What fishermen used to cash in two days now takes an entire week, as a result of climate change.
Faizuli Ali, a fisherman from Ba, said this was what he experienced in the past 10 years, and expects the worse to come in the next decade. He bade his brother farewell on Tuesday as he searched for fish worth selling.
On a good fishing trip, Mr Ali and his colleagues would rake in about $800.
After paying for all their expenses they are left with at least $300 to divide among themselves.
Mr Ali, like his fellow fishermen, would only go home with $60 – to feed their family among other expenses.
“It is not very good now because of the weather,” he said.
“It had been three weeks and none of us were at sea because of the weather.
“This is really a hard time for us.” Mr Ali comes from a generation of fishermen in Ba.
Over the years, he’s witnessed the decline in the size of the fish.
He’s been in the business for more than 60 years, which he operates with his younger brother.
His work allows him to send his children to school.
“The fishing business is not very good now because of the weather,” he said.
“We only go out when the weather is good because this place is prone to flooding.
“Other than that, we just stay home and wait for good weather.
“The weather condition is just getting worse.”
Mr Ali has no plans to retire soon. He would ask his siblings for help when he faced a problem, especially after a disaster.
However, he discovered that there was an insurance plan that could help him get back on his feet.
Last year, he signed up for a parametric microinsurance scheme – a product of the Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP).
He received $250 as part of the $100 premium. of $1000.
“I was really happy that I got the money because I was in need of it,” he said.
“I highly scheme.”
Semi Sasai has only been a fisherman for the past five years where he has seen many fishing grounds go empty.
“We no longer fish in one place, we have to move around,” he said.
“We just used to fish at the mouth of the Ba River and our catch in a few hours would be enough.
“But today, we really have to go out at sea and look for fish.
“We have sailed up to Yadua, Yasawa and even behind the Yasawa group just to meet our quota.
“There is less fish next to shore.”
Mr Sasai believes climate change
PIt pays out a maximum recommend this the arametric insurance solutions are new to the Pacific and Fiji market, but they are gaining acceptance and traction fast.
It is different from the traditional indemnity insurance in that for parametric insurance, there is no need for verification of actual losses incurred, thereby reducing costs and time taken to admit claims.
These features allow the product to cover an even wider net of perils and threats than traditional insurance, such as car or fire insurance,
Instead of physical losses, parametric products provide coverage against pre-defined ‘trigger’ events such as the strength of a cyclone or excessive rainfall.
Index insurance is another name for these types of products, as payments are determined based on measurable factors, as highlighted above.
The introduction of parametric insurance in Fiji was spearheaded by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) through its flagship Pacific Insurance and Climate Adaptation Programme (PICAP) by working closely with private and public sector partners In August 2021, PICAP launched Fiji and the Pacific region’s first climate risk parametric micro-insurance product that provided coverage against tropical cyclones.
The product was offered in the market through local insurers, Fiji Care and Sun Insurance.
The product offered a maximum coverage of FJ$1000 for a premium of FJ$100.
Payments were triggered based on the strength of the cyclone and the proximity of the beneficiary to the eye of the cyclone.
For example, during a Category-5 cyclone, a beneficiary is entitled to a full payment of $1000 if their location lies within 25 kilometres to the eye of the cyclone.
To reduce turnaround times, payments are made directly to the mobile wallets (M-PAiSA or MyCash) or bank accounts of the beneficiaries digitally.
The non-requirement to verify physical losses means payments are processed within two weeks of the trigger event taking place after the final weather data is made available