Samoa Fisheries receive aid from Germany

Pacific Island countries have received aid from the German Government to increase their resilience and adaptive capacity in the face of the impacts of climate change.
This announcement was made by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), located in Noumea, New Caledonia, explaining that the support focuses on five important development sectors in the Pacific Island region: land use (agriculture, forestry and land use planning), fisheries, education, energy and tourism.
This aid has been jointly implemented in collaboration with regional partners like the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) in a project entitled SPC/GIZ Coping with Climate Change in the Pacific Islands Region (CCCPIR).
In Samoa, this project is working with the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries on climate change adaptations in coastal fisheries. As a major component of the CCCPIR project, the Fisheries Division is implementing a fish aggregating devices (FADs) project this week and in collaboration with the EU-funded DevFish 2 project.
SPC Fisheries Development Officer and FAD expert, William Sokimi explained that FADs enhance the food chain by attracting baitfish such as anchovies, sardines and scads, leading to the aggregation of larger pelagic species such as skipjack, yellowfin, billfish, wahoo and mahimahi.
Nearshore FADs directly impact local communities by providing easy access to these species and can be reached by canoe users. They also give community fishers a safer environment to carry out their fishing activities at a central location.
The project started with training for trainers on rope work, rigging, basic principles on maintenance and deploying FADs. This initial workshop will be followed by similar training for the village communities on constructing and deploying their own FADs.
Coastal fisheries play an integral part in the livelihoods of Samoan communities as well as supporting their dietary needs.
In an effort to manage coastal fisheries, Samoa has implemented a community-based fisheries management programme since 1995.
The programme empowers local communities, as resource users with sole responsibility for the management of their resources, thus enabling them to be included in decision-making. Management actions are identified by the communities themselves, with the government playing an advisory role in proposed management initiatives. The programme has worked in more than 90 coastal villages and communities in Samoa.
As explained by Magele Etuati Ropeti of the SPC/GIZ project: “Many village communities are managing their coastal fisheries resources; however, this project brings another element into the overall management of fisheries and that is working with those communities at improving awareness on adverse impacts of climate change to assist in maximising opportunities for communities to adapt to social, economic and environmental changes.”

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