Temalesi Biuvakawalu, a local fisher from Vesi village in the district of Mali, Macuata, shares a story about how fishing has changed in her village.
The fishing grounds of Mali are well known for their fish, but comparing them to 20 years ago, I find they are not the same, as we had more then.
Overfishing has led to a decline in fish stocks in Mali, so villagers have established tabu areas to allow fish to grow big enough to breed and re-stock their iqoliqoli (fishing grounds).
But while villagers like Temalesi try to protect their iqoliqoli, people are coming in to poach the bigger fish.
'Poaching makes life harder in Mali because we have to go further out to fish or dive to meet the daily needs of our families as fishing is our main source of income', said Temalesi Biuvakawalu.
A campaign to help people understand why the increasing loss of fish is critical to the people of Fiji, and empower all Fijians to do something today to protect our fishing grounds