Shark Free Marinas: Reducing worldwide shark mortality.

Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters take the leading role in the world with a major shark conservation initiative in the gamefishing community.
KADAVU, FIJI ISLANDS – 14 July 2009 – Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco-Adventure Resort and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters are proud to take a world wide leading role in the the international Shark-Free Marina Initiative.

The international Shark-Free Marina Initiative works with marinas, boaters and fishermen to develop policy designed to protect a vital component of the oceans health, our sharks.
Matava Director Stuart Gow said:

"We have worked hard over the past few months in Fiji at certifying many marinas and charter fishing boats as ‘Shark-Free Marinas’ and so far have more than any other country worldwide.
Matava and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters was the first in Fiji to sign up and is actively promoting, coordinating and distributing information about the Initiative. We are working towards when Fiji can be the first country to be proud to announce itself as a ‘Shark-Free Marinas’ Country!” he continued.

The majority of shark species caught by recreational and sport anglers are currently listed by the IUCN as ‘Threatened’ (or worse) and each year an average of a ½ Million of these sharks are killed in the United States alone. It is estimated that 70-100 million sharks are killed yearly world wide!
Bite Me Gamefishing Charters actively avoids fishing for any species of shark and encourages this practice to be followed by all. By encouraging non-lethal ‘catch-and-release’ shark fishing fishermen and those sharks inevitably caught accidentally can enjoy their sport while ensuring that shark populations are not further diminished. By promoting sustainable practices of ocean management we hope that sharks will be around to keep our oceans healthy for generations to come.

Many Fiji marinas and charter operations are already listed on the Shark-Free Marina website as well as having the right to use the SFMI logo and signs for their own publicity. We are now in the process of distributing the stickers, posters and metal dock signs to registered businesses, charter boats and marinas.
The SFMI website also has an education centre that we hope everyone will find useful, it includes tips on how to catch and release shark, a list of Endangered and Threatened species plus information on how they can help protect the ocean.

“At Matava, and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters we are of course both happy and proud to be spearheading this initiative in the South Pacific and indeed the World” said Matava Director and Bite Me Gamefishing Charter Captain, Captain Adrian Watt.

“We also see this as a great step forward and opportunity for all gamefishing and sportfishing charter boats, both on Kadavu and in the Fiji Islands, to move forward in their standards to achieve truly world class levels of service and capabilities demonstrated by the ‘catch and release’ programs.”

Captain Watt finished by saying “We would like to thank all friends and clients of Matava and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters past and present who have contributed to the success of our ecotouirsm principles and the resort and we look forward to exciting times ahead.”

The Shark-Free Marina Initiative has a singular purpose, to reduce worldwide shark mortality. We encourage shark conservation at sport fishing and resort marinas by prohibiting the landing of any shark at the participating marina. The SFMI works with marinas, fishermen and like minded non-profit groups to form community conscious policy and increase awareness of the need to protect our sharks, our ocean and our legacy.

Matava – Fiji’s Premier Eco Adventure Resort, is an eco adventure getaway offering you a fun and unique blend of cultural experiences and adventure activities in the environmentally pristine and remote island of Kadavu in the Fiji Islands. Matava – Fiji Premier Eco Adventure Resort is a PADI Dive Resort as well as a Project AWARE GoEco Operator. With more than 12 years experience in the Fiji Islands, Matava is recognized as a leading educational dive centre. Matava offers accommodation for up to 22 guests in lush tropical surroundings in traditional thatched Fijian ‘bures’ with hardwood polished floors, louvre windows and private decks offering privacy, comfort and superb ocean views.

Bite-Me Gamefishing Charters is our on-site IGFA game fishing specialists offering the best of superb record breaking blue water game fishing for tuna, wahoo, sailfish and marlin. As an active member of IGFA and The Billfish Association we advocate tag and release of all billfish and Trevally not deemed to be a National or World Record.

www.Matava.com www.GamefishingFiji.com


Shark Free Marinas: Reducing worldwide shark mortality.

Matava Resort- das Tor zum Great Astrolab Reef - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Im Im August 2009 besuchte ich das Matava-Resort auf Kadavu, der südlichsten der Fidschi-Inseln. Hauptprogramm meines Urlaubes war das Tauchen und dafür ist die Lage des Resorts ideal: auf der Südseite der Insel gelegen, bietet es mit Bootsfahrten von max. 40min Zugang zu insgesamt ca. 20 verschiedenen ausgewiesenen Tauch-Spots am Great Astrolab Reef, aber auch die Möglichkeit, das Riff an anderer Stelle zu erkunden. Die Philosophie des Resorts ist die Umweltverträglichkeit/ökologischen Nachhaltigkeit und die Kooperation mit den umliegenden Dörfern. Die Unterkünfte selbst liegen verstreut an einem kleinen Hügel, teils direkt am Strand, teils ein Stück bergauf. Doch jede der traditionell eingerichteten Hütten, von den Einheimischen Buré genannt, bietet einen einzigartigen Blick auf die vorliegende Lagune mit einer kleinen Insel sowie dem Riff. Die einzelnen Hütten sind für max. 3 Personen ausgelegt. Ausgestattet sind sie mit Doppelbett mit Moskitonetz, wenn nötig Einzelbett mit Moskitonetz, Schrank und Sitzgruppe. Das Bad ist über die Terrasse erreichbar und bietet WC, Waschbecken und Dusche mit Gaswassererhitzer. Licht gibt es nur über Solarenergie, Steckdosen sind in den Hütten keine vorhanden. Akkus etc. können aber in der Hauptburé geladen werden- vorausgesetzt, die Sonne scheint. Insgesamt sind die Hütten schlicht und einfach, aber dennoch gut ausgestattet. Der Service begeisert mit einer mir bis dahin unbekannten Offenheit und Freundlichkeit. Fragen, Wünsche oder Probleme wurden sofort in Angriff genommen und immer mit vollster Zufriedenheit erfüllt. Das Essen ist sehr abwechslungsreich und bietet eine große Fülle an unterschiedlichen Küchen (Indisch, Thai, Lokal u.vm.), eine vielseitige Auswahl von Früchten aus dem resorteigenen Obst- und Gemüsegarten sowie vielfältigste Variationen von fangfrischem Fisch, der teils von den Gästen selbst geangelt wurde. Angeln und Angelausflüge sind jedoch nur einer vielen möglichen Aktivitäten. Egal ob Schnorcheln oder Baden, Vogelbeobachtungen, Besuch von Dorf und Einheimischen, oder einem Spaziergang mit einem einheimischen Medizinmann- für jeden Geschmack ist was dabei. Eine große Rolle spielt im Matava auch das Tauchen. Der integrierte Tauch-Shop ist mit allem für einen erfolgreichen Tauchgang Nötigen ausgerüstet. Es ist ein großes Tauchboot vorhanden, aber bei größeren Gruppen werden auch mehrere Boote eingesetzt. Die Boote sind immer mit Sauerstoffkoffer und Notttelefon ausgerüstet und im Falle eines Notfalles existiert auch ein Notfallplan, der auch aushängt. Des Weiteren bietet der Tauch- Shop die Möglichkeit zur Aus- und Weiterbildung von Tauchern auf Basis des PADI-Ausbildungssystems.

Weiterhin als positiv zu nennen ist die familiäre Atmosphäre sowohl zwischen Gästen und Personal, als auch zwischen den Gästen untereinander. Aufgrund der geringen Anzahl von Gästen kommt man schnell miteinander ins Gespräch, egal ob bei den Mahlzeiten, bei der traditionellen Kava-Zeremonie oder den unterschiedlichsten Aktivitäten.

Zusammenfassend lässt sich also sagen, dass das Matava Resort durchaus ein Geheimtipp für all jene ist, die sich ausschließlich auf Sonne, Strand, sportliche und kulturelle Aktivitäten konzentrieren möchten und Abstand vom Alltag suchen. Und das alles in einer sehr freundlichen, offenherzigen und kommunikativen Atmosphäre!!!
Matava Resort- das Tor zum Great Astrolab Reef - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

SeaWeb

Donate Dear Friend: The ocean covers 71% of the planet and humans share 100% of the responsibility for its health. SeaWeb uses the science of communications to persuade influential individuals to become leading voices for a healthy ocean. Let me introduce you to one such extraordinary person we have the honor of working with in Fiji! Savenaca Tete lives in one of the most biodiverse ocean ecosystems in the world. However, the ocean that surrounds his home is under threat and that means the health and livelihood of his family and his community are in jeopardy. In fact, the collapse of marine ecosystems means devastation to the lives of millions of people like him in the region. For Savenaca, working on environmental issues is not just a hobby, it's a matter of survival! For that reason, Savenaca joined with SeaWeb to create the Community Educator's Network. Through the network, SeaWeb provides science and communications training for ocean champions—many of whom walk for several hours to participate. And, to cope with limited access to technology and electricity in these remote villages, SeaWeb raised the funds to design and produce waterproof flip charts that Savenaca and other leaders could carry back to their villages. What started as an innovative way to build capacity in these villages has grown into a vibrant network powered by volunteers who are taking action to better manage their ocean resources. The results have been astonishing! As the result of SeaWeb's outreach, Fijian villagers worked together to: move their pigpens away from the shore to reduce nutrient runoff; ban the use of chemicals to kill weeds; remove solid waste from their shoreline and dig pits to better manage this waste; replant upland slopes and mangrove areas; stop poaching; ban night-time scuba spear fishing; and establish a marine protected area. Saveneca and other leaders are awesome but they can't do it alone. Please join us in thanking them for organizing actions that have improved the ocean for all of us! Your gift this holiday season could help them to stay empowered to do their lifesaving work. Thank you for your consideration. Dawn M. Martin President SeaWeb

SeaWeb - Asia Pacific Program

Top Ten Scuba Destinations

#2 Scuba Dive Fiji Islands, South Pacific

Fiji offers an incredible scuba diving experience. It is the "Soft Coral Capital of the World", the home of the "Great White Wall", the "Yellow Tunnel" and other famous underwater marvels, scuba diving conditions and visibility are unrivalled year-round.

Because of its clear water and dazzling coral Fiji is a favorite hangout for professional underwater photographers.

Top Ten Scuba Destinations

Catching the Fijian Fever | Official Website of 10 Magazine Asia

One of the reasons why people travel to Fiji year in and year out are the magnificent scuba dive sites located all over the islands. Even if you’ve never taken one breath underwater, there has never been a better time to start. Choose between simple (and often complimentary) pool dives to get accustomed to life underwater or opt for a full licensed PADI Open Water Course available at many certified training facilities around the island.

In fact, it’s far more cost-effective to take PADI training in Fiji than in many other countries. This is especially true if you head to the Beqa Adventure Divers office in Pacific Harbour (contact info below). The instructors at this surprisingly affordable course somehow manage to make holding your breath fun.

Once you feel comfortable in the water, move on to the world famous shark dive that the company offers four times a week. You can swim with tiger sharks, bull sharks, and a whole host of brightly-coloured aquatic life, and it is actually a lot safer than it sounds. Experienced divers can of course skip the course and jump right into ancient shipwreck dives, witness an abundance of coral splendour, and explore mysterious underwater caves. Plus, the water around Fiji is always warm enough for a deep ocean dive.

Best Dive Sites in Fiji

• Great Astrolabe Reef (Near Kadavu)

This great reef may not be as well-known as the Great Barrier in Australia, but it does attract a lot of manta rays and the soft coral is pleasing to the eye.

Magical Islands
Kadavu

One of the best preserved areas in all of Fiji. The area lacks a lot of the predators that prowl the main islands, allowing native wildlife to roam free and delight tourists. Kadavu also offers the perfect starting point for a dive along the Great Astrolabe Reef.

Catching the Fijian Fever | Official Website of 10 Magazine Asia

Returning Soon - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

We have been to several places on Kadavu and find Matava the best. We would return just for the food but when you add the reef, the wonderful staff, diving, snorkeling, fishing, and the very nice beach facing the resort we will be there again in 2010 and that should be about 12 visits for us since we began traveling to Fiji in 1993-ps we did our rescue PADI Certification there.

Returning Soon - Review of Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort, Kadavu Island, Fiji - TripAdvisor

Two new species of freshwater fishes discovered in Vanua Levu (Fiji) now internationally recognized

Two new scientific papers have been published in the last several months highlighting the discovery of two new species of freshwater fishes unique to Fiji and only known from two river systems in Vanua Levu. Wetlands International –Oceania staff Aaron Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka, made the new discoveries as part of surveys for the Ecosystem Based Management project over the last several years.

This month, the scientific paper entitled, “Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji” was released in Aqua, International Journal of Ichthyology, co-authored by Aaron Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka. This handsome pipefish was found in a small mangrove lined tributary near the mouth of the Dreketi River and is distinguished from other species by several characteristics including 10-11 white spots on the lower trunk region.


The name comes from the latin albo (white) and maculosus (spotted), in reference to this new species distinctive series of white spots. This species reaches around 9 cm long and the males carry the eggs in a trunk pouch until they hatch. This paper is significant as not only is it Fiji’s newest endemic (only found in Fiji) animal species, it is the first new freshwater pipefish (related to a seahorse) to be discovered in about the last 30 years. Taxonomic description work was all done in country, based out of the University of the South Pacific and, recognizing the capacity being built in country, the second author is the first indigenous Fijian to have co-authored a new species of fish.

New freshwater goby

The second new species of fish to be named recently was also first collected by the Wetlands International –Oceania team but described overseas by Dr. Helen Larson of the Northern Territory Museum. As part of a large review paper released last month in the international journal Ichthyological Exploration of Freshwaters, the new freshwater goby, Redigobius lekutu has been described. This species gains its name from the Lekutu river where it was first discovered although it is also now also known from the Dreketi river system. This species is significant, as it also is only known from Vanua Levu and only generally in clean water in the upper catchment areas of these two rivers with high forest cover and nowhere else on earth. It only reaches about 2.5 cm in length and is threatened by catchment disturbances such as logging, invasive species and gravel extraction in particular.

Unique and fragile nature of Fijian freshwaters and aquatic biodiversity

Aaron Jenkins, a fish biologist who manages Wetlands International work in the region and also represents Oceania to the global IUCN/WI Freshwater Fish Specialist Group states, “These recent publications are timely to help remind us of the unique and fragile nature of Fijian freshwaters and aquatic biodiversity. Only over the last decade or so are we beginning to gain a clear picture of the global uniqueness of Fijian and other Pacific Island freshwater fish faunas. Whole of catchment and “ridge-to-reef” water resource management are absolutely essential not only for preserving Fiji’s unique natural heritage but also for protecting our own health and well-being.
Article:

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

http://www.aqua-aquapress.com/latest_issues.html

NEWS

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish (Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

Hippichthys albomaculosus, a new species of freshwater pipefish
(Pisces: Syngnathidae) from Fiji

Aaron P. Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka
Wetlands International-Oceania, Fiji Office,
School of Islands and Oceans, Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment, University of the South Pacific, Fiji Islands.

This paper describes a new species of Hippichthys collected by the second author durng a 2009 freshwater and estuarine ichthyofaunal survey of Vanua Levu, the second largest island of Fiji.

Abstract
A new species of freshwater pipefish, Hippichthys alboaculosus, is described on the basis of 22 specimens, collected from Vanua Levu Island, Republic of Fiji. 

This species is distinguished from its closest relatives by a combination of characters that include: 13 trunk rings, total rings usually 48; dorsal fin origin on first tail ring; scutella not keeled; pectoral fin rays modally 14, trunk depth about 1.7 in head length, anal ring depth about 2.8 in head length; series of 10-11 white ocelli with dark margins bilateral to median longitudinal ventral keel and below inferior trunk ridge.

Explorer - Shark Dives in Fiji - NYTimes.com

In Fiji, Dancing With Sharks

Martywolff.com

Divers like to see big fish. At 50 feet below the South Pacific in Fiji, a dive leader feeds a piece of tuna to a white tip shark.

By GREG WINTER

Published: January 17, 2010

THERE’S a moment when the sheer awe of being arm’s length from a procession of hungry sharks — so close that you lock eyes with each one as it blitzes by your head — gives way to a sudden burst of clarity, and all your thoughts coalesce into a single edifying idea: “Maybe I should duck.”

Map

Fiji

Scuba diving in Fiji, a collection of some 300 islands strewn across the South Pacific, poses a kind of recreational Sophie’s Choice for anyone with less than a month on his hands. Do I chase manta rays across the famed Astrolabe Reef off Kadavu Island? Can I make it to the pristine, remote waters between the big islands? What about the legendary soft corals carpeting the Great White Wall in the Somosomo Strait? Shark diving in Pacific Harbor, a couple of hours’ drive from the international airport on Viti Levu, elbowed its way onto my list because it offers a fairly certain chance of seeing what any honest diver will admit to yearn for: lots and lots of big fish.
Giant trevally, each bigger than a grown man’s torso, racing around in swarms. A grouper the size of a love seat. Schools of plump snapper. Stealthy suckerfish, with their eerily flat heads. And such vast quantities of smaller reef fish clouding the deep that they alone, not the raging seas above, often pose the biggest obstacle to an unobstructed photograph of the huge bull sharks lumbering by.
There is a trick to luring sharks, I quickly learned when I was in Fiji last fall, and it is deviously simple. Dive boats chum up the waters with hundreds of pounds of discarded fish scraps, drawing a storm of life from miles around. Purists may call it cheating. Biologists fret over the potential impact on shark behavior, or on the delicate balance of life around the reefs. But there is no debating its efficacy.
Kneeling on the sea floor, almost 100 feet down, I counted 10 adult bull sharks circling directly overhead on one of my six shark dives, their skin taut over thick layers of muscle. Higher up, as many as two dozen speedy, smaller sharks — gray reefs, black tips and white tips, with their catlike eyes — darted by our stunned group, close enough that I felt a swoosh of water on my face from a passing tail. Had we not been clamping down so tightly on our regulators, our mouths would surely have been agape.
But if attracting the sharks is a relatively crude affair, handling them is nothing short of an art. With no cage to protect us, professional divers flanked the group, gripping aluminum prods in case the predators became overzealous. Then the feeder would reach into his bag of fish parts and wave the sharks in, one by one. Clad in chain mail under his wet suit, the feeder would dangle and sway the waiting flesh, enticing the powerful beasts, some of them about eight feet long and hundreds of pounds, to eat right from his outstretched hand.
The smaller sharks, graceful and lithe, needed little encouragement. With surprising discipline, they took turns approaching the feeder in an orderly single file, snatching the treats and quickly swooping away, their white bellies nearly grazing our heads as they scurried off.
Keenly aware of the ritual, they then circled around for the next spot in line. When a brazen newcomer from another reef broke ranks and rushed up from behind, one of the feeders, Manasa Bulivou, a Fijian man who goes by the nickname Papa, deftly grabbed the five-foot shark, spun it around and socked it in the gut with an uppercut — a lesson in manners, Papa later explained.
But the big bull sharks, despite their reputation as aggressive man-eaters, were strangely shy. An enormous and visibly pregnant one the divers called Big Mama seemed almost finicky as she warily sniffed at the flesh being offered her before turning up her nose entirely. Some of the bulls lurked in the distance, no more than silhouettes in the blue. Others swam languidly toward us, as if playing a lazy game of chicken before nonchalantly turning away.
R. Dean Grubbs, a shark expert at Florida State University, says this is probably the safest way to encounter bull sharks, in deep, clear water, where they are far less likely to mistake you for their normal prey, as they do with swimmers and surfers in the shallows or at the surface. Some sharks, including bulls, also have space issues, so the fact that they’ve come to you, not the other way around, means they’re less likely to feel crowded and testy.
But George H. Burgess, director of the Florida Program for Shark Research, contends that once you start luring big sharks all bets are off, pointing to the death of a tourist on a shark dive in the Bahamas last year. Still, he acknowledges that statistics don’t show that chum dives are any more dangerous than normal dives. In fact, the bigger concern for researchers like him and Dr. Grubbs is the impact on the sharks themselves.
Even Papa wonders if his beloved sharks have grown a little complacent under his care, though they still adhere to many of their natural habits, like migrating or disappearing up the rivers for weeks on end when it’s time to breed. And because some shark-diving profits go to the villages themselves, no one fishes along the reef or drops anchor on it, granting it a welcome reprieve from overfishing.
Some of the local divers say the reef certainly looks a lot healthier than it did before the shark diving started here 10 years ago. Long before Christianity, Papa said, the people of his village considered sharks their spiritual guardians and looked to them for protection before going into the water. Now, Papa said, he is the protector, boasting that he and his crew are deputized to impound illegal fishing boats that wander in the area to pluck from the healthy fish stocks there. He even speaks of the sharks as his children.
“They know Papa’s coming,” he said, heading out to sea one morning, his nickname emblazoned across his T-shirt. “They’re waiting for me.”

Explorer - Shark Dives in Fiji - NYTimes.com

Non rebreather masks available in Fiji

This disposable mask provides oxygen for breathing persons who cannot tolerate demand-valve oxygen regulators or when two divers need emergency oxygen.

Adult Nonrebreathing Mask (also called Constant-flow, non-rebreather mask)

• Low-resistance check valves prevent rebreathing and allow exhaled gas to escape
• Clear, soft vinyl for patient comfort and visual patient assessment
• Complete with 7-ft. oxygen supply tubing
• Adjustable nose clip assures comfortable fit

As a reminder, this mask should be used with/on the constant flow barb of your regulator with a MINIMUM setting of 15 lpm to try to maintain a high concentration of inspired oxygen.

Only F$20.00 each + VAT (plus shipping $5 within Fiji)

This mask consists of a mask that has a reservoir bag attached. The bag is separated from the mask by a one-way valve that prevents air and patient exhalation from diluting the oxygen in the reservoir bag. When the patient inhales, the valve opens and the patient breathes primarily oxygen. There are also one-way valves that cover the holes on the mask to allow patient exhalation to escape without allowing large quantities of air to enter the mask.

These masks have this one-way valve on both sides of the mask. Care must be taken beacause if both sides are covered and gas flow ceases, then the patient will not be able to breathe because the valves keep air from entering during inhalation.

The common high oxygen concentration mask has a one -way valve on only one side so that if gas flow ceases, the patient can still breathe.

At a minimum oxygen flow of 15 L/min, as long as the reservoir bag is kept filled and a good seal is maintained, this mask can deliver 60 - 75% oxygen to the patient

But remember, for denitrogenation we need the highest possible concentration of oxygen, so, although this system is better than nothing, all efforts should be made to supply accident management kit with a demand system.

Contact Stuart at Stuart@ResortSupportFiji.com or call +679-336-3625.