The first Blue Talanoa in Tonga, a forum for local activists and government officials to discuss issues facing the ocean, in Tonga and the Pacific region, was hosted by the French Embassy from Fiji. The Deputy Head of Mission in Fiji, Laurence Brattin-Nerriere, led the Blue Talanoa sessions, held on 9 February, at the House of Tonga, Nuku'alofa.

The Embassy stated this Blue Talanoa session would help them to analyse the issues linked to the maritime secto, with regard to marine and coastal biodiversity, economic and industrial interests, in preparation for the third UN Ocean Conference (UNOC3) to be held in Nice, France, in June, 2025, which will be co-hosted by France and Costa Rica.

Tonga's CEO of Fisheries, Vailala Matoto, stressed the importance of talking about ocean issues from various stakeholders, and community inclusion in Tonga. "There is a need to move from the ground level up, the communities needs to be reached, we need their cooperation," he said.

Mr Matoto noted the impact of the market and demand on our ocean governance, is an everyday issue.

Meanwhile, Tonga has signed agreements to keep protecting the ocean, namely the Paris Agreement, Tonga Strategitic framework, the 2050 strategy, and the most recent BBNJ agreement.

Coherence

The Blue Talanoa roundtable discussion acknowledeged the need for coherence between the communities and the Government, and organizations in protecting the ocean. The need to bring international policies from international level to the community level. There needs to be a consideration for communities who are heavily relying on the ocean for food and for income and government should make approaches to bring an alternative to protect the exploitation of the ocean resources.

Finance for ocean conservation

The discussion stressed there is a need for global finance policies to change, and hope the Ocean conference can tackle these challenges.

"Ocean conservation biggest challenge is finance. Most of the time, donors requirements are hard to access, and cannot be met," they stated.

Attending the discussion were, Fonokiheatonga Tu’ivai, Karen Stone (VEPA), Robert Hala’eva (Tonga Royal Navy), Drew Havea (Civil Society Forum), Nikolasi Heni (Natural resources division), Fononga Vainga Mangisi Mafileo (Ocean Secretariate MEIDECC), Manase Feukianoa, Siosiua Veikune (PISFLL / TTL), Sesimani Lokotui (GEF /  SGP), Kelela Tonga (MOI), Yumi Nafe (MLNR (GIS), Poasi Ngaluafe (Fisheries), MLNR CEO Taaniela Kula, Fisheries CEO Vailala Matoto, and Finetu’ui Moala (Hon. Consul of France).