DIVE ME, new dive boat being built in Navua, Fiji for Mad Fish Dive Centre

DIVE ME, new dive boat being built in Navua, Fiji for Mad Fish Dive Centre
Originally uploaded by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort.

Richard takes DIVE ME for its first spin!

DIVE ME, new dive boat for Mad Fish Dive Centre

DIVE ME, new dive boat for Mad Fish Dive Centre
Originally uploaded by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort.

DIVE ME, our new dive boat for Mad Fish Dive Centre

DIVE ME, our new dive boat for Mad Fish Dive Centre
Originally uploaded by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort.

The console is in, and the windows tomorrow!

“No Caught Shark Allowed”: Matava leading the Shark Free Marina Initiative in Fiji

Matava and Bite Me Gamefishing Charters in Fiji are taking a leading role in the international shark conservation efforts, organizing Fiji to become the first country to fully participate in the Shark-Free Marina Initiative (SFMI).

The SFMI works with marinas, boaters and fishermen to develop policy designed to protect sharks as a vital component of the oceans health. The SFMI has a singular purpose, to reduce worldwide shark mortality. Working with marinas, fishermen and like minded non-profit groups, the Initiative forms community conscious policy and increase awareness of the need to encourage shark conservation.

Shark Free Marinas work with, not against, the recreational and commercial fishing community, in order to raise awareness of the importance of a healthy shark population for our oceans, and to contribute to their ongoing survival.

Matava, together with partners in Fiji, has helped many marinas and charter fishing boats become SFMI certified, and Fiji now has more certified Shark-Free Marinas than any other country in the world. Stuart Gow, Director of Matava, said that his team has been actively promoting the SFMI, and distributing information about the Initiative, with the long-term goal of making Fiji “the first country to be proud to announce itself as a ‘Shark-Free Marinas’ Country”.

See the map of current Shark-Free Marinas

The majority of shark species caught by recreational and sport anglers are currently listed by the IUCN as “Threatened” (or worse) and each year, half a million of these sharks are killed in the US alone. It is estimated that 70-100 million sharks are killed yearly worldwide.

See IUCN Red List of Threatened Shark Species

About Matava

Matava is an eco adventure getaway in Fiji, offering a unique blend of cultural experiences and adventure activities in the pristine and remote island of Kadavu, Fiji. Matava is a PADI Dive Resort as well as a Project AWARE GoEco Operator, a title awarded to demonstrate a commitment to conservation and provide customers with experiences that enhance visitor awareness, appreciation and understanding of the environment. Matava is also one of the supporters of the Fiji Shark Conservation and Awareness Project, which aims to raise global awareness of their imminent extinction of sharks and the crises facing our oceans.

With more than 12 years experience in the Fiji Islands, Matava is recognized as a leading educational dive center. Matava is participating in TIES ecoDestinations project (currently featuring “beaches, marine and coastal ecotourism experience”) as one of the Summer Special 2009 sponsors.

Underwater Thrills:Swimming With Sharks: “No Caught Shark Allowed”: Matava leading the Shark Free Marina Initiative in Fiji

Whale Shark in Kadavu, Fiji

Whale Shark in Kadavu, Fiji with Mad Fish Dive Centre at Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort www.Scubs-Diving-Fiji.com

Ocean in Focus Photo Contest Home 2009

SeaWeb's Marine Photobank and Project AWARE Foundation
2nd Annual

Ocean in Focus
Conservation Photography Contest

The Grand Prize will be awarded to Matthew Potenski. Though Potenski spends his days as the director of field operations at The Shark Research Institute, the winning photo features quite a different subject. His intentions, in June of this year, were to take journalists interested in mangroves into a small lagoon where sharks could be found. Rather than sharks, they stumbled upon this backhoe hard at work dredging the lagoon. His shot of a defiant, young mangrove shoot, standing alone in the path of human destruction is truly inspiring. After showing the image to local authorities in South Bimini, Bahamas, Potenski learned that no permits for the developers to dredge in the area could be found.

Read SeaWeb's interview with Grand Prize winner Matthew Potenski >>
View the prizes page to see what the winners receive >>

Winning photographers will receive the following prizes:

Grand Prize!

• Seven nights ocean-view accommodations at MATAVA, a premier eco-adventure resort in Fiji. Package includes 5 days 2 tank diving for two and 6 days unlimited shore diving for two as well as roundtrip airport transfers.
• Carbon Offsets through NativeEnergy from your home and car for one year plus carbon offset for one round-trip air flight.
• A DVD copy of A Sea Change, The journey of a man and his grandson to uncover the hard science of ocean acidification.

Ocean in Focus Photo Contest Home 2009

DIVE ME, new dive boat being built in Navua, Fiji for Mad Fish Dive Centre

DIVE ME, new dive boat being built in Navua, Fiji for Mad Fish Dive Centre
Originally uploaded by Matava - Fiji's Premier Eco Adventure Resort.

Coming closer day by day!