I found an article dated May 2015
http://www.cookislandsnews.com/opin...about-manihiki-s-pearl-revitalisation-project
The truth about Manihiki?s pearl revitalisation project
Thursday May 21, 2015 Published in Letters to the Editor
Pearl biologist Tina Weier posts the weekly water quality testing results on a community noticeboard in Manihiki. The photo was taken in April last year.
Dear Editor,
My name is Tina Weier. I am a marine biologist who worked for the Cook Islands Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) from June 2012 ? October 2014.
Most recently I lived for one year on Manihiki working as the MMR Pearl Biologist. I am writing in response to information put forth by George Pitt in the Cook Islands Herald regarding the New Zealand Aid Pearl Revitalisation Project.
Excellent work is being done through the cooperation of NZAid, MMR, the Manihiki Island Council, and Manihiki Pearl Farmers and the people of the Cook Islands deserve to know about it.
In late 2000, at the peak of the Cook Islands Pearl Industry, a disease outbreak occurred in the Manihiki lagoon. Unprecedented numbers of oysters began to die and the lagoon was filled with sickness.
As is often the case with the ocean, the bounty of the lagoon had been taken for granted. In the constant search for wealth, more and more oysters were crammed into a small lagoon with limited food and oxygen. Disorganised and unmanaged, the lagoon reached its tipping point ? too many animals in too small a space. An industry which had managed to survive and thrive following the devastation of Cyclone Martin crumbled beneath the weight of greed.
Realising it was not the easy money they had hoped, many farmers left the enterprise altogether. Entire farms were abandoned and left for others to deal with, a legacy which still haunts those who choose to persevere. The number of oysters in the lagoon plummeted, back to a level which nature could support.
Slowly, the water quality began to return to normal. By 2006 it was obvious that the Cook Islands Pearl Industry was not dead and that hope remained. A lagoon management plan was created through the c-operation of farmers, the Ministry of Marine Resources and the Manihiki Island Council for the purpose of ?establishing ecologically sustainable pearl farming practices for the protection, conservation and management of the Manihiki lagoon?.
Details of the plan were determined based on the best available research at the time and the knowledge of farmers. The plan has since been administered by the Manihiki Island Council based on data collected by the MMR. Compliance is required as a condition of being a pearl farming permit-holder.
The plan is simple. It outlines common sense guidelines for pearl farming which ensure that too many oysters don?t get crammed in too small a space again ? details like the minimum distance there should be between lines and chaplets. If everyone follows the plan, it will minimise the risk of another disease outbreak.
But if even one farmer does not follow the plan and crowds their oysters, then their area could become a ?hot spot? with the potential to infect the rest of the lagoon. That is why it is critical, as Kora pointed out, that ??pearl farming in Manihiki needs to be a collective mission with everyone focused on the big picture and greater good, the argumentative and fragmented state is counter-productive and a serious threat to the industry and long term sustainability of the island?.
Within the NZAid Pearl Project Grant Funding Arrangement (GFA) a set of minimum criteria was outlined to which farmers had to comply in order to participate. Farmers must be ?current permit-holders complying with all relevant conditions.? In accordance with this, the Manihiki Island Council is releasing the equipment from the NZAid Pearl Project to any farmer who meets the criteria outlined in the GFA.
To date, of the 22 farmers who requested equipment in the scheme, one has pulled out to pursue other interests, 11 have been approved to receive 100 per cent of their equipment, three have been conditionally approved, and seven do not meet the criteria. With hard work, time, and dedication, numerous farmers including Kora Kora, Mehau and Mokoha Johnson, Tangi and Ngamata Napara, Lawrencia Williams and John and Apii McLeod have shown they can reliably produce stunningly beautiful pearls using sustainable farming practices.
However, because some farmers were unable to fix all problems on their farms with the resources they had available, the Island Council and MMR devised a conditional approval alternative to the 100 per cent compliance option. Non-compliant farmers are met with individually and asked what they are capable of fixing with the materials they have.
From this meeting a plan of action is created. Once farmers achieve the goals outlined in their plan of action, their areas are re-inspected by MMR. If satisfactory, the work conducted is accepted as proof of intent to comply. Strict, objective guidelines based on the plan have been applied equally to every participant in the project.
I personally swam over every farm, and Teuru Tiraa Passfield is doing the same. Of the seven farmers who currently do not meet the criteria, five failed the first inspections conducted by MMR in 2009 for the same reasons as their areas failed now. They, as yet, have provided no proof of intent that they will use new resources any differently than in the past.
As employees of the Government, you do not get to be everyone?s friend. You have to make hard decisions which are for the greater good. The Manihiki Island Council, with the help of the MMR, has chosen to take a stand to defend the health of the Manihiki lagoon and the long-term sustainability of the Cook Islands Pearl Industry. Most farmers have stood with them. As a result of the NZAid Pearl Project there are now nine additional farmers complying with the plan who previously did not. And unlike previous years, water quality in the Manihiki lagoon was on average excellent
last year, with 20-plus metre water clarity most weeks. But, as we all know, if you sit down on the road you?ll get run over - even if you are on the right path.
So, as George Pitt pointed out, if despite their considerable other commitments, Tangi (MMR station manager) and Ngamata Napara (mayor) can operate a model pearl farm which meets or exceeds the requirements of the plan in every way, anyone can.
Tina Weier
