Thursday 21 September 2017

4FJ is a different kind of campaign

4FJ is a different kind of campaign. With so many environmental messages hitting us today, this campaign aims to remind us all what a healthy ocean means to our way of life and then help us do something, right here, right now, to save them.



It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.

Step 1: Admit We’ve Have a Problem

Grouper, commonly known locally by names such as kawakawa and donu, are an important source of protein for our communities. Groupers, sought after by urban residents and tourists alike, are also commercially valuable to Fiji’s economy. The fish is just hmm, mmm good. But as our population grows and the demand for both food and income grows, these fish are disappearing all across Fiji.

This is a fish that is a staple of village diets, that has been part of Fiji’s island culture for hundreds of years, and one of a ways rural community can make money for basics needs, is going away. That means the kids in the village will be less healthy with less protein to eat. That means our people will have less fish to sell and support their families. That also means our cultural traditions will be harder to maintain. Can you imagine how your next visit to the village will be if they can’t serve fish?

Bottom line: Unless action is not take to better manage these fish, which help support our villages, our culture and our economy, these fish face a bleak future. True story.

Step 2: Make the Pledge


These fish reproduce predictably every year at the same time. So if we don’t eat the fish when during the time, and let them release literally millions and millions of eggs instead, the fish populations will begin to rebound. So 4FJ is asking people from all walks of life, from our villages to our fish markets to our board rooms to our government offices to take a simple pledge: “I will not to eat, buy or sell grouper from July through September.” These are the months that grouper reproduce.

Step 3: Join the Movement


The goal of the pledge is to let these fish reproduce and fill our fish baskets for years to come. But this campaign wants to do more than just collect names and talk about fish biology. While people are stepping forward to do the right thing, it is important to remind ourselves why this campaign is so important. To remember that 4FJ is not about fish, it is about us. The campaign team will shine a spotlight on the people who are taking the pledge. We want to know why saving Fiji’s grouper is important to you. We want to know what it means to you, your family, your village, your island, your country. We realize that there are so many environmental messages coming at you right now. Save this, stop that. What we often forget in our busy lives is why these issues are so important.

So a key part of the 4FJ campaign work will be empowering ocean champions, who are making the pledge, to tell their story, from community members to business leaders to cultural and political leaders to fishermen to chefs to urban professionals, to mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers.

So visit www.4fj.com.fj to hear the stories of why this fish is important to our way of life, share your own and join the movement.

Campaign Team


SeaWeb Asia Pacific, a regional nonprofit organization that specializes in innovative communication initiatives, designed and is coordinating the 4FJ campaign. SeaWeb AP is located at 49 Gladstone Rd in Suva, if you want to come by and meet the team.

But the campaign is built on a dynamic partnership between the private sector, research institutions, government departments, non-governmental organizations and communities. Key partners include the Society for the Conservation of Reef Fish Aggregations, the Fiji Locally Managed Marine Area Network, the Fiji Department of Fisheries, the Wildlife Conservation Society Fiji, Conservation International, the WWF South Pacific Program, Mamanuca Environment Society, the University of the South Pacific Institute of Applied Science and the University of Hong Kong.

And as the campaign grows, we hope the campaign partners will grow as well.


4fj.org.fj

Thursday 14 September 2017

blue o two release a brand new Fiji itinerary!

Project Shark is back! blue o two are extremely excited to announce a brand new Fiji itinerary from 2019.
Dive into tropical waters with flourishing shark populations on their brand new itinerary, Project SharkFiji. The aim of Project Shark is to highlight the global issues facing sharks, with a Fijian focus, as well as enjoying some of the most exciting dive sites that Fiji has to offer. Project Shark in Fiji will include a focus on manta rays as they can also be seen in this destination and are closely related to sharks. Encounters with endangered species allows divers to add a greater purpose to their liveaboard holiday.

On board the beautiful S/Y Fiji Siren, this 10 night trip departing from the Darling family’s Volivoli Beach Resort on Vita Levu takes divers through the Bligh Waters. This itinerary will involve close encounters with sharks, with the possibility of diving with manta rays. Divers will be joined on board for the duration of this trip by our experienced blue o two Project Shark trip host, Dr Elke Bojanowski.
Project Shark is a perfect trip for anyone who has an active interest in the preservation of the marine environment. Divers will not only enjoy fantastic diving with some of the most fascinating pelagic animals on the planet, but will learn about globally endangered marine species and what, as divers, they can do to aid their protection. Dr Elke Bojanowski will conduct seminars giving divers the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the biology and behaviour of sharks. During this trip, divers will be able to play a part in adding to valuable research efforts by the ‘Manta Trust’ who work towards the conservation of manta rays worldwide.
Founder of the ‘Red Sea Sharks Trust’, dive guide and marine biologist, Elke Bojanowski Ph.D, began the Longimanus Project in October 2004 and since this date she has been actively collecting underwater photographs and video-clips of oceanic whitetip sharks for catalogue, review and analysis. Since 2012 the project has expanded to become Red Sea Sharks and has increased its scope to include grey reef, whitetip reef, scalloped hammerhead, pelagic thresher and silky shark catalogues.
blue o two are therefore delighted to now expand their Project Shark itineraries to now include Fiji.
Join blue o two on board for Project Shark: Fiji in 2019:
16/06/19 – Project Shark: Fiji – S/Y Fiji Siren (10 nights) – £3760 per person*
*The package includes: Full board on the vessel (incl tea/coffee, juices, soft drinks & local beers), all diving on air, nitrox if certified, 12lt cylinder, weights & weight belt, equipment hire (BCD, regulator, 3mm shorty wetsuit, mask, fins & boots). Given changes in exchange rates the final package price can only be confirmed at the time of booking. The price shown EXCLUDES flights and local transfers although these can be organised on request.

For further details on Project SharkFiji, please contact our expert travel team on +44 (0) 1752 480 808 or visit our website at www.blueotwo.com.