HONIARA, 25 October 2019 – The Pacific Island Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) lead Operation Kurukuru is one of the largest maritime surveillance operations globally covering an area the land size of Russia, India and Egypt combined.
The multi-million-dollar operation targeting illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing was conducted from 7–18 October 2019 and covered 21.3 million square kilometres. It is coordinated from the Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) at the FFA Secretariat in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
FFA Director General, Dr Manu Tupou-Roosen, said: “Operation Kurukuru is the largest of the four major operations coordinated and supported by the FFA each year. These operations empower members to take collective and national action against IUU fishing and the success of these operations is due to the commitment and partnerships with our members along with the assets provided by Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States.”
“The
operation consumes considerable resources, but we continue to undertake them to
ensure our members have the highest levels of social and economic benefits
through the protection and sustainable use of our offshore fisheries
resources,” she added.
The 12-day operation saw around 132 sea days of active patrolling and 540 flight hours of maritime air surveillance. There were 131 boardings at sea and dockside, with only four infringements found.
The FFA Surveillance and Operations Officer, Commander Robert Lewis, who is seconded from the Royal Australian Navy, said: “The fact there were no unknown fishing vessels found with such thorough air surveillance coverage and only 4 infringements imposed with such a high level of boarding is evidence that current regulations and law enforcement practices are working well with the four FFA operations leading the effort.”
Ordinary Seaman Sereima Naiqovu from the Fijia Navy was not only the first female Fijian naval person to attend Operation Kurukuru but also one of the first women to join the Fiji Navy.
In her capacity as watch keeper during the operation, she said: “The operation was a great experience for me, mostly as I got to experience and learn a lot of new things from the RFSC. I was overwhelmed to be given the opportunity to be the first female in the Fiji Navy to go for an operation, and I look forward to experiencing and learning more new things.”
Operation Kurukuru aims to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend potential IUU fishing activity, but also looks to build capacity of watch keepers, intelligence analysts and supervisory staff seconded to the RFSC during the operation, to conduct their own operations upon their return home.
The operation involves 15 FFA members – Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Niue, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tokelau, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. It also involves the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group: Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States of America.
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For more
information contact Donna Hoerder, FFA Media, ph: +677 21124
About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency
(FFA)
FFA assists its 17-member countries to sustainably manage fishery
resources that fall within their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA
provides expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who
make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional
decision making on tuna management. www.ffa.int
Japan is known for its love
affair with seafood. If we say tuna, we think of sushi and sashimi – two of the
most famous dishes in Japanese cuisine.
Japan Ministry of Foreign
Affairs officials told visiting Pacific Islands journalists in Tokyo last month
that a sizeable amount of tuna Japan consumes are sourced from the Japanese
vessels licensed to fish in the Pacific region.
Japan is a major fisher of tuna
species in the Pacific region; Japan officials said: “fishing is very important
to Japan.”
To protect valuable marine
resources and to ensure the sustainability of fish stocks, Japan’s Free and
Open Indo Pacific Strategy includes a commitment to peace and stability,
including assistance to the Pacific in enhancing maritime safety and stability.
This year, Palau and Japan are
celebrating 25-years of diplomatic ties that “friendship” Japan’s aid has
delivered a wide range of projects from infrastructure, health, education,
maritime security, and climate change.
According to the Forum
Fisheries Agency (FFA) data, the Japanese imports from FFA members was valued
at US $41 million in 2016, with Palau and Fiji as the main supplier of tuna
sashimi grade products to the Japanese market.
Japan has been an important
diplomatic partner to Palau in improving awareness of activities in its
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Boosting its marine surveillance, a Japan-funded patrol boat
called PSS Kedam in now serving as the additional patrol boat for Palau.
The new patrol boat Kedam
is funded with the grant by the Nippon Foundation at a cost of over $30
million, Kedam is expected to enhance Palau’s marine surveillance capabilities
and police its s 200-mile exclusive economic zone.
At the Western and Central
Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC), Japan is one of
the key players pushing for measures to conserve fish stocks, recognizing its
economic importance to Pacific island nations.
Japan was also instrumental in
keeping catches of juvenile tuna to below 2002–04 average levels as a
conservation measure.
The government of Japan
continues to assure island nations of support given that the Pacific islands
states are large ocean states that are custodians of the world’s largest tuna
fishery.
The WCPO share of the global
catch of albacore, bigeye, skipjack, and yellowfin tunas is between 55% and
58%. In 2016 the total catch of tuna species s was 2.7 million tonnes which 56%
of global production of 4.8 million tonnes, according to FFA.
All smiles … Francisco Blaha and a Solomon Islander at work on a pole-and-line vessel in 2010. Francisco is this year’s SeaWeb Seafood Champion for advocacy. We profile him here. (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
Francisco “brings a unique perspective and has the credibility of very different but complementary groups in fisheries”, SeaWeb said when it announced the 2019 winners earlier this month. It noted that some of his ideas had been adopted by big players in the fishing industry.
Francisco Blaha receives his award as the 2019 SeaWeb Seafood Champion for advocacy in a ceremony in Bangkok this month (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
Francisco sees his award as recognition
of his ability to work with three groups that were often at odds with each
other: governments, industry, and non-government organisations (NGOs). He says
the SeaWeb awards brings together many people trying to do the right thing.
“This is a good thing, with all the bad
news that fisheries get,” Francisco says.
“There are no superpowers attached to the award, to the disappointment of my daughter.”
No superpowers here … the realities of work in some parts of the Pacific mean that there is barely an office, the work vehicle is a bike, and the scales are manual (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
SeaWeb is a project of the Ocean Foundation. It has presented awards in four categories since 2006 to recognise individuals and companies for outstanding leadership in promoting the production of environmentally responsible seafood.
Francisco’s credibility in the Pacific fishing industry is something he acknowledges himself.
It comes in part because he works for
himself, and does not have to follow any company line, he told Tuna Pacific
after winning the award.
“I guess people appreciate that I don’t
pretend to be anyone or anything I’m not: I’m just a dyslexic fisher that got
lucky with access to education and work for himself,” Francisco says.
“I have never had to use a suit and ties,
even when I was working with the UN [United Nations] in Rome. Whatever I got was on my own terms. I don’t
‘sell’ anything for anyone. If I don’t like something, I just don’t accept the
job, and I’m vocal on why I disagree with it.
“I dislike profoundly ingratitude and pretentiousness.”
Francisco discovers a love of the ocean
Anyone who has read Francisco’s popular blog – he says it had 25,000 individual readers in 2018 – knows that he began his fishing life working on boats taking squid, hake and toothfish in southern Argentina. But they may not know that he has an earlier association with the sea.
Francisco grew up far from the ocean, in
the traditional lands of the Guaraní people around the border of Paraguay and
Argentina, with his local mother and European father.
“My family crossed the Atlantic on board
a cruising ship from Germany all the way to Argentina when I was six years old.
I like to think that trip marked my life,” Francisco said.
It wasn’t the only thing that influenced
him to take up a life on the sea.
“I guess some people grow by action: they
decide they want similar things to their parents and other people around them.
Others, like me, grow by reaction, by going the opposite way. As anything to do
with the ocean was outside my family’s influence, I went that way,” Francisco says.
By joining the Argentinian navy as a
cadet, Francisco was able to go to high school. He learned a lot about “the
ocean, and rowing and swimming” – and then a second-hand 1976 National
Geographic fell into his hands.
“It had an article about the trip of the Hokule’a,
the Hawaiian double-hulled canoe that went from Honolulu to Papeete. I started
learning, reading history, and fantasising about the South Pacific,” he says.
Francisco loved the ocean, but not the military life – he admits to having a strong anti-authority streak – and when he was released from the navy after the Falklands War, he decided to go fishing for a few years, and worked as technician on board fishing and research vessels while he gained a Masters in fisheries science.
The first time Francisco works on the bridge of a vessel, in the South Atlantic in 1989 (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
Francisco (centre) in his early fishing days, on a trawler in the South Atlantic Ocean in 1990 (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
His experience of working during this time taught him that he had no desire to work in a job “where you spend half your time navigating political storms” of bureaucracies and grooming political connections to get jobs and promotions.
“So, I decided to come to the Pacific and
go to all those places I had read about in the article on the Hokule’a
as teenager. Two weeks after graduation, I got in a sailing boat that was going
to Tahiti via Cape Horn … no plans, no contacts, just hopes and a smile.”
He spent almost two years heading west, fishing
and doing odd jobs in Samoa, Tonga and Fiji, before landing in New Zealand in
1995. He fell in love with the country, and has set up his life there.
An introduction to fisheries compliance
Francisco worked for New Zealand fishing
companies such as Sanford and Simunovich Fisheries. It was here that he was introduced
to a level of fisheries compliance he had not experienced. To his surprise, he
enjoyed the work.
Having decided it would be useful to have
a degree from an English-speaking university, he earned a Masters in food science,
then started doing domestic consulting work.
“I found international fisheries
consulting work mostly by chance,” Francisco says. “I didn’t know such a job
existed. But if fit me well: I know fishing, I have a good practical and
academic background, and I love travelling and spending time with fisheries
people. I also have a total lack of embarrassment about trying new languages,
and that helped, too.”
Apart from a two-year stint with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome, he has worked for himself for the past 25 years.
The crew breaks for lunch when Francisco (far left) is on board controlling transhipment at Noro, in the Solomon Islands. (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
A familiar face in the Pacific – and around the world
Francisco is now a familiar face in the
Western and Central Pacific Ocean, where he holds contracts with governments,
charitable and non-government organisations, and international bodies. Most of
his work these days is with monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) to
combat illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing. This involves him in
the development of port state measures (PSM) and catch documentation schemes
(CDSes).
He does a lot of work with the Pacific Islands Fisheries Forum Agency (FFA), from high-level development of procedures such as the Port State Measures Framework to training compliance officers to the use of new hook-type scales to monitor transhipment volumes.
“The Guaraní I grew up with have a
culture that has a surprising affinity with the cultures of the Pacific, so the
customs that are the basis of Pacific life are not too foreign to me. When I
started collaborating with the FFA over 10 years ago, I found an organisation
whose values are akin to mine,” Francisco says.
“FFA is at the edge of the best practices
in fisheries worldwide. I love working for them. In fact, I consider many of
the staff as part of my extended family now.”
Home, soul and family in the Pacific
Francisco has his fingers in many other
pies, too. Among other projects, he is an adviser for the Marshall Islands
Marine Resource Authority (under a contract with the NZ Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade), “dealing with an amazing variety of stuff, from strategy
advice, procurement for boarding boats, intelligence analysis of vessels
arriving at port, inspections—and 100 other things.”
He is working with FAO on the implementation of port state measures and social responsibility and the use of blockchain technology to make the chain of fish production more transparent. And he is collaborating with OceanMind on remote intelligence analysis of fishing vessels.
A one-off project he had fun with was developing a colouring book to help train subsistence fishers of countries that belong to the Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on best practice in fishing.
Francisco’s work isn’t restricted to this region. In his CV, he lists 58 countries he’s worked with around the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans and the Mediterranean Sea.
Francisco (left) works with the crew he is training as they unload tuna after a fishing trip in the Maldives in 2012 (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
However, while he works around the world,
his work in the Pacific has special meaning for him.
“The Pacific has been home for half my
life. It has given me a second run in life, and family, friends, meaningful
work, and an oceanic playground to surf, do open-water swims, spearfish,
paddle, navigate by wayfinding … My soul is at home in the Pacific. And the
Pacific fishing problems are my fishing problems – I live off fishing in this
ocean for most of my year.”
A passion for fairness
For someone who holds little regard for
rank, the challenging world of compliance may seem like an odd choice of
career.
“The fact that I am here today in New
Zealand with this job is a function of my past, and relates to my appreciation
of the concept of fairness and equal opportunities. I’m coming into it from the
perspective of it being fair for all sides. It does not relate to enforcing
rules,” Francisco says.
“For me, the fisheries ‘crisis’ is not a
biological crisis, but one of politics, transparency, and fairness.
“Right now, the system is not fair. When
I broke my knee on board back in Argentina, when I had exams at university, there
was a ‘system’ set up by the fishers’ union to look after me. When I see the
conditions and pay that many of the crews today have, it just upsets me!
“I have the same posture on gender and
diversity. I don’t participate any more on panels and conferences unless the
organisers can prove that there is more diversity than at the last one. This is
not some ‘new age’ thing I’m trying to pose for; it’s just that is not fair,
and that is enough for me.
“I grew up in a country with not much of
a culture of compliance, and while I felt that many of the rules were
dumb, at least I expected they should have applied equally to everyone and
not just to some. The equality of the rule of law in New Zealand is a rare
cultural privilege.”
He says he had found a niche that suits him,
working “in the middle” between regulators with whom he shares insights into
fishing; industry, which he can help be more cost-effective; and the fishers, for
whom he is a voice for decent working conditions and wages.
He is proud of being trusted by all.
“People respect that you understand their
job because you have done it yourself. For example, when you go on board, crew
immediately know if you spent time fishing by the way you move on board, the
fact that you know how to operate the instruments and the bridge—and that you
can call them on technical issues when they are trying to derail the
conversation when you find a compliance problem.
“It’s the same at factories. And in boardrooms. When people know you know your stuff, that is good for everyone to improve the industry.”
Francisco at work on a purse seiner at Tokelau in 2002 (Photo: Francisco Blaha)
Fishing is the people – men and women
Francisco likes to point out that he
doesn’t work with fish any more.
“I work with the people who work with
fish. I love working with fishermen and fisheries inspectors, factory people. I
have gained a much wider perspective by working on the ground than being in
classrooms,” Francisco says.
“In a fishing boat, you don’t have to
like the guy next to you, but you should be able to trust him. Everyone on
board has a job, and you have to do your job right. If you don’t, people die;
it’s as simple as that.
“Fishing also makes you very aware
of your overall insignificance. When you are in storm at sea and there are 20 metre
waves outside and 80 knot wind gusts, nothing really matters a lot other than
staying alive. And when you see those seas and what nature can be, it is a
profound life experience … or at least it is for me.”
He would like to see more women working
in all fields of the fishing industry.
“It still is an unfair playing field out
there,” Francisco says.
“But I would say to women that it is
getting better, mostly because other women before you started opening the way.
Now it’s your turn. Many men are also changing and walking along with you, and
you’ll be surprised how many good people are out there for each of the idiots
you will still find along your path.”
Francisco says that he has been shaped by
fishers and fisheries; that they allowed him to educate himself, help his
family, make friends, and work in places he’d never heard of.
“I love fisheries, and fisheries are
people, for good and for bad, and they cannot and should not be separated. My
favourite Māori proverb or whakataukī
is something I appreciate more as I get older. It goes: He aha te mea nui o
te ao. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.
“What is the most important thing in the world? It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.”
HONIARA, 4 June, 2019 – Operation
Tui Moana 2019 is the smallest regional fisheries surveillance operation conducted
by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) yet it still covers a total
area of six million square kilometres, equivalent to an area 22 times the size
of New Zealand.
The twelve-day operation to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend
potential illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing activity ended on 31
May 2019. It involved seven FFA member nations – Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue,
Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga and Tuvalu, and the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination
Group (QUADs) made up of Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States
defence forces. It also included one of the FFA King Air aircraft from the
Pacific Maritime Security Aerial Surveillance Programme operated by FFA.
During the Operation, 57 vessels were boarded and only five minor
infringements were found including one vessel with a fish species that was not
in accordance with its licence, another with an unsigned logbook after a day of
fishing and one that was not carrying line cutters and de-hookers – a
requirement for all longline vessels to help ensure they can promptly release
sea turtles that are caught or entangled. These infringements have been
reported to member countries for further investigation.
“FFA conducts four Operations every year and Tui Moana is the second this
year. Lately we have found a steady decline in fisheries infringements and this
is very likely due to our regular coordinated regional patrols,” said FFA’s
Director of Fisheries Operations, Allan Rahari.
As a regional surveillance operation, Operation Tui Moana involved over
one hundred personnel from across the region, with joint coordination led by
the FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) team.
During the operation eight police, fisheries and military personnel were
based at the RFSC and trained in the use of the vessel monitoring systems and
associated software.
“The Operation teaches them to experience how the Operations Room
functions during a multi asset and nation Operation. The intention is for these officers to be
able to utilize what they have learnt in the RFSC in their own headquarters
during their own surveillance operations,” said Mr. Rahari.
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For more information and photos contact Donna Hoerder, FFA Media, ph: +677 773 3097 donna.hoerder@ffa.int
About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries
Agency (FFA)
FFA assists
its 17-member countries to sustainably manage fishery resources that fall
within their 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA provides expertise,
technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign
decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision
making on tuna management. www.ffa.int
HONIARA, 25 January 2019 — The Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency yesterday welcomed the highest ranking military official from Australia, General Angus Campbell.
“The visit by Australian Chief of Defence Force, General Angus Campbell and his team is a reminder of the power of cooperation and is the platform upon which we enjoy excellent relations between FFA and Australia,” said FFA Director General, Dr. Manumatavai Tupou-Roosen.
“It is our Pacific way and it is the only way that we can achieve a safe, stable and prosperous region.”
The visit provided an opportunity for DG Dr. Tupou-Roosen to update the team on the work of FFA, highlight the successful areas of collaboration with Australia, and discuss further areas for close work.
General Campbell underlined the importance of FFA to the regional architecture and the future of the Pacific. He also emphasised the ‘whole-of-community value’ in the sharing of information and expressed his commitment to promoting this.
Dr Tupou-Roosen sincerely thanked him for the successful partnership between Australia and FFA which includes the funds and assistance to FFA members in areas such as the aerial surveillance, patrol boat programme, the Niue Treaty Multilateral Subsidiary Arrangement (NTSA), Persons of Interest; and secondment of defence personnel at FFA.
General Campbell was accompanied by Australian Federal Police Commissioner- Andrew Colvin, Border Force Commissioner – Michael Outram, DG Australian Security Intelligence Organisation – Duncan Lewis, Department of Defence Director General Pacific and Timor Leste International Policy Division and Chief of Operations Maritime Border Command – Jake Campbell and DA Wing Commander – Jonathon Durden.
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For more information, please contact Donna Hoerder, donna.hoerder@ffa.int, ph: +679 9265 518
About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)
FFA was established to help their 17 member countries sustainably manage their fishery resources that fall within their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA is an advisory body providing expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management through agencies such as the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). www.ffa.int
A just completed Pacific operation to combat illegal fishing found no breaches of the region’s rules.
The exercise, the third this year and called Operation Island Chief, aimed to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend potential illegal, unregulated or unreported fishing activity.
Using boats and aircraft it covered more than 16.5 million square kilometres of ocean and found no infringements or breaches.
The Pacific’s 10 Forum Fisheries Agency member nations were involved, along with Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States.
Covering 16.5 million square kilometres over 10 days with 10 FFA member states, Operation Island Chief found no infringements or breaches
A ten-day annual operation to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend potential illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing activity ended on August 3. Operation Island Chief involved ten FFA member nations- Fiji, FSM, Kiribati, Palau, PNG, Nauru, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu, and the Quadrilateral Defence Coordination Group (QUADs) – Australia, New Zealand, France and the United States.
Regional surveillance operations such as Operation Island Chief involve hundreds of personnel from across the region, with joint coordination led by the FFA’s Regional Fisheries and Surveillance Centre (RFSC) team. Fisheries, Police Maritime Units and Navy officers of FFA members participated as watch-keepers joining the RFSC team for around the clock shifts during the Operation, with their primary task being to monitor and analyse the Regional Surveillance picture and all incoming data from the QUAD surveillance providers.
Operation Island Chief 2018 (OPIC18) covered more than 16.5 million square kilometres of ocean and found no infringements or breaches.
Chief of Staff – Petty Officer Waisake Tikoduadua from Fiji said “As Chief of Staff for OPIC18 first, I have to know watch keepers very well and make sure that they are well organized in their watch and shift. Also to ensure daily briefs are prepared during the operation. I thank everyone for the great team work for OPIC18 and I am looking forward to work with FFA in future operations.”
OPIC18 is the third of four Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA) led monitoring, control and surveillance operations each year. It involved patrol boats from Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, as well as aircrafts from Australia and the United States, who offered their defence and military assets to support regional surveillance. A total of approximately 50 days at sea and 110 hours of air time was undertaken during OPIC18.
“As always we are thankful for the level of cooperation, commitment and engagement by our members and QUAD partners in safeguarding the Pacific fishery from Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported activity” said FFA Director General, James Movick.
FFA Director General, James Movick
For more information, please contact Donna Hoerder, donna.hoerder@ffa.int, ph: +677 21124
About Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA)
FFA was established to help their 17 member countries sustainably manage their fishery resources that fall within their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs). FFA is an advisory body providing expertise, technical assistance and other support to its members who make sovereign decisions about their tuna resources and participate in regional decision making on tuna management through agencies such as the Western Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). www.ffa.int
The additional patrol boat to Palau from Nippon and Sasakawa Foundation is being hailed as a boost in the fight against illegal fishing in the island-nation.
Patrol boats. Photo by Ongerung Kambes Kesolei
The new patrol boat, PSS Kedam also amplifies Palau’s national marine sanctuary law- a signature policy of the government that will ban commercial fishing in its 193,000 square miles of its exclusive economic zone by 2020.
The PSS Kedam is named after the Great Frigate Bird of Palau, a sea bird that is the largest bird found in Palau.
“Today is a proud day for Palau, a proud day for law enforcement and the grand responsibility of safeguarding our constitutional borders surrounded by vast oceans. Today is a proud day, for the fruits of friendship and partnership between public sector and the private sector,” Palau President Tommy Remenegsu Jr. said during the handover ceremony in Palau on Feb. 13.
The Nippon Foundation at a cost of over $30 million funds the new patrol boat Kedam .
The 40-meter patrol boat is also part of the grant assistance from the Nippon Foundation and the Sasakawa Peace Foundation on the 10-year $70 million assistance provided by the two foundations referred to as the Support to Enhance Coast Guard Capabilities and Promote Eco-conscious Tourism in Palau.
The Nippon Foundation also provided new berth and the administration building, while the Sasakawa Peace Foundation provided capacity training and salary for the crew for 10 years.
A signed memorandum of understanding in 2016 with Palau government stated that the Nippon Foundation will provide financial support to cover fuel and maintenance cost for the vessel until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2027, and for the boat until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2026.
The Sasakawa Peace Foundation will fund employment of crews to operate the medium-sized patrol vessel, including the training of those crews, which will be conducted by the Japanese partner organizations until the end of Japanese fiscal year 2027. Before PSS Kedam,
Palau only has one patrol boat- PSS H.I Remeliik, which is 31.5-meter (104ft). Remeliik is Palau’s first patrol board donated by the Australian government. PSS Remeliik is due to be replaced by Australia by 2020.
Remenegsau said Kedam and Remeliik will help patrol its ocean and assist tackling the challenge of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.
“We are one percent land, and 99 percent ocean. And that means, we are indeed a large ocean state, and ocean is everything to us. It is our food security, it is our economic security, it is our cultural and social security, for it is our way of life.”
“Unfortunately, we are visited by problems not of our own making, but of signs and mankind, one of them, being the challenging part of illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing. Today’s ceremony, activities and purpose will go a long way to assist Palau in tackling this important challenge,” he added. Palau has caught in their waters poachers from Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Vice President and Minister of Justice Raynold Oilouch said the Nippon Foundation included in their donation three smaller patrol boats; a high speed inflatable boat, a pick-up truck and satellite communication facilities.
“Palau now has one of the most state of the art surveillance and enforcement operations in the entire region, coupled with the latest technology and satellite surveillance and aircraft reconnaissance, Palau will now be able to effectively and efficiently monitor and enforce our exclusive economic zone against illegal fishing, drug and human trafficking, and increase our abilities for search and rescue for missing vessels and people,” Oilouch stated during the hand over ceremony.
Mitsuyuki Unno Executive Director of Nippon Foundation sin his remarks said the partnership with Palau is due to a shared common concern to protect the world’s oceans.
“For years, the Nippon Foundation has been working to make the world’s ocean sustainable. however, to address the diverse challenges that confront our oceans, there needs to be a new global ocean regime that transcends country borders, institutions, and specializations. and to pass on a bountiful ocean to future generations, we need to work together to develop a global vision for the next millennium,” Unno said.
A civilian aerial surveillance service has begun across the Central and Western Pacific region as part of the Australian Government’s $2 billion Pacific Maritime Security Program.
When fully implemented, the Pacific Maritime Surveillance Program Aerial Surveillance will provide up to 1,400 hours of aerial surveillance each year across the Central and Western Pacific through two dedicated long-range aircraft based in the region. The surveillance, in conjunction with the Pacific Patrol Boat program will provide targeted maritime patrolling and enhance the ability of Pacific Island Countries to defend against regional maritime security threats such as illegal fishing and transnational crime.
Minister for Defence, Senator the Hon Marise Payne said the protection of oceans and regional resources is vital for all Pacific Island Forum countries and Australia.
“The Pacific Maritime Security Program is an important investment in regional security. Australia is committed to further strengthening the capabilities of Pacific Island countries so we can work together in support of our shared interests,” Minister Payne said.
“I reiterated this commitment with my Pacific counterparts on my visits to Papua New Guinea and Fiji and at the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting in Auckland last year. I’m very pleased to see the aerial surveillance aspect of the Program get underway,” she said.
The introduction of this new capability, and the Government’s commitment to providing this support for the next 30 years, is fundamentally changing the way the Pacific region identifies and responds to maritime security threats. For the first time, Pacific countries will have access to surveillance information 365 days per year to support intelligence-targeted patrolling and protection of their resources.
The $10 million aerial surveillance service is fully funded by the Department of Defence. Aircraft tasking will be coordinated by the Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency (FFA). The inaugural flight occurred out of Micronesia in December 2017.
As the only regional surveillance centre in the Pacific, the FFA is responsible for the day-to-day coordination of the platform and facilitating communication with regional maritime law enforcement agencies.
Defence has engaged Technology Service Corporation (TSC) to provide the aerial surveillance service. TSC has previously provided aerial surveillance support to the Pacific region through the FFA in its largest annual surveillance operation.
The Pacific Maritime Security Program is the centrepiece of Australia’s defence engagement in the Pacific and affirms Australia’s commitment to assist Pacific Island Countries combat a wide range of maritime security threats within the region.
The Palau government’s case filed against the Philippine fish carrier, Gene 8, was dismissed last week due to lack of government witnesses.
The Attorney General’s Office filed a motion asking for a rescheduling of the trial, but Associate Justice Kathleen Salii denied the move.
Based on the motion of continuance of the AGO, the Palau government could not make its case without witnesses because they were unavailable to appear before the court as prosecution witnesses.
Palau’s marine law officers seized Gene 8 in December of 2016. Palau’s patrol boat PSS Remeliik was conducting its marine surveillance when it found the vessel 45 miles northwest of Helen Reef.
The Gene No.8 was found moored to a fishing aggregation device, after which the marine officers boarded the vessel for an inspection.
The marine officers who were part of the surveillance operation during the apprehension of Gene 8 were at the time of the trial either in training off-island or on a surveillance mission outside of Koror.
The AGO also cited that that a new civil attorney hired by the AG’s office to handle the case has left the country in October and his contract was subsequently terminated in November.
Defense counsel for Gene 8 opposed the motion, saying that the AGO office had enough time to prepare for the trial and that the absence of witnesses during the trial is “inexcusable,” since they were aware of the trial date 74 days earlier.
The court gave credence to the defense counsel opposition and ordered the case dismissed. Justice Salii also ordered the return of the cash bail posted by the owners of the fish carrier. Saliil also ordered that the surety bond and cash bail posted are exonerated.
The Gene 8 itself was released on Oct 1 after posting a surety bond and allowed to sail back to the Philippines with the three remaining Filipino fishermen sent back home with the boat.
The Palau government offered to settle the case prior to the trial but the defense rejected the offer.
