TAHITIA, Tahiti — While fishing on the turquoise seas of Tahiti a few years ago, fishermen noticed that their catches – and the fish in them – were getting smaller.

Because fishing is an essential part of Polynesian life, 51-year-old village leader Dominique Tehei and his fellow townspeople knew they had to find a way to restore the ecosystem. They came to the conclusion that there was a traditional Polynesian custom that could help them do that: making a rahui.

The traditional conservation method of regulating human activities to restore and protect marine ecosystem resources is being revived and is showing results in Tahiti, for example in the area around the venue of the Paris Surfing Olympics. Although local communities and politicians recognize that rahui are not a panacea for all environmental problems, they are working with researchers and scientists to strengthen the grassroots, community-based approach.

Rahui measures, which temporarily ban or restrict the exploitation of natural resources in certain areas, have been implemented for centuries in the French Polynesian islands, Hawaii and New Zealand, says Hunter Lenihan, an ecologist and co-director of the Rahui Forum and Resource Center based in Moorea, Tahiti.

“(This practice) was suppressed by the colonialists,” Lenihan said, “but … is currently experiencing a renaissance that began intensively about a decade ago.”

The most common form of rahui is a fishing-free zone in a lagoon or offshore – for example, a marine protected area. However, rahui have also been created in local streams and rivers in the form of taro plants to capture sediment from agriculture or other construction projects before it flows out to sea and deposits harmfully on reefs.

Even in the no-fishing zones, rules can vary depending on the needs of each area. Sometimes fishing is only allowed during a specific season. In other cases, only certain methods, such as line or spear fishing, are allowed, and the use of nets or cages is prohibited. In some Rahui, fishing and swimming are completely prohibited to protect some areas from over-development by tourism.

Decisions about where, how and when a Rahui is built are made and managed by community leaders.

In the years before the Rahui was built in Teva I Uta, where Tehei lives, in 2019, Tehei said he and other conservationists initially had great difficulty convincing villagers that a Rahui would be a good idea.

“Fishing is what brings us money and food,” Tehei said. “They were afraid they wouldn’t be able to access it when they needed it most. So naturally they were a little nervous.”

Tehei said they were able to convince villagers to close certain sections of the reef and surrounding areas for two years at a time, while leaving other sections open for fishing.

Tehei was not alone in his efforts to establish Rahui throughout Tahiti.

Members of the Rahui Forum and Resource Center visit and discuss with communities across Tahiti to find out why they want to start a Rahui, then connect them with local non-governmental organizations and community leaders who can help with the process.

“The system was rebuilt from the ground up,” Lenihan said.

In addition, community leaders and government officials conducted information campaigns and posted billboards and posters about Rahui in churches, schools and town halls throughout Tahiti.

There are now dozens of Rahui all over Tahiti, including in Teahupo’o, where surfers competed in the surfing competition at the Paris Olympic Games.

Signs indicate their presence and inform visitors of regulations and penalties for violations. Locals relaxing on the beach or working in tourism can point out buoys in the water that mark the Rahui zones, while explaining how important they are to the community’s conservation efforts.

Acceptance of rahui has also increased: a 2019 study by the Pew Bertarelli Ocean Legacy Project found that 90% of French Polynesian residents support rahui, which is significantly higher than support for other legal conservation methods such as protected marine areas. Rahui have been legally recognized in French Polynesia’s Environmental Code since 2016.

However, Tehei acknowledged that the Rahui system is not perfect: Sometimes it is difficult to monitor the entire area, especially during a new moon when it is darker outside. In other cases, they have had to open a Rahui before the ecosystem could fully recover, as was part of their timeliness to fishermen. A lack of management during the opening of a Rahui has led to overfishing, he said.

“We didn’t keep track of who was going to the reef and unfortunately I have to say that within three weeks of reopening … the whole island came. We had 30 boats fishing,” he said. “It was a total disaster.”

Tehei said that despite the setbacks, they continue to promote and monitor various ways to improve their rahui practices, including working with the local government to create a fisheries registration system that catalogues the catches of individual fishermen.

But, says Tehei, Rahui have helped change the attitudes of some Tahitians towards protecting the ocean and its ecosystems.

“For the people of Tahitia, the sea is everything,” he said. “People want it to stay healthy and lush.”

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