Paper short abstract:

This paper follows Simon’s struggles as President of the Futuna Fisheries. He finds himself caught between personal aims to build a profitable business and community aims of a project including and benefitting the whole community.

Paper long abstract:

Fishing on Futuna, a small outer island in the South of Vanuatu guides seasonal rhythms. The seas surrounding the island are rich with sea life, from teaming corals in the shallows to the giant wahoo and tuna in the deep and the vast shoals of flying fish dancing above the waves. In the past, fish were an important aspect of local kastom and important quantities were exchanged for crops between the different districts on Futuna: resources were shared and relationships cemented.

As many islands throughout the Pacific, the appearance of the cash economy has created difficulty locally as there are few opportunities to earn cash on Futuna. Futuna Fisheries was therefore started; a Futuna wide project designed to develop the local cash economy through resources and skills that form an integral part of the Futunese identity.

Simon, a skilled fisherman from the West of Futuna, became President of the project. He moved house to live at Ibau district in the North East of Futuna in order to be close to the island's airport where fish is exported by bi-weekly flights and in order to fully dedicate himself to developing the business. In doing so, he regularly encounters difficulties when his business objectives come up against local ideas concerning the nature of the community project. Tensions arise between Simon's goals to create a thriving business and local expectations of a project involving and of benefit to all members of the community.