Women in Fiji are often employed in the informal economy, which means low and inconsistent pay, with underemployment for them running as high as 74 percent, according to The Asia Foundation. So the women being trained by Ravea are eager to learn a more lucrative trade.
Gathered in Vatulele’s bright, turquoise-coloured community hall, Ravea is teaching women how to haul in the lines, clean the oysters, and make predator nets from heavy-duty plastic to protect the oysters from triggerfish and pufferfish. She offers quarterly training sessions, welcoming both women and men to learn the oyster meat trade.
Around 25 women in the village have received training in oyster farming this year. On this day in mid-July, half a dozen women aged 24 to 59 and dressed in florals and polka dots are crouched over rolls of predator nets.
Unaisi Seruwaia, 49, is one of the trainees. She previously served as secretary of Vatulele Yaubula, the village’s community oyster collective, so she understands the industry’s potential.
“It’s not easy to live in a [Fijian] village — it’s difficult to make money,” she says, noting that the average income in her village is just 150 to 200 Fijian dollars ($66-88) a week.
“We sell vegetables, like dalo [taro] and yaqona [kava], or we look for income from fishing,” she says, adding that some women also dry coconut meat, weave baskets or take jobs in shops.
As the weather becomes more unpredictable, a climate-resistant source of income is more important than ever, says Seruwaia.
Predator nets keep oysters safe from pufferfish [Melonie Ryan/Al Jazeera]
Warnings about extreme weather events are raising fears that fishing stocks will decline further. In March 2025, for example, a climate study predicted that tropical cyclones and extreme floods would increase in severity in Fiji, posing even more risks to coastal and marine livelihoods.
The country has only just recovered from 2016’s Cyclone Winston. The 26-day storm was the strongest on record in the Southern Hemisphere, costing an estimated 1.99 billion Fijian dollars ($875m) in damage. The cyclone affected more than half of Fiji’s population, killing 44 people and causing widespread damage and destruction to villages and farmland, particularly on the north coast of the main island, but also on the smaller islands.
“Cyclone Winston caused extensive damage to coral reefs, mangroves, and seagrass beds — critical habitats that sustain subsistence and small-scale commercial fisheries,” says Rosi Batibasaga, a WCS fisheries officer.
Coastal villages such as Vatulele were hit hard, she said: “They faced reduced fish availability, destroyed boats and fishing gear, and sharp declines in household income and food security.”
The village of Vatulele lies on Vanua Levu’s south coast [Melonie Ryan/Al Jazeera]
Vatulele resident Vive Digiata, 59, put it simply: “Before [the cyclone], life was easier,” she said. “Fish are becoming smaller, and people are switching to canned fish to supplement their food.”
Illegal fishing or poaching, often by foreign vessels, meanwhile, also depletes fish stocks along coastal waters and puts endangered species, such as hawksbill turtles, at greater risk.
