Joe Gray is known around Fiji for many things: President of the popular Western Maroon League team in Nadi, Airports Fiji Limited manager for Landside Operations and Customer Services and an all-around Fiji socialite. The list goes on.

But Fiji’s man of all seasons is now doing something he has never done before. For the people.

“This is a totally new area for me because I have never advocated for anything as such. But I am doing this for our people and our communities who depend on fish for their livelihoods and daily sustenance,” he said.

New role as Fish Smart champion

What he is doing is signing on as a 4FJ Fish Smart champion. The 4FJ Fish Smart campaign is asking people to stop buying and selling undersize fish while also promoting Fish Smart activities in communities to help revive their fishing grounds.

The campaign is built on champions stepping up to share the message with their family, friends and networks.

“We cannot thank Joe Gray and our growing group of champions enough for spreading this message,” said Mafa Qiolele, programme manager for cChange.

“Buying and selling undersize fish is not a new problem for Fiji and change is hard without role models like Joe Gray.”

Gray’s humble upbringing

Originally from Levuka, Mr Gray was the only child of his adoptive parents, growing up in a close-knit squatter community at Laqere in Nasinu, Suva.

“We were not a family that had fish often because my guardians could not afford it but maybe once in a week, mostly on Sundays. It was then just cooked with either bele or rourou as it’s green and or we had fried fish at times if we had people coming from our village to visit,” he said.

“Life was very humbling compared to now and I am so grateful that I was brought up that way and that has naturally taught me to respect people from all walks of life and helped me to connect with grassroots people more easily.”

Appeal to fishers

So now, for the grassroots people, he is asking everyone to avoid undersize fish. Fishing is getting harder and harder in Fiji.

Fishers across Fiji are reporting they have to spend more time and money on fuel to catch fish and often for increasingly smaller catches, hurting livelihoods and family nutrition.

But if you let fish get big enough to breed, before you take them, you get bigger fish and also more fish in the future.

Message

Mr Gray said in addition to hurting fish catches, undersize fish are poor eating.

“I am not one for small fish or baby fish. When it comes to choosing fish, sizes matter to me because they have minimal bones and does not rob your time scaling and cleaning it,” Mr Gray said.

“I usually go the supermarket or the Lautoka wharf because I know they come with fresh fish and their price is just right and the quality of what they bring is something that I look forward to and trust. If you buy bigger fish it would be enough for everyone in the family.”

Because like many Fijians, Gray wants to keep eating fish, though he confides he likes them steamed, but because of a health problem he has been advised by his doctor to boil his fish.

So, Mr Gray, quickly getting comfortable with his new role as 4FJ Fish Smart champions, concludes: “Leave the baby fish alone”!

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