Fiji Daily Post

Ignorance on the activities of certain fish species can cause its depletion or worse still being wiped out from our fishing grounds if people do not act now.

Seasonal fish that had been thought of as to be always plentiful in certain times of the year has also been found to be decreasing in numbers in some local communities, said Conservation International project officer Loraini Sivo who has also been involved in surveys regarding fish behaviours.

She says when fish gather together or “aggregate” they are there for a purpose and that is to reproduce or “spawn”.

“One can find out if they are spawning by checking the inside and if they have eggs it means they are there to have babies,” said Sivo.

When they spawn the females release their eggs which is to be fertilised by the males and “sometimes out of the thousands of eggs released only a hundred survive”.

So it is important that people do not harvest too much fish at that time of the year when it is in season or plentiful because what they are doing is making babies.

“Fishermen usually wait for this time of the year to fish and to catch as many as they can. This is also a time when those in the Live Fish trade catch fish to be sold to countries like Hong Kong,” she said.

“The easiest way to catch those fish is to use line and hook because even without baits you can just throw in your line and catch them. The Live Fish trade takes in live fish and this is the best time to catch them because if nets are used , fish may die.

“During spawning the fish release their eggs to be fertilised by the male sperms. Fish
can also change their sexes and during spawning there would be more females than male.

Sometimes there could be only three males and if they are caught by the fishermen then the eggs will not be fertilized.”

According to the Society of Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregation (SCARFA) the mixture of sperm and eggs is visible as a large white cloud.

Some fish spawn at the same site and the same time every year. There are two types of aggregation namely: lResident aggregations form frequently, sometimes daily, close to home reefs and in many different locations (examples are found in surgeon fishes and some wrasses and parrot fishes).

l Transient aggregations form tens or hundreds of kilometres away from home reefs, for short periods each year and in relatively few places (examples are found in groupers, snappers, rabbit fishes, etc.”

SCARFA also states that spawning can be identified by direct signs like a belly full of eggs for females or indirectly by body colors and behaviour known only to be associated with spawning; seasonally high landings of ripe fish.

However, catching fish during its spawning period is not allowed, said Sivo. “The Fisheries Act states that no one is allowed to sell those fish with eggs but the problem is enforcement,” she said.

To help solve the issue, resource owners could include spawning sites in their management plans for marine protected areas, a seasonal ban on fishing during spawning seasons or sale of fish at this time.

Furthermore, Sivo says there were some communities that have traditional ties to the occasion in which they believe they have to follow certain activities that had been handed down from their elders.

“In some communities women have to dress up and then catch these fish and they said if they did not catch the fish it would disappear.”

If they have to do that then maybe they could just catch them for two days instead of one or two weeks,“ she said.

Also to retain them people can catch just enough fish for their consumption and leave the rest to reproduce because if we don’t protect them now those fish may be wiped out. Unless people are aware of this and act on it we could still have more fish on our tables.