TBT contamination of an artisanal subsistence fishery in Suva harbour, Fiji
Abstract The intertidal zone around the Suva Peninsula, Fiji, supports separate finfish and invertebrate subsistence fisheries. This important source of fresh marine food for many low-income families around metropolitan Suva is under threat from foreshore reclamation projects and from anthropogenic biochemical pollution. Damage to or loss of this invertebrate intertidal fishery would remove a significant area where urban dwellers can pursue this traditional (non-cash) means of seafood acquisition. In 1996, Suva Peninsula was considered for the development of a marina, hotel, aquarium, roads, walls, and other structures. There is also increasing evidence of a serious anthropogenic TBT (tributyltin) pollution threat to the local invertebrate fishery. Although this substance is well known to have ecologically deleterious effects, its use is unregulated in Fiji. The inputs are likely to be large commercial vessels, and in particular the shipyards around the west side of Suva Harbour, where TBT antifouling coatings are both applied and removed, the old paint debris being allowed to wash into the harbour. Inputs from small boats are probably less important as there are relatively few (