Marine Atlas: Maximizing Benefits for Tonga

THREATS

FULL SPEED AHEAD: VESSEL TRAFFIC Tonga’s waters are a highway for thousands of domestic and international vessels that are lifelines for many Ton- gans, who rely on regular delivery of important goods and food items. Minimizing potential environmental and safety risk is a high priority for all.

Pōpao and Kalia

been increasing over the last few years, driven largely by major construction projects. The main commercial shipping routes include routes to other Pacific Island countries, Australia, New Zealand and destinations in Asia. In addition, cruise ships have been visiting Tonga for quite a while now, with approximately 10,000 passengers arriving per year (Tonga Tour- ism Statistics Report, 2012–2013). Infrastructure improvements, such as the construction of a new wharf that can accommodate larger cruise ships, are under way to help develop the cruise industry. There are also many yachts cruising Tonga’s waters, with Tonga being a key location for boats cruising the Pacific (see also chapter “Beyond the beach”). Voyaging canoes improved over time; however, the largest of them all was the Tongan kalia. In the late eighteenth century, the kalia, a double-hull voyag- ing canoe up to 35 metres in length, was built. The hulls were of unequal length with a movable, single mast. They were known to carry more than 100 men and today, they are thought to have been the fastest Polynesian voyaging vessel around. igation. The canoe’s hull is carved out of a tree trunk and sticks (sometimes made out of bam- boo) are usually used for the cross beams that connect the outrigger or smaller hull. The canoes were built to hold 1–2 people and were used pri- marily for fishing.

Although traditional Polynesian navigation and seafaring is rarely used today, there are some organizations around Tonga and throughout Polynesia that still keep the tradi- tion alive. They have built replicas of the old kalia-style vessels. Some of these vessels are used for tourism, offering sailing cruis- es, while others are manned without the use of modern technology to try to understand what it would have been like without modern navigation and to revive traditions that would otherwise be lost.

The pōpao is the Tongan outrigger canoe, one of the smaller vessels of Polynesian nav-

Ships coming in and out of Tongan ports, from fishing vessels to cargo vessels, cruise ships and ferries, serve many different purposes. Fishing vessels operate in a range of fisheries, including artisanal and subsistence inshore fisheries and commercial offshore fisheries for tuna and bill- fish (see also chapters “Fishing in the dark” and “Small fish, big importance”). The main cargo vessels operate out of the port of Nuku’alofa, with additional ports at Neiafu (Vava’u) and a small port at Pangai. Shipping of cargo is important to the Tongan economy, both for imports and exports. In 2017, more than 200 ships arrived at the port of Nuku’alofa, with a throughput of over 400,000 tons (Ports Authority Tonga, 2017). Freight arrivals into Tonga have

From the map of different types of vessels criss- crossing Tonga’s waters, it is clear that MSP is key not only for navigational safety, but also to minimize conflicts with Tonga’s many other ma- rine values that are threatened, be it by fishing or oil spills. Sustainable forms of sea transport are being explored to avoid the negative impacts of oil transporters, and shipping emissions in gen- eral, and to decrease Tonga's fossil fuel depend- ence. As a seafaring nation, Tongans can look to their ancestors, who were advanced sailors following the stars in their traditional canoes, for inspiration

MAXIMIZING BENEFITS FOR TONGA

THREATS

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