Tuna art symbolises FFA input into SIDS

Apia, 26 August 2014
The Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) visually expressed its participation in the 3rd conference of Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) in Apia today. In his office, the Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi accepted a large tuna artwork on behalf of SIDS.

The Ulu of Tokelau, Faipule Kuresa Nasau handed over the travelling tuna that represents both the main Pacific fish catch, and the diversity of Pacific Peoples. Tokelau was Chair of the FFA Officials meeting and recent Fisheries Minister's meeting, that for the first were hosted recently in Nukunonu. The FFA headquarters are in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

The Samoan PM acknowledged the importance of fisheries to Pacific economies. He joked to the Ulu that he always had an interest in the Exclusive Economic Zone around Tokelau: the 200 kilometre-radius is proportionally very large. The three atolls of that country measure only 10-12 square kilometres combined. The nearest lies at a distance of 500 km from Apia, the only regular port of travel to Tokelau.

 
FFA-fish-PM&Ulu300
The Ulu of Tokelau, Faipule Kuresa Nasau hands over FFA tuna art to the Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi.
The travelling tuna artwork was put together for SIDS by six artists from the Oceania Centre for Arts, Culture and Pacific Studies at the University of the South Pacific (USP) in Fiji. The fish's components express fears of over-fishing due to massive changes in fishing vessels and technologies; they also illustrate perceptions and traditions relating to the tuna, the iconic food now feeding our economic revenues.

See also article in Samoa Observer, 28 August 2014 (pdf, 1.2MB)
FFA-fish-300
The tuna artwork in its full glory.