In some remote places of French Polynesia there is still an abundancy of fish and clams on the reefs and coconut crabs hide on motus. The resources of such tiny eco-systems are very limited though and overhunting and overfishing is always a problem when locals do raids without much thought of sustainability.
Cruisers sometimes go along with this ‘living off the land’ mentality and get carried away, filling their freezers with luxury food for free, because ‘there were so many’. Even if you take only one–imagine what happens when 100s of yachts stop per year and each one of them takes just one grouper, one coconut crab and one lobster… It’s so much nicer to go snorkeling on a reef where fish are not terrified of divers…
Polynesians are wonderfully generous, but it is still advisable to politely refuse when offered female lobsters or tiny coconut crabs.
Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints and give those sailing in your wake the chance to still experience wildlife.
Coconut crab
