Page 47 - IB Sept-Oct 2020

Palau Palau

Palau’s rich and healthy coral reefs and marine life are a major draw to tourists Photo: Richard W. Brooks/lightningstrikeproductions.co.uk

PALAU’S HERALDED MARINE SANCTUARY

FACES REASSESSMENT FROM NEXT LEADERS

By Bernadette H. Carreon monumental resource to put under conservation.”
Singeo also manages a group of local fishermen, and says
Palau’s National Marine Sanctuary— which is hailed as the they believed the international commercial fishing industry
tiny nation’s much celebrated signature policy—may face “was too large and had gone far too long, [and] it’s time for
review from President Tommy Remengesau Jr’s successor. Palau for a better plan.”
More than five years in the making, Palau’s marine sanctu- “The fishermen really want this bill passed because they
ary law took effect on January 1 this year. It closed 80% of wanted to regain the fishery that belongs to the Palauan
Palau’s exclusive economic zone to commercial fishing, a people,” Singeo said.
monumental policy for a tiny island nation with a population Fast forward to 2020, and while the PNMS has been imple-
of 18,000. mented, some Palauans are feeling short-changed, especially
The sanctuary however is at the centre of election debate, as the promise of a sustainable domestic pelagic fishery has
with presidential candidates Surangel Whipps Jr. and Raynold not yet been fulfilled. Instead the sanctuary has created a
Oilouch saying during their campaign sorties that they are shortage in the supply of tuna in the domestic market, shift-
considering reassessing the PNMS, to ensure Palau’s people ing pressure to fish such as grouper, snapper, and parrotfish—
get the best benefits out of it. the very species the marine sanctuary promised to protect.
The PNMS was an important policy for the nation, taking Palau President Remengesau Jr. explains it as a “unintended
many years of discussion and debate. It was also a target of consequences” which to him, does not mean a dead end for
criticism for being too ambitious and failing to fulfill expec- the domestic fishery.
tations that it will result in a more vibrant domestic fishing “Relieving fishing pressures on the reefs is indeed one of the
industry. goals of the PNMS, but it is not one that we’ll achieve over-
The Executive Director of local non-governmental organisa- night. Ensuring local access to pelagic fish is something that
tion Ebiil Society, Anne Singeo said the PNMS policy “was a we are taking very seriously. We have a long-term situation

Islands Business, September/October 2020 47