Ples blong Fis

(Rita stands on the edge of the shelf reef while fishing with a bamboo rod)

(Rita's colorful catch)

Aneityum is often referred to as the "Peles blong Fis" by outsiders, which means "Place of the Fish." In comparison to other islands, we are blessed with a decent supply of fish on our coral reefs. Having a small population on the island helps prevent over-harvesting, at least for now.

Island chiefs or heads of family are allowed to "block" any section of the island from fishing. If they notice the fish supply starting to dwindle in a given area, they will order that special timbers be erected on the reef to indicate that fishing is prohibited in the area. Locals have been practicing this system of resource management for countless years.

The pictures above show Rita, an avid young fisherwoman at the place where I normally go to fish. Locals use home-made fishing poles with short lines and tiny hooks. Crab or octopus are normally the baits of choice for fish from the coral reef. I enjoy fishing here, you never know what kind of brightly hued fish you might pull out of the water next.

Extreme caution must be practiced before eating fish from a coral reef. There is a type of poisoning called ciguatera, which comes from eating the wrong variety of fish. This poisoning can be fatal, but most often it just severely weakens a person for weeks at a time. It has strange effects on the nervous system too. I have heard volunteers describe it as one of the worst experiences of their life; whenever they felt a warm object- it felt freezing cold to them, and when they touched a cold object, it felt scorching hot. Anyhow the poison comes from the reef itself, the fish contract it by eating all of the tiny animals that thrive there. It is confusing, because sometimes a certain variety of fish will be safe in one area and then in another place, it will have the poison.

On Aneityum, the locals have a pretty extensive knowledge about which fish to eat. So I just follow their lead and have stayed poison-free to this day. Although sometimes locals do make mistakes, and I have seen poison fish victims carried to clinic writhing in pain.