This month, we launched our first round of 4FJ Fish Smart champions: Chef Lance Seeto and Joe Gray!
Chef Lance Seeto!
Chef Lance Seeto is a culinarian extraordinaire, an influential figure in the local food tourism sector having worked in a number of high-end luxury resorts in Fiji over the last 15 years.
Chef Lance Seeto has been a longtime supporter of the 4FJ movement and has come on board again as a 4FJ Fish Smart champion to help educate everybody about what size fish should be before they are caught or bought.
“We have to the mentality of protecting our source of food, because at the end of the day, Fiji like all Pacific Islands, our biggest plus, our biggest source of natural resources comes from the ocean,” said Seeto.
'Wild' fish is a major part of his locally infused menus. He is certainly very passionate about the future of Fiji's fisheries and we are excited to have Seeto on board to help spread the word to Say No to Undersized Fish.
Joe Gray!
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 and now a 4FJ Fish Smart champion!
Fiji’s man of all seasons is now doing something he has never done before. For the people.
Joe Gray, 4FJ Fish Smart champion: Leave the Baby Fish Alone!
“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.
“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.”
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.”
So now, for the grassroots people, he is asking everyone to avoid undersize fish.
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.
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.”
Mr Gray is quickly getting comfortable with his new role as 4FJ Fish Smart champions and letting everyone know to “Leave the baby fish alone!”