NEWS FROM IN AND AROUND THE REGION Stakeholders of the Kiribati Community Based Fisheries Management Project gather to discuss lessons learned and way forward by Tarateiti Uriam1 United we stand, divided we suffer Materiki Toromon, Butaritari community representative The Community-Based Fisheries Management (CBFM) • catching juvenile fish before they have had a chance project in Kiribati is implemented by five partners: the to reproduce. Kiribati Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources De- velopment (MFMRD), the Australian Centre for Inter- Community members were aware that these fishing national Agricultural Research, the Pacific Community, practices were harmful but banning them had to be de- the University of Wollongong, and WorldFish. cided on collectively. The CBFM project allowed com- munities to do so and gave them the tools to enforce Initially implemented in May 2014 on two pilot islands these measures by themselves. of the Northern Gilbert islands — Butaritari and North Tarawa — the project has taken root in five communi- Establishing marine reserves was another action that ties on these two islands (Kuma, Tanimaiaki and Bikati in was recommended in all management plans. Bikati was Butaritari, and Buariki and Tabonibara in North Tarawa). the first community to establish a community-driven marine protected area and was supported by the Island At the onset, the CBFM project was introduced to Is- Council and elders’ association in Butaritari. land Councils of Butaritari and North Tarawa to seek approval for implementing the project in the pilot com- The management plans also enabled communities to munities. The selection of pilot communities was made extend their vision to other issues that indirectly affect by the mayor and councillors. The CBFM team subse- fisheries, such as poor village governance, waste and quently visited these communities to give an overview of sanitation, agriculture, education and alternative sourc- the project, get community perception on fisheries and es of income. other related issues, and most importantly, to maxim- ise community buy-in to the project. Community-based The long-term success of the CBFM project depends on management plans, which were developed in 2015, in- a coordinated and collaborative approach among com- clude communities’ concerns regarding their fisheries. munities, island councils, various government minis- Not surprisingly, some of the recommended measures tries, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In were common to all five community management plans, April, a second stakeholder meeting was held with ap- such as the banning of destructive fishing gear and fish- proximately 45 participants from different groups2 who ing practices, including: gathered to discuss lessons learned, best practices and ways forward to ensure better collaboration between • using small mesh sized nets and excessively long gill communities and other stakeholders. The mayors of nets; Makin and TUC were invited because of their proximity • splashing water with metal bars to scare fish and to both of the pilot islands, which means that they share drive them towards nets (te ororo); the same areas of the lagoon for fishing. • encircling corals with gill nets (borakai); The meeting was opened by the Director of Coastal Fish- • destroying corals to reach fish or octopus; eries, Karibanang Tamuera. Mr Tamuera emphasised the • fishing on spawning aggregations; and valuable roles that communities have in managing and 1 Community-based Fisheries Officer, Kiribati. Email: [email protected] 1 2 MFMRD, the Ministry of Environment, Lands and Agriculture Development, the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the Ministry of Women, Youth and Social Affairs, the Office of the Attorney General, the Curriculum Development Unit of the Ministry of Education, mayors from Makin, Butaritari, and North Tarawa and the Tarawa Urban Council (TUC) as well as representatives from pilot communities. 19 NEWS FROM IN AND AROUND THE REGION Figure 1. Leaders discussing way forward. From left to right: Tebura Tanaua (Mayor of Makin), Kareke Itinibeia (Mayor of Butaritari), Tetaake Tenaua (Chairman of the Makin Unimwane Association), Mwaiango Teimwarane (Senior Fisheries Assistant), and Ruoikabuti Tion (Mayor of the Tarawa Urban Council). sustaining their marine resources. He also mentioned Community representatives were given the opportunity that many of the issues that emerged during CBFM to read aloud their management plans, which impressed consultations needed to be addressed immediately, and participants from the ministries. Declining fisheries was therefore MFMRD was seeking assistance and support the common issue identified in all of the plans, and vil- from other government bodies and NGOs to ensure that lagers were looking for ways to ban the use of destructive these villages could fulfil what they had envisioned in fishing practices. Community members feared that even their management plans. Mr Tamuera stressed the need if these bans were respected in their own respective vil- for stronger collaboration among different government lages, other people from outside could break these rules. ministries, Island Councils, communities and NGOs for These villagers saw the need for bylaws that would en- successful outcomes. Mr Tamuera ended his speech by force their management plan. In response, MIA urged remarking, “We are not owners of these resources, we these communities, along with their Island Council, to are only caretakers for the next generation.” initiate awareness raising measures in neighbouring vil- lages in order to gain their neighbours’ support with the The meeting lasted two days and was facilitated by Ma- management plan. teriki Toromon (community representative), Ben Nam- akin and Tarateiti Uriam (CBFM officers). Although Once support for a community management plan the meeting physically took place in a conference room was established, the community and its Island Coun- (Fig. 1), it was conducted to recreate the “maneaba way”, cil could then work with MIA to create a bylaw that as meetings are traditionally run in Kiribati, in the meet- would recognise the plan of the said community at the ing house called the maneaba (Fig. 2). The rules of the island level. The representative from the Office of the maneaba, where everyone is equal and free to express his Attorney General, Monoo Mweretaka, introduced an- or her own opinion, were applied to the meeting. This is other option to address this issue: the Attorney Gen- different from other meetings between government rep- eral’s office recognises the bylaws of NGOs registered resentatives and communities where community repre- with the Ministry of Women, Youth and Social Af- sentatives often feel they are in a position of “inferiority” fairs, if these by-laws complement a government Act. and “invited” to listen to the expertise of government staff. Therefore, if a community registers as NGO under This helped break down the barrier between community MWYSA, its bylaws will easily be endorsed by the At- and government representatives, thereby allowing com- torney General’s office, and these bylaws will only be munity representatives to speak freely and confidently. enforced in that community. 20 SPC Fisheries Newsletter #149 - January–April 2016 NEWS FROM IN AND AROUND THE REGION Because community members see fisheries as a complex project officers. Due to their geographic repartition, and dynamic system, they have identified in their man- the involvement of communities is being worked out. agement plans other issues that indirectly affect fisher- It will strengthen the collaboration between the differ- ies. Some of these areas include climate change, waste ent ministries and communities, and will reduce overlap management, coastal development and erosion, income of activities. All participants were impressed with the generation, education, population growth, and govern- meeting’s operation, and the TUC mayor, in particular, ance. Community members spoke about the effect of said: “I have been to a lot of meetings and this is the first coastal development, especially the work done on the meeting where we discuss freely what we want for our causeway that is believed to have altered currents and people.” The mayor from Makin envied Butaritari and affected the spawning runs of some fish. They also be- North Tarawa pioneering the CBFM project, and urged lieve that more alternative sources of income will reduce the CBFM team to visit his island. the pressure on fisheries and more support for children’s education will allow these children to find jobs and to The outcomes of the meeting were outstanding and all support themselves financially without always having to participants were satisfied, especially the communities depend on fisheries resources. knowing that their concerns were taken into account and were heard by government representatives. The This meeting provided communities the opportunity meeting also proved that communities are on the same to discuss with government officials from different page as government, as highlighted by Tuake Teema, government ministries on how to go about address- Senior Fisheries Officer, who said, “These communi- ing these issues. Community members felt empow- ties are now speaking our language, the work they do ered and motivated by the positive responses from complements the Fisheries Regulations.” Biita Rameka government officials. In the same way, staff from the from MELAD in the Agriculture Division encouraged different