Please select your home edition
Edition
Sydney International On-Water Boat Show 2025

How yachties from Oceans Watch are making a difference

by Nancy Knudsen on 24 Jul 2009
Some of the Oceans Watch team SW
Sailors on yachts in remote areas are making a difference.

Oceans Watch, that organisation of sailors on yachts, which was formed to assist local people in remote coastal areas to conserve and build their ocean resources, is doing just that - and this story is one example of just how successful they are.


The 2009 work season has successfully begun for two Oceanswatch teams – one based in Vanuatu (led by Natalie Riddler on several host yachts) and another in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (led by Chris Bone on Magic Roundabout).

Natalie's team is starting to collect data for the Vanuatu Ministry of Fisheries and Reef Check, on their first host boat, Waka Taitea, while Chris and the crew have spent a very productive week on Rennell Island in Solomons.


Rennell is at the very south of the Solomon Islands archipelago and is unusual among others in Melanesia, as it is populated by the people of Polynesian origin.

OceansWatch was approached by Willie Sau Kaitu’u, a member of the Tehakatu’u tribe in February 2009. Willie volunteers with World Vision in the Solomon’s so had access to the Internet and found their website. He also approached several other NGO’s but only OceansWatch responded.

When Chris and the team arrived at Rennell they found a tribe with great leadership that was acutely aware that its marine resources were reaching dangerously low levels. Since the 1960s various overseas fishing enterprises had persuaded the tribe to sell the last of their limited resources.

Crayfish were completely fished out 20 years ago and are only just starting to re-appear. Sea Cucumbers have almost completely vanished. The shark and clam populations at nearby Indispensable reefs have been decimated by overseas fishing boats.

Adding to the burden of overfishing have been regular cyclones, which cause repeated damage to corals. Surveys found mainly massive and encrusting corals, the life-forms less susceptible to wave damage. All other coral forms were found but very few foliose and branching corals.

In the damaged areas new growth was encountered but all colonies were estimated to be under 10 years old. The last major cyclone here was in 1993, a cyclone that destroyed every house in the area. As the bay where the Tehakatu’u tribe live is very open even distant cyclones adversely affect the reef.



The local community do not have the resources to fish offshore and the soils are very poor so reef fishing provides the major source of protein. The day after OceansWatch arrived the community called a meeting that they were invited to address.

One of OceansWatch's marine scientists, Alison Schmidt gave a talk on Coral Reef ecology and options were outlined for protecting fish stocks, such as constraints on fishing gear, seasonal bans, size limits and the creation of a Marine Protected Area (MPA).



Immediately after the talk the community formed the Tahakatu’u Conservation Committee, which asked us to locate a suitable MPA site.

Alternate 100m sections were surveyed throughout the tribe’s reef and it was soon apparent that one site stood out as it had more coral life forms and coral cover than other sites. Tribal elders were shown the site and felt it would also work well for them, as one boundary of the proposed site was traditionally a “tambu” area and another was marked by a cliff that looked a bit like a face, looking over the MPA. The area was mapped and “Reef Check” surveys were carried out in it as well as Rapid Assessment Surveys both within and outside the MPA.

The Conservation committee met again to discuss the findings and agreed on the MPA site. Whilst the community agrees that the MPA is an essential insurance policy for the tribe’s marine resources they are naturally concerned at the immediate loss of fishing area.

OceansWatch is committed to helping communities through this transition time and has drawn up a memorandum of understanding with the tribe to help them best utilise alternative sustainable resources for the next 4 years.



OceansWatch will train community members to monitor their own fisheries and MPA as well as support the community school and is considering other measures such as organic farming and Permaculture consultancy.

Rennell is known as the second largest upraised atoll in the world and the largest one in the Pacific. The freshwater lake Te'Nggano, formed from the ancient lagoon, is a World Heritage Site.

With the help of the international volunteers working there long-term, the Oceanswatch team had an opportunity to visit the lake and enjoy its natural beauty.

Magic Roundabout is now anchored in the vicinity of Peava, New Georgia. Here they will visit the local people who are already working towards protecting their marine resources for their communities.

So the work goes on - many coastal communities have had their fishing grounds affected by commercial fishing by ships from far-away countries.

If you would like to find out more about Oceans Watch, join, donate, be a volunteer sailor or contribute the use of your yacht for some of these activities, go to their www.oceanswatch.org!website in North America, or their www.oceanswatch.org.au!website in Australia.

X-Yachts X4.0sMRT AIS Man Overboard Beacons AUS / NZHyde Sails 2024 - One Design

Related Articles

SailGP and America's Cup on collision course
Serious schedule clashes ahead as a group of professional sailors try to serve two masters. The tectonic plates of the sailing world, SailGP and America's Cup, are a collision course, with the Big Bang expected in 2027, when there is expected to be some serious schedule clashes as a group of professional sailors try to serve two masters.
Posted today at 12:51 pm
Grand Prix Sailing Regatta returns to Gold Coast
Sail Paradise returns next weekend Southport Yacht Club's flagship regatta Sail Paradise returns next weekend, Friday 3rd to Monday 6th, over the Queensland King's Birthday Long Weekend in October!
Posted today at 7:58 am
2025 Six Metre World Championship Day 4
Three races for both divisions on the penultimate day in Osyter Bay Three races for both divisions on the penultimate day of the 2025 Six Metre World Championships at the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, produced some great competition and a new race winner.
Posted today at 5:20 am
46th Cannes Royal Regatta day 4
Storm... of calm! After three wonderful days of "champagne sailing" as the Anglo-Saxons say, the "fan" decided to take a break this Thursday.
Posted today at 5:12 am
2025 J/70 Corinthian Worlds at Massachusetts day 2
Alec Cutler's Hedgehog takes charge after 3 more races held Winds at 10-15 knots, murky skies and rolling waves were the order of the day at the J/70 Corinthian World Championship in Marblehead, Massachusetts USA.
Posted on 25 Sep
2025 Formula Wing Worlds Sardinia day 2
Hard yards for short-course gladiators Day two of the Formula Wing World Championships in Cagliari, Sardinia, delivered five short-course races and a whole range of emotions across the 93-strong international fleet.
Posted on 25 Sep
52 Super Series 2025 Porto Cervo day 3
Sled lead in Porto Cervo and have slashed American Magic's circuit lead in chase for the title The strong Mistral breeze on Sardinia's Costa Smeralda dropped away nicely today and three good, highly competitive races were completed, bringing the 52 SUPER SERIES - Porto Cervo - Range Rover regatta back to schedule.
Posted on 25 Sep
Melges 24 Worlds 2025 at Trieste, Italy Day 3
Light winds compress the standings in Trieste The 2025 Melges 24 World Championship, organized by Yacht Club Adriaco in collaboration with the International Melges 24 Class Association and with the support of the Italian Melges 24 Class, continues in something of a slow-motion rhythm.
Posted on 25 Sep
A true attraction for non-French skippers
Hard work, training, and perseverance in the 56th La Solitaire du Figaro Paprec The excellence of the French solo racing pathway is increasingly attracting non-French skippers who want to come, learn, and train in a discipline that, for now, remains very French.
Posted on 25 Sep
Last Chance to Complete 2x25 Survey
As Early Results Highlight Inequities Early responses to The Magenta Project's 2x25 survey reveal encouraging signs of progress on representation alongside systemic barriers that continue to hold sailing and the wider marine industry back.
Posted on 25 Sep