A Cloud Of Uncertainty Hangs Over Fiji
A Cloud Of Uncertainty Hangs Over Fiji
In its near-fifty year history, they’ve been periods in pro surfing where the yearly schedule became familiarly repetitious. Sponsors would sign multi-year contest contracts and see them through, often re-signing for subsequent multi-year periods. The most recent period was the decade following the late-90s.
Unlike the present day, where contests come and go, and a new three-tier structure muddies the pathway to the top, back then many CT contests were approaching a Bells-at-Easter level of stability.
In 1995, Quiksilver sought to expand its reach and introduced the G’Land Pro. The concept was the antecedent for the Dream Tour and appeared set to become embedded in the CT schedule.
The 1997 Asian Financial Crisis put paid to that idea with investment in Indonesia becoming a risky proposition. In 1998, Quiksilver pulled out of Indonesia yet remained cleaved to the idea of top-tier competition in exotic locales, casting their eyes one ocean basin to the east. At the time, Fiji offered stability with an accommodating tourism arm. In 1999, Quiksilver held their first CT contest at Cloudbreak, won by Mark Occhilupo on his return year.
Occy at The Fiji Pro (ASP/Rowland)
Quiksilver remained the umbrella sponsor of the Fiji Pro until 2005 when Globe took over, later handing the reins to Volcom. The contest then spent a few years wholly supported by the WSL with Outerknown sponsoring it for just one year before it was dropped altogether in 2018.
Importantly for the sake of this article, it’s worth noting that for three years during its twenty years of its existence, the Fiji Pro didn’t run. From 2009 to 2011 the event was on hiatus - making a spectacular return in 2012 courtesy of a huge swell.
The reason for the absence was political uncertainty, not unlike what happened in Indonesia twelve years earlier. In Fiji’s case, however, it wasn’t exposure to currency devaluations but a new leader who took the country by coup and left both locals and foreign investors wondering about his motives.
Among a raft of proposals, including a crackdown on the free media, new leader Frank Bainimarama took interest in traditional village fishing rights (called Qoliqoil in Fiji) transferring rights from local villages to the greater population of Fijian people. Bainimarama considered it a necessary reform to modernise Fiji.
When Bainimarama began meddling with fishing rights, surfing was also caught in the net. From 1984 onwards, the owners of Tavarua had obtained exclusive rights to Cloudbreak and Restaurants by paying a retainer to the nearby villages of Yako, Nabila and Momi, who held traditional rights over the reefs.
Bainimarama’s meddling set in motion a chain of events that led to Fiji’s Surfing Decree of 2010, that removed exclusivity of any reef, allowing full access to locals and foreigners alike. It was considered a huge win for greater Fijians as locals could now surf Cloudbreak and Restaurants any time they wanted (rather than just Saturdays as was the case prior to 2020). In turn, surf tourism in Fiji flourished with the income shared among many operators rather than just Tavarua and Namotu.
Though a military dictator, Frank Bainimarama came good on his promises and a period of stability followed, into which the Fiji Pro returned up until its last outing in 2017. Since then, there’s been occasional signals that Fiji may return to the schedule.
Recently, Swellnet spoke to Brent HIll, the CEO of Tourism Fiji, who when asked about a return of the Fiji Pro, said that ”we’re working with the WSL and talking with the new government of Fiji to see what we can do for the future.
Hill’s mention of “the new government” is pertinent to the topic as, since Frank Bainimarama lost office last year, Fiji again entered a period of uncertainty - at least where surfing is concerned. With the architect of the 2010 Surfing Decree now in opposition*, Fijians are taking a renewed look at the changes wrought on their nation from those changes.
The issues are complex, however they revolve around retaining traditional culture and limiting foreign involvement. Though the 2010 decree allowed open access to the waves there’s an acknowledgement that some villages lost money as they could no longer charge for access. In the case of the three Momi Bay villages allowing access to Cloudbreak, they’ve lost a combined total of $12 million.
A desire to return to traditional ownership is motivating current events. “Just because it’s the ocean does not mean it belongs to everyone like it does overseas,” says Ian ‘Kini’ Muller from Fiji Surf Co. “In the Pacific we view this differently as it’s our source of livelihood.”
Though Kini’s business, and others like it, have benefitted from the 2010 Surf Decree he sees the arrangement as discriminatory toward Fijians. In Kini’s eyes it’s the greed of foreign-owned resorts that has instigated the current state of events.
“The big resorts give peanuts back and they are to blame for this review of the surf law,” says Kini. “If they would have given back a fair percentage of their takings and helped with reef restoration and village welfare projects with the big money they made off the surf reefs this would never come down to this situation.”
“The foreigners needed to be forced to give back what's fair…”
Prior to the 2010 Surf Decree, Tavarua and Namotu had to give 5% of their gross income to the villages. That ceased with the decree and open access - hence Yako, Nabila and Momi losing a stated $12 million income - however both Tavarua and Namotu still rely on the good waves nearby and even without exclusivity have become expensive and highly-sought after resorts. And not just for guests, as during COVID Larry Page - the CEO of Google and sixth richest person in the world - bought both Namotu and Tavarua islands.
Foreign owned, foreign attended, exorbitantly expensive. It’s not a situation that sits easily with local Fijians. “I’m happy this has come to a head as foreigners need to respect and appreciate the true custodians of the resource,” says Kini of current events. “When our livelihood gets compromised, abused, and exploited for other people's gains then the war club needs to come down.”
Owen Wright surfing his perfect 20 heat at Cloudbreak in 2015 (WSL/Kirstin)
While the new Fijian government has signalled that it wants to repeal past decrees, it hasn’t yet indicated what will replace them, nor what the new legislation will look like, which has worried some people.
“I was alarmed at first,” said Hannah Bennett, the President of the Fiji Surfing Association, to ABC Radio. “ But I dont think it’s a negative thing; I think it’s totally reasonable for the surfing decree to be relooked at.” Yet no-one knows what the government’s plan is, whether it will repeal the decree entirely, amend it, or replace it with new regulations.
“The aim [of the government talks] is to ensure that everyone wins out of the discussions,” says Brent Hill of Tourism Fiji. “Of course from Tourism Fiji’s perspective, we want open access to any and all waves as current, but we’re very supportive of moves to assist the vanua [landholders and rights owners], which is what this process is going through.”
Though an equitable solution is being sought, it’s hard to imagine that there won’t be winners and losers, and that will destabilise Fiji’s surfing economy. Perhaps it’ll only be temporary. The way Frank Bainimarama’s entry into Fijian politics destabilised things, yet eventually led to a period of prosperity.
At any rate, as far as professional surfing is concerned it’s very much a ‘watch this space’ scenario. As much as fans want to see a return to Cloudbreak, it’s highly unlikely to happen until Fiji’s home affairs are in order and investment again becomes a risk-free proposition.
// STU NETTLE
*Further heightening uncertainty is that Frank Bainimarama, was recently suspended from parliament for three years for sedition and insulting the president. Some news agencies are framing it as mere political argy bargy, others are calling it “an escalating political crisis”.
Comments
Nice facts Stu, making sense of Fiji politics, wow, and we thought making sense of the weather was hard.
Salivating at the prospect of more Cloudbreak, outstanding left.
Firk me, that was kept on the low
"as during COVID Larry Page - the CEO of Google and sixth richest person in the world - bought both Namotu and Tavarua islands."
Yeah, I didn't see them on realestate.com!
Holy fuck. "Bought Namotu and Tavarua".
Does the purchase include the inhabitants? Or is it a terra nullis kinda situation?
Another example of why SN leaves others in the dust. Well done!
x20 IB
Having worked at a 4star resort, which i won't name, but was run by foreigers, i can 100percent attest to the poor treatment and wages given to the Fijians.
It's pathetic and i can understand the resentment that it would result in.
I was supposed to be there for 2 years but stayed for 6months purely based on the treatment of the Fijian people.
Still friends with every single one of the Fijians. They're like family.
Sadly they're forced to accept the wages and conditions and treatment as there are no other options, and the management are acutely aware of that.
Don't speak to the owners or management at all.
I was amongst a string of surf operations management that came and went for the same exact reasons.
Tongans used to raid Fiji and Samoa when food was scarce at home; warriors battled.... cannibalism occurred to scare off raiding parties.
Before we went to Fiji, I thought Id better read Lonely Planet... whom advised all gifts are to be presented to the chief of the village, to be distributed as per need & trade. As most tropical villages are affected by cyclones, earthquakes, Tsunami, etc it makes sense to share resources based on need.
The Fiji Govt included representatives of these villagers chiefs.
Bring in migration and western profit motives and there is renewed friction this century.
eg.
I heard of one shop owner whom just vanished when he inflated prices of generators & denied credit to locals.
When we arrived on the main Island, there was a power blackout, this was considered common; if your village or Govt didnt pay their electricity bill, the private power company just turned off whole towns....
Migrant brings business skills; profit over indigenous people.
eg. 2000 Fijian coup d'état
On 19 May 2000 a group of armed men led by Speight stormed the Fijian Parliament and took the government hostage. Speight claimed to have seized power on behalf of ethnic Fijians...
He had been convicted for fraud, then later for above treason....
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Speight
On 29 May 2000, Frank Bainimarama was appointed commander of the Armed Forces that crushed this Coup. Frank B went on to declare military rule, restricting media & foreign interference ....then become a Fijian political leader.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bainimarama
Some people love the tough guy, some just want to have a nice life, free of strife & a good chief to run the village.
Don't think this was noted in the above interview, but ol Franky boy may be in a bit of trouble re. corruption.
https://www.reuters.com/world/former-fiji-leader-bainimarama-charged-wit...
Ultimate power ultimately corrupts minds....
Unfortunately it’s just going to get worse …,
Barney was seen as a savior at the time for opening up the breaks to the universe but we know how well that’s gone as the insta heroes and wealthiest get to savor the delights ….
Sounds like the new regime is the same as it ever was….
Power corruption and lies …
There are aplenty of Fijian Islands (x330) and heaps of good reef breaks....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Fiji
Just find a boat, out go early & only pay on return before the tradewinds & the arvo Kava....
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kava_culture
Na Yaqona Vakaturaga
Chiefly Fijian Kava Ceremony (background summary for visitors)
https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/15348Fijian_Kava...
Not Fiji BB Bird.
Atoll way, way further East in the Pacific.
And not a secret spot either, been quite a bit of footage of it over the years.
I haven't done the old maps search in ages. Found that spot, must take some swell to get in there. How's this one (not nearby), too many places, not enough lifespan.
epic looking setup.
Do i get an Ocean name to look in so I can search ;)
It's definitely not the Arctic or Southern Oceans... I've said too much.
I've also seen that one Sprout.
good fishing in the lagoon.
Not wrong. The footage from the guy that got chucked out of there make the region look like surfing nirvana.
hahah why are the pacific and indian oceans so bloody big...North or South is the question.....
Hope you get there one day Sprout, looks epic.
Look closer, look more, think awhile... and there ya go brother. With love n smiles..
A great read Stu and worthwhile background for anyone considering a journey to fiji. I’ve been a medical volunteer in its health system since 2009 and consider Fiji my second home and family. and yet I don’t know about the loss of village funding that went with the decree on reef utilisation. There is a sense of optimism ahead in fiji now that new combined party government will restore democracy and inclusivity . The great council of the Chiefs is to be restored , abandoned by the prior government. This brings back the voice of the i’Taukei. Balancing modernisation and prosperity with restoring and maintaining tradition and customary values will be the challenge ahead for Fiji and its government. The people remain mostly poorly paid as noted above , despite the riches that most travellers bring and foreign ownership creates. Foreign political interference from all fronts remains problematic and at the forefront of everyone’s worries alongside the current and emerging impacts from climate change .
Place is far too complicated.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Its like a chess game
Reef removal.
Your turn....
Gotta admit I read this with growing dread.
This no doubt will spell the end of access for Average Joes' to Cloudbreak/Restuarants.
They'll once again be locked up in exclusive use agreements, this time bankrolled by Google's bottomless money.
Reckon they’ll hold out until June for the average joes?
Very difficult for the average punter now, up until covid had been doing regular yearly Namotu trips with a group of other average joes was always an epic week. Back in 2012 when Scotty & Mandy were running it, a week at Namotu was US$2,223 its now over US$6,000 so old Larry Page is either very greedy or he just wants to keep it for his rich mates.
That's 857.14 a night at current rate........
Me Too did a memorable and affordable week back in 2012 and with minimal crew …
As with Larry Page..
he’s both
Visited Fiji in June of 1990 for the 2nd time. Surfed Namotu & Wilkes pass several times, the waves were OK @ 4 ft +but after several trips prior excursions to Indo didn't really rate it that high as once the trade winds got up it was all over quality wise. Fijians were GR8 people & spent a couple of weeks on the Coral Coast too which was average surf quality wise too. Would have loved to surf Cloudbreak or Restaurants but was locked out so Big Franks call was probably a good one for the average punter. Seems to me it's all about $$$.
That's alot of money for something the might go underwater.
Its funny how as I age these type of waves be come less interesting.
Guess I got my fill earlier in life ?
Just happy to surf fun waves close to home now days.
Don't mind watching the contest though.
An interesting side note is that Fiji gains a large portion of it's foreign earnings from remittances. Of these there is also a high number that come from those in the military services either involved in foreign military or private military companies.
The production of capable soldiers has become almost like an export industry for Fiji. It explains a little why the military is so powerful in Fiji and how this can add a destabilizing factor into the political situation.
A lot of these capable military end up back in Fiji and if a group of them is behind a particular political player things have the potential to escalate.
I personally hope for selfish reasons that the status quo remains. Like others have said things going back to the old system probably won't bode well for the average punter. The local tribes might do better out of it but interestingly the wealthy foreign resorts will probably do the best with exclusive access.
The past situation always left a sour taste in my mouth as does it does in Sumba.
The big money always wins and the locals working in the resorts still often get paid and treated like shite.
Nice work disguising that alluring island Sprout.... I too enjoy scouring coastlines via google Earth. Discovered that one a long time ago.
Must pull my finger out, organise logistics and lads,.... probably pretty challenging as it would seem to be much more complex and costly than a visit to outer island Indo! ... but geese, I would love to have a crack at it before my lifetime of inflammatory foods and alcohol abuse cause my arthritis to completely ruin the chance!
Well thanks to Jabcinda Larry Page must have spent 10M on whatever in Aotearoa because he obtained citizenship
The 1 million rupees tax didnt stop surfers going out to the Mentawais, looks like that is the model.
Interesting to read the perspectives of what's obviously a fair few fijian veterans who understand Fiji's history better than me. Appreciate reading everyones insights.
It would seem the best way to do Fiji is by yacht/boat. I've often thought that.
I'm fortunate...the opportunity is always hanging there thanks to connections.
330 islands beyond Viti Levu.
But only one Cloudbreak....and Cloudbreaks southern sister.
Something that springs to mind is that when you're on the main island, there's very little travellers to be seen getting around.
Everyone comes and goes from their resorts, but generally are resort bound.
How would this change in law, change tourism for Fiji and Fijians?
Probably not much at all. If anything, it may benefit certain tribes alot more than present.
How will it affect your everyday surfer like you and me that wants to get waves.
Greatly.
How will that affect overall tourism? That's probably the unknown. I can't see it being good for anyone overall.
Exclusivity has more negatives than positives.
But 300 islands....mmm.
Boats are key in Fiji
I caught the shuttle drivers going through bags on two different occasions.
One time the bastard stole my phone
Another timer a guest lost their laptop, rings and other stuff.
Find there is more convenient location / islands to find surf.
The whole boat in boat out to the breaks kind of annoys me.
Get it while you can though.
Cloudy and restaurants are far from secret . you can see the straight out the window from where you land and leave the airport.
cocaine is washing up on Fiji beaches turning paradise into a drug haven. sbs dateline
Also heard that ice is taking off in Fiji too Clam.
So sad to hear.
where is the ice coming from SR ?
China
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkgze8/meth-fiji-drugs
answering my question here :
Geez that's hard to read.
What a tragedy.
Sad. Alcohol's a big enough problem there without the class A's.
Maybe Google will buy the Wozzle and we'll be back to Cloudbreak for comps...
That is scary. As said there is no way to monitor all 330+ islands so the odds are with the suppliers and their apparently wealthy yacht mules. Payoffs galore to the local corrupt officials. Same old story but now in Fiji not Mexico and we’ve seen what happens there. Sucks