Villages along the Coral Coast in Nadroga were caught by surprise when they saw a lot of dead fish washed up on their foreshores on Tuesday.

Namada villager Orisi Seniuci said this was the first time they had witnessed such an incident and said he believed it was the result of the great heat.

“I was surprised when we saw fish gasping for air and dying in the lagoon,” he said.

“Tuesday is normally the village day (siga ni koro) when all men and women gather undertake village clean-up and also tend to other village projects,” he said.

Mr Seniuci said they were advised by their village headman to collect all the dead fish.

“The ‘Turaga ni Koro’ (village headman) directed everyone to go into the lagoon and collect the fish that were just thrown around helplessly by the current and dying because of the sun’s heat and warmth of the ocean,” he said.

“At first we were happy but then if this continues than it would be a threat to us. All the villages from Namada, Tagaqe, Votualailai, Votua and Komave had this unique experience this morning (Tuesday).”

He ni Uwa Restaurant owner Kinisalote Vunitasiri of Baravi, Nadroga said, “I think the heat is what caused this fish to die. Usually this is a sign of bad weather,” she said.

“This morning we saw fishes lying dead on the beach near our restaurant. We saw some of them stuck on to the nearby reefs,” she said.

Maui Bay, The Naviti Resort Fiji and Namatakula Village also faced the same problem.

Edited by Paula Tuvuki

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