Profile 2019 winner: Flora Warrior received the National Seafood Industry People development award. Pictured with Johnny Kris.
A warrior for Mabuiag
Flora Warrior is determined to open doors for the local community on Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait. Armed with an MBA and life experience, Flora’s focus has been to create a sustainable fishing industry for a stronger economy on Mabuiag Island. By Becca Posterino
Mabuiag Island is home to the Goemulgal people, who have fished the local tropical rock lobster as far back as they can remember on a subsistence level. Today the tropical rock lobster is commercially fished and local community advocates such as Flora are exploring direct export options to boost the economy of Mabuiag Island and ensure that fishing dollars remain locally. Before Flora took on a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at James Cook University, she already had extensive experience in the government sector and a degree in linguistics. Her work experience had given her management expertise and an insight into systems and structures that could support her local community.
The community on Mabuiag Island traditionally functions on social capital—networks of people working together to get things done—rather than currency. ‘The MBA was a way to develop the local economy back home through self-sustaining enterprises that ensured the dollars remained in the community,’ Flora said. ‘I also saw the MBA as a tool to explore our value system in economic terms,’ Flora explained. In Flora’s last semester, she returned to Mabuiag to do her final project, which looked into the direct export of locally caught rock lobster to foreign markets. ‘The fishermen do a dangerous job but are at the poor end of the supply chain. They might be getting $20 a kilo for a
product that could potentially sell for $160 a kilo,’ Flora said. ‘Now we are looking at developing a more profitable fishing industry on our island by creating a direct-export supply chain, and putting the money into the community to create employment and a more sustainable sector,’ she said. Flora also founded a local communityrun microfinance program to enable low income families on Mabuiag to purchase basic household assets such as whitegoods. This program uses the Good Shepherd ‘No Interest Loans’ (NILS) framework—based on good-faith loan repayments. Today, eligible fishers can also use the program to purchase fishing and boat equipment as well as safety items needed to comply with laws for commercial boat safety. Working Boats May 2020
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