On a sweltering but calm afternoon, EritaraAatiKaierua left the island of Pohnpei, Micronesiaon his final journey. Aboard a rusting Taiwanesefishing vessel he sailed south-east, leaving behind mangrove swamps on the shore line, and passing low coral atolls, beyond the breakwater beforereachingthe deep-blue of the Pacific.

He would never leave that ship. In less than five weeks, the 40-year-oldwould be dead, found lying on the floor of his locked cabin with a brutal head wound and bruising to his neck.

Kaierua's deathis now under investigation by Kiribati police, with assistance from Fijian pathologist.The father-of-fouris the tenthPacific fisheriesobserver to die on the lawless high seas in the last decade.

The tragedy hassparked a call for more protection for this vulnerable workforce, who oftenface hostility from captains and crews. And it's brought to light the mysterious deaths of two more i-Kiribati monitors in the last three years.

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Eritara with his wife Tekarara Kabangaki.

Kaierua grew up on the Tarawara atoll in Kiribati, a central Pacific island nation that straddles the equator.

The sea was his playground and he and sisterNikora "Nicky"Kaieruawould play hide and seek on vessels moored in the lagoon."He was my best friend in childhood,"she said.

Their father was a ship's engineer and from the age of four, Kaierua dreamed of being a sea captain.

He graduated from a marine training centre and began sailing the world's oceans, working on cargo and oil ships. But these voyages took him away from his wifeTekararaKabangaki and their three young children, and in 2012 he took a job as a fisheries observer, working for the Kiribati government.

These watchdogstravel aboard fishing fleets, tracking their catches including any endangeredspecies by-catch. They make sure fishermen are following the rulesand not dumping unwanted fish overboard. It's vital toprotect oceans andpreserve fishstocks.

But it's dangerous and isolating work and they sometimes face hostility from the crews they are watching. Tuna is a multi-billion dollar industry and the Pacific is it's most lucrative fishing grounds.

H??l??ne Petit/WWF

Tuna contributes about US$42BN to the global economy, with a significant chunk of that caught in the Pacific Ocean.

Observer programmes are run bygovernments and regional fisheries management organisationsbut the monitors have no power to stop or sanction illegal activity. They can only watch, record and report.

In the past decade, ten observershave lost their lives on the vast stretch of ocean, with at least five under a cloud of suspicion. But the sea rarely gives up her secrets and these deaths have never been prosecuted.

"We've seen several instances over the last decade of observers that have gone missing or who have died under suspicious circumstances," says Alfred "Bubba" Cook, an ocean conservationist for the World Wide Fund for Nature.

"They are responsible for collecting information that can ultimately be used in investigations against that vessel and its crew. They're in a position where they're, at best, a nuisance and, at worst, a threat to the crew andthe company.

"So they're constantly in a position of being subject to threats, intimidation, bribes."

WWF

Bubba Cook is Western and Central Pacific Tuna Programme Manager at the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Kaieruaexperienced some of these tensions. In 2016, he told his sister about attempts to bribe him over a shark fin catch.

And in the year before he died, a crew turned on him after they were forced to offload tonnes of tuna in Tuvalu after officials check his log and found that it didn't match that of the captain. NickyKaierua, 42,says her younger brother felt his life was put in danger.

"Eritara got so scared... After that incident, he would go out to do his work, come back and lock himself up in his room.

"Inthe mess room, he was so fearful of being poisoned that he would grab the sailors food rather than eating the serve allocated for him.

"Most of the timehe would eatnoodles and biscuits, his own rations, in his room. He came off that boat and he reported it to Kiribati Fisheries."

His next posting was aboard a sister ship, and NickyKaierua said he was afraid. "Putting him aboard the sister boat showed safety wasn't a priority. But he came back alive and he was really thankful for that.

"The system appears to lack safety risk management. Had there been a robust and effectivesystem with a good reporting, lives could have been more protected and accidents could have been prevented."

Supplied

The WIN FAR NO.636 is currently being held in Kiribati while police investigate the death of an observer.

Kaierua's last voyage was aboard Win Far 636, a 30-year old tuna purse seiner, owned by Kuo HsiungFishery, based in Taiwan's Kaohsiung City. The local Kiribati agent for the vessel was the government-owned company, Central Pacific Products Limited (CCPL).

According to Kaierua's log, seen by his family, he boarded the vessel at 2.20pm on February 13. The vessel's tracking technology was switched off so their voyage is unclear.

His death was reported on March 3 in waters off Nauru. The Taiwanese government alerted the multi-national regulatory body Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Kiribati government.

The mainly Vietnamese crew opted to sail to Kiribati, but arrived a day later than expected. The ship was immediately impounded when it arrived.

Two of the crew were arrested, but thenreleased after questioning.

An autopsy revealed Kaierua died of a severe blow to the back of the head. On March 29 local police opened a murder inquiry.

Stuff understands he was found partially laying on his mattress which was on the floor. There was blood on his nose and there was food on his chest and neck.

supplied

Nicky Kaieru lost her brother Eritara at sea. She wants a thorough police investigation.

Mamara Ubatoi, of the Kiribati police, told Stuff the crew were cooperating: "According to the pathologist Eritara was murdered...We also have information that the [ship'] signalling device was off around the date and time of Eritara's demise," he said.

"We are still suspicious when they didn't report to Nauru and took so long for them to come to Kiribati. The case is still under investigation."

NickyKaierua said herfamily are anxious for answers and want a "solid" investigation. "I know the police are giving it their best shot but I also know police are not 100 per cent familiar with accidents at sea.

"We wantto get to the bottom of this. For the industry to learn from, for the observer programme or fisheries industry to learn from and to prevent the re-occurrence and mainly justice for my brother.

"We are hoping, we are praying."

She said her brother was conscientious and took his job seriously. "He was obedient, you know. He never broke the rules, even as a child."

Uati Tirikai heads Kiribati's fisheries observer programme. He did not respond to a request for comment.

Neither CCPL, the Ministry of Fisheries norTaiwan's Fisheries Agency answered questions.

supplied

Eritara Aati Kaieru "adored" his children.

MAONNIKI NAWII

The investigation has drawn attention to two other i-Kiribati deaths since December 2017, which the Association for Professional Observers, and WWF says they were previously unaware of.

Maonniki Nawiiwas found dead in his cabin aboard the Yu Wen 301 on December 18, 2017. He'd failed to show up for breakfast.

The vessel was in Papua New Guinea waters, but the captain request it dock in the Marshall Islands. Itwas instead directed to Honiara and Solomon Islands police carried out an investigation, at the request of Kiribati. It's understood authorities concluded that he died of "hypertension."

His wife couldn't be reached for comment, but she marked the second anniversary of his death on Facebook, saying: "They said that he slept and never woke up but [I] don't trust what they said." A relative added: "He was found on the job unable to wake up...it's a suspicious case. That's why we don't trust what was reported on him. He passed and lays to rest now next to everyone under the shade of the house."

Little is known about the death of Antin Tamwabeti, who is believed to have died by suicide, onshore.

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Maonniki Nawii was found dead in his cabin after he failed to show up for breakfast.

Kaierua'sdeath has sent shockwaves around theobserver community, which has long been calling for greater protection and safety conditions.

In 2010, Charlie Lasisi's body was found, bound in chains, off the coast of WestSepik, Papua New Guinea in March. Six Filipino crew members were acquitted of his murder.

WesleyTaliawas reported missing in the waters of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, in 2015.

Larry Gavin went missing at sea in 2016 but his disappearance is so mysterious, there was no record of which ship he was working on. There was never an investigation into his death.

Fijian UsaiaMasibalavu was lost in 2016, after reportedly falling ill two-weeksafter boarding a vessel that left Pago Pago, American Samoa.

In the same year, Josh Sheldon, from the US, died of an advanced MRSA infection allegedly contracted on a Vietnamese longline fishing vessel.

James Numbaruwent missing in Nauru waters in June 2017. He was aboard a Chinese-flagged purse seiner and his body was never recovered, but the crew said he'd fallen overboard.

Cook fears there may be more. "Consider that we didn't even know aboutMaonnikiuntil a little more than a week ago.How many more do we not know about in the last 30 years of observer deployments?"

Keeping track of harassment andcasualties is difficult because systematic recording is non-existent, and the investigation of complaints falls into a bureaucratic black hole, with governments andregional fisheries management organisation slow to follow up and reluctant to prosecute.

In2015, the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), responsible for fisheries regulations in the region, implemented safety and security measures to protect observers.

But Liz Mitchell, of theAssociation for Professional Observers, says these must go further.

"There must be some accountability.

"I'd like to see a measure in place that would require these vessels have astorage capacity for their CCTV footage. So, that ifsomething happens there's that evidence. Right now, I think what they're doing is just taping over it every day."

Supplied

Eritara Aati Kaieru "never broke the rules."

Covid-19 travelrestrictionsmeantNickyKaieruawas the only one of four siblings who could make it back to Kiribati to bury their brother. The rest are scattered around the world.

Her "biggest worry" is forKaierua's widow Tekarara, herchildren and their financial future."She seems to be braver than me right now. She's got emotional strength but I know she is crying inside.

"The kids are missing their father, they keep thinking he is coming home. He was a very good father, he adored his kids."

UNICEF

Kiribati operates an observer programme, deploying people to monitor tuna catch across the region.

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Death on the high seas; the mysterious death of a humble fishing observer - Stuff.co.nz