New Zealand will give $1.7 million to Palau to strengthen its marine resources, and will cooperate more closely with the country’s ocean management.
“This initiative will improve the capacity of Palau to implement marine plans, small-scale climate-smart fisheries and marine protection,” Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters said.
Peters said marine resources were crucial for both food and economic security in the Pacific.
“Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr’s got a fascinating proposal. They’ve got the greatest sanctuary of any country in the world by miles.
“His proposal is to go back to 50/50 sanctuary/fishing but even that would be an extraordinary record in the world.”
Peters said he understood and respected the policies led by Whipps over the country’s marine sanctuary.
“They see their preservation of their current resources as being both of cultural and economic value to them.
“It’s about resources. It’s about ensuring they’ve got renewal. It’s a kind of thing we set up way back when we set up the quota management system for our fishing.”
Whipps, a recognised global leader in ocean issues, State Minister Gustav Aitaro, and other ministers met Peters and his delegation today.
The president told Te Ao Māori News Palau’s goal was to ensure a healthier marine environment for future generations.
The country had long been dedicated to ocean conservation and practised a traditional method called the ‘bul’ whereby chiefs oversaw specific water areas.
He explained they closed off certain regions from fishing to allow resources to recover and thrive.
In 2015, the Palau National Congress enacted 80% of its ocean waters into a marine sanctuary, creating one of the largest marine protected areas globally. This move banned commercial fishing in the sanctuary while allowing domestic fishing in the remaining 20% of the waters.
The country is also developing a marine spatial plan to address management inefficiencies and ocean use for the benefit of its people.
The president said a proposal had been made to Congress to reduce the no-fishing zone from 80% to 50% to support local fishing companies in scaling up and potentially exporting their products.
“We need to consider the entire system and assess how changes might affect tourism ... It comes down to balancing protection with production,” he said.
Whipps said Tommy Remengesau Jr., the opposition presidential candidate for Palau’s upcoming election, opposes the proposal to reduce the marine sanctuary to 50%.
Remengesau initially supported the reduced marine sanctuary but is now pushing for the sanctuary to remain at 80% without any changes to its boundaries.
