Prostitution and Pacific fishing

by effective | October 12, 2006 at 06:58 am

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Kiribati - Fishing and prostitution might be the two oldest professions. But the exploitation of both is creating new vulnerabilities for Pacific islands as the whole world increasingly comes to fish in its waters. Ben Bohane reports from Kiribati.

Not as romantic as it seems

In the Pacific, the practice of
sweet young girls paddling out to foreign boats to introduce their
charms to restless seamen is nothing new, it is almost a clichÃ© of
Pacific history. European sailors were fond of dropping anchor in
places like Tahiti knowing they would be "warmly welcomed" after long
and lonely months at sea. Such women helped cause mutiny on the Bounty,
and much else to inspire romantic notions in Europe that the Pacific
islands were an Eden of sorts.

Although the practice continues
today, there is little romance and far more dangers involved for the
girls - the spectre of AIDS and social/psychological consequences of
girls as young as 12 involved gives the fishing industry a dark side
that is rarely contemplated when consumers open a tin of tuna.

In
reality, there are growing social consequences as a result of a
rapacious fishing industry worth an estimated US$2.7 billion per year.
More than half the world's tuna, about 2 million tons per year, now
comes from the Pacific region. more...