Assessing fishing pressure on Arutua and Rangiroa and the acceptability of management measures by fishermen and local communities
Fishing for the main reef fish species is observed in French Polynesia, on two Tuamotu islands, by the CRIOBE and Rahūi Center teams.
Arutua and Rangiroa are among the main fish exporting atolls to Tahiti. This flow leads to a consequent exploitation of marine resources on these islands, which are more than 400 km away from the main urban center.
The Directorate of Marine Resources (DRM) wondered whether this fishing was sustainable: with the current fishing intensity, would schools of parrotfish and blue jacks, groupers or surgeonfish still be observed in the passes and lagoons of these atolls in the future?
It is to address this issue of sustainability of the exploitation of these resources that the PROTEGE program, financed through the 11th European Regional Development Fund, together with the DRM, CRIOBE and the Rahūi Center, are currently evaluating the fishing pressure on Arutua and Rangiroa as well as the acceptability by fishermen and local communities of management measures that could be put in place to preserve this resource.
Anthropological and halieutic works are currently mobilizing six people in the field with the support and advice of experts from French Polynesia and the Pacific region. The results of this study are expected in 2023.
Photo credit: Matthieu Juncker
