Village by Village: Recovering Fiji's Coastal Fisheries
In the early 1990s, residents of Ucunivanua Village, on the eastern coast of Fiji’s largest island, realized that the marine resources they depended on were becoming scarce. Village elders remembered when a woman could collect several bags of large kaikoso clams—a food staple and important...more
From Degraded to Delightful: Bingag Marine Sanctuary, Philippines
It’s hard to believe while swimming through the crystal clear waters of the Bingag Marine Sanctuary that cyanide and dynamite fishing used to be common here. Corals are healthy and fish abundant now, both inside and...more
Resort Works With Village to Conserve Coral Reefs
Along the Coral Coast of Fiji's big island of Viti Levu, approximately 130 kilometers (80 miles) west of the capital of Suva, a unique partnership exists between an international beach resort and the small fishing village adjacent to it. Years ago, the new... more
Fishing Village's Qoliqoli Threatened by City Waste
In a quiet cove tucked away beside a mangrove forest, one woman gleans for sea urchins while another snorkels for Trochus, a type of mollusk. Up on the hillside sits the charming Navukavu community, comprised of four... more
Problems and Progress in Madang Lagoon
In a grade school in Madang, a town along the north coast of Papua New Guinea (PNG), school children learn that among the different fishing methods used within the lagoon, dynamite is one. This form of collecting fish, though illegal, has become so prevalent here that it has actually ... more
The Kolla People of the Puna
It is a cold, clear day. Herds of llamas roam the vast arid plains. Pink flamingos sift their beaks through the mud on the bank of a frozen watering hole. The relentless wind blows the dusty earth into spectral trails that crawl across the frigid landscape like a curtain....more
The Medusa Worm
Preparing for a secondary dive site after a deep wreck off Miami Beach, I didn't have any great expectations for that particular spot. Indeed, as my buddy Trish and I descended through the silty water to a broken-up barge lying amidst scattered cement pipes in 50 feet of water, I believed it would be a quick and murky... more