Tag: Interview

Tehei’s First Dives (1/3)

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“I was seven years old. My dad and Fiu’s dad were in the water. My oldest brother Toua stayed in the canoe to watch over it. And I was little. I said to my dad, I also want to go in the water. My dad said, “No, no, no, no.” In the moment that he dove down, I jumped in the water. I dove behind him. When my dad saw me, he said, “Ah, no, no! Return to the boat! Go, go!” Afterwards I cried and cried and cried, and my dad said, “Come, come.” So I went alongside my father. I had a mask, but no light. I was behind my dad. And my dad, he couldn’t very well fish because he was all the time beside me, watching me. So… there you go. It was night! That was my first dive, in the night” – Tehei of Vaitahu, 31 years old

Original French:

“J’ai sept ans. Eh… mon père avec le pere de Fiu, ete dans la mer. Et mon frère Toua il était le plus grand dans le pirogue pour garder le pirogue. Et moi j’etait petit. Et j’ai disais a mon père, je veux aussi aller à la mer. Mon père a dit, ‘Non, non, non, non.’ Au moment que mon père a plongé, j’ai parti plonger. Parti derrière. Quand mon père a vu, il dit, ‘Ah, non, non! Tu retourne dans le pirogue. Aller aller!’ Apres j’ais pleure pleure pleure, mon père a dit ‘Come, come.’ J’ai etait a coté de mon père. Avec un mask. Mais sans la lumière. Sans lumière. J’étais derrière de mon père. Et mon père, il peut pas bien pêcher parce qu’il était tout le temps la, me surveyer. Ben… voila. La nuit! C’est mon premier plonge. C’est la nuit.”

Diving with Sharks

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“When I went fishing with a friend of mine, my friend was in the boat and I was alone in the ocean. So, when I shot the fish [with a speargun], afterwards the spear flew off completely. It fell to the bottom with the fish. I went to recuperate the spear and the fish, but at the same time I didn’t pay attention to what was behind me. I started to swim upwards, with the fish here in my hand, and then the shark came at me from behind. The shark wanted the fish, but he took my hand first. I fought off the shark and then quickly swam to the surface. Once I came into the boat it wasn’t even five minutes before I passed out. I woke up in the infirmary.”

This is a story from champion spearfisherman Hi’o, a man living in the village of Vaitahu. He still has his hand, albeit with some very large scars.

I am currently going through old interviews from my dissertation fieldwork period, so I will be posting a lot of small stories or quotes from people living in the Marquesas. There will definitely be more on sharks in the future.

Original quote:

Quand on été a la pêche, avec un copain, après comme mon copain était sur le bateau, j’étais seul dans la mer. Voila, comment j’ai tiré le poisson après la flèche s’envole carrément, c’est tombé au fond avec le poisson. J’étais aller recouper le harpon avec le poisson, je même pas fait attention derrière moi. Commencé à monter, comme le poisson il est la (points to hand), après, le requin a venu par derrière. Il veut, le requin, il voulait du poisson, mais il a pris d’abord ma main. Comme ca, débattre avec le requin, voilà. Et vite aller à la surface. Arrive dans la bateau même pas cinq minutes ok, K.O. Je me suis reveille à la infirmerie. Voilà.

Longline

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“But what about our children? When will they think about our children? They will no longer see the kahi [tuna]. It is a disappearing species. We should do something, we should stop this. I know this because I did a month of [longline] fishing. That’s 3,500 hooks in one evening. 3,500 hooks! Mea nui [that’s a lot]…. And the sharks! The sharks! They cut their fins off. This is a massacre. They must really outlaw these thonier. It is true that they have families to feed but… what about the world, eh? Hm? What are we going to eat later on if there are no more fish?”

Tahitian-born Hiro told me about the plight of the tuna one afternoon on the veranda of his home in Motopu, on the island of Tahuata, June 2018. The thonier boats he refers to are large fishing vessels with their eyes set on Tuna (fr. thon). The local mayors council in the Marquesas (known as CODIM) has accepted a new plan to allow thonier to fish in the Marquesan Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). When I was doing dissertation research on the island of Tahuata, the thonier had not yet arrived, but I found that already the majority of people I spoke with were against these huge boats. Like Hiro, many islanders fear the population of tuna and other species (like sharks) will be decimated. In contrast, others for the program, like the mayor of Vaitahu, are drawn to the project by the potential economic benefits. Today – as a friend from the island tells me through Facebook messenger – the first thonier has arrived at the port of Tahuata’s neighboring island, Hiva Oa. However, protesters continue to show their discontent and the project seems to be at a standstill.

Thonier employ a fishing method called “longline” where lines potentially 100 miles long are strung throughout the ocean supported by buoys. As Hiro says, over 3,000 hooks can be deployed in a single night with this method (see Fitzgerald 2013 for an in-depth description). In his book Tuna: A Love Story journalist Richard Ellis calls this method “ruthlessly efficient.” The by-catch associated with these lines is immense, as anything willing to bite into a large chunk of bait meant is at risk, as well as those who happen to tangle themselves in the line, such as sea birds.

Tuna populations have declined immensely since the demand for this fish has exploded, due to the Japanese sushi market and canned tuna fisheries. I won’t talk about percentages and numbers here, because there are many depending on the species and the geographical location, but if you’re interested in learning more about the sustainability of Tuna fisheries I suggest reading anything by Barbara Block, Carl Safina or Sylvia Earle, as well as Richard Ellis’s book mentioned above (although it’s a bit old). Greenpeace, WWF and FAO also have some important, more statistical information for those interested. More to be said about Tuna and fishing in upcoming posts, I’m sure.

References:

Ellis, R. 2008. Tuna: A Love Story. New York: Alfred A. Knopf
Fitzgerald, K.T. 2013. Longline Fishing (How What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You). Topics in Companion Animal Medicine, 28(4), pp. 151-162

Note: The interview in which this quote was acquired was held in French, translation is my own.