Two generations
Posted by Andrew via Email at 11:40 AM, July 25, 2004
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| (C) Greenpeace/A. Davies |
With us watching, the grandson tries to looks serious as he put out his own fishing line. Although only twelve, Abera is already an experienced fisherman because his grandfather, Atera Ari, has been taking him fishing since he was six. Through a translator, Atera later tells me, "I take them with me to give them exposure, and also so that their system is used to the ocean - so they won't vomit, and they will like the ocean and the smell of the ocean."
Now Abera is proficient in his craft, although he doesn't catch as many fish as his grandfather today. Between them they get 16. It's a pretty good afternoon. But, according to Atera, there are not as many fish now as their used to be, and the fish that are left are smaller.
"In those days there were so many schools of fish during one fishing day. You can have a skipjack school here, yellow fin there, and the sharks were running around, circling these schools. And the sea, if you come across them, it was boiling with all the fish."
Atera has an extended family of twenty. Like him, his grandsons and son in laws also fish six days a week. Between them they catch enough to feed the family, and make about 100 Australian dollars per day. At his home I saw half a dozen pigs, plus some chickens. I doubt anyone is going hungry.
Still, Atera remembers the days when he only needed to go just outside of the reef to catch all the fish he could want. Now he has to use a boat with an outboard motor, and go much farther. Today, we drove about forty minutes - almost all the way to the next island. Even then, they only caught one of the tastier (and more profitable) yellow fin. Atera blames the large industrial fishing ships, which he would come across while fishing.
"We, on several occasions, met these fishing vessels, and that's our suspicion that their presence there, on the fishing grounds is attributable to the decrease in the abundance of the fish," Atera told me. "They come and take the small ones, and once they are in the lagoon they just throw them off, they are wasted."
After returning from fishing I asked Atera if he was concerned about the prospects for his grandchildren. He replied, "Yes, I'm very worried now, because now the fish is decreasing and decreasing. And as you can see, we have no paid employment, assisted employment, and I'm worried. What would they do if the fish runs out?"
