; and also recognizing the very important reason for proactively managing our fisheries resources, as the same living fisheries resources are vital to our people as a source food, income, and livelihood.

He adds that the ocean, coastal waters, coral reefs and the abundant fisheries resources also serve other functions, which would include natural capital, aesthetic values, cultural significance and spiritual identity, as could be gauged through our traditional totems, and more so a proud contributor to our nation's economic growth & social stability.

Katonitabua says that Fiji has a relatively small land mass and any development activity would have a negative impact across the entire island landscape ‑affecting environment, people, livelihoods and economies.

The Permanent Secretary also stressed that our oceans and its abundant resources provide a common thread that unites our islands, and even reaching across each Pacific Island Country and therefore we all have a critical mandate to ensure that our fisheries resources are maintained at sustainable levels, not only for the present, but also for our future generations.