Fishing a Coral Atoll
What a cruisers dreams are made of. Life among the Pacific Isles. Trade-wind sailing, coconuts and palm trees bordered by endless white sand, azure seas and coral atoll fishing – even if is not they way you expected!
We had the incredible experience of meeting two local teenagers that love fishing. After working hard at their copra (dried coconut meat) farms all day, they still set out at night to go fishing and lobster hunting. Dressed for the kill in a one-piece wetsuit and with open rain barrels strapped on their backs, they carried ultra bright white-kerosene lanterns.
These skilled boys taught us how to collect lobsters on the outer reef at night and introduced me to “machete fishing” which is ridiculously fun and productive. Basically, while you are looking for lobsters, many of the reef fish are sleeping in small tide pools and you get to whack them in the head with your machete as you plod along the reef in the dark. Pure fun!
Coral atoll fishing sustainability?
As a biologist, I’m often asked why I participate in spearfishing and other means of harvest, and if I have considered if these practises are sustainable. My answer with out hesitation – Yes. Considering that the very definition of sustainable fishing practices are those that do not damage the genetic structure of the fishery, destroy habitat, or deplete stock levels to the point where rebuilding requires more than a single generation. With an abundance of examples that are not sustainable, including most modern industrial fisheries, the sustenance fishing by local indigenous traditional fishing methods is often a brilliant example of how it is, and can be done. As well as being ridiculously fun to experience, its just one of the many experiences that we, as cruisers, seek during our life abroad at sea.
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