2018 Progress in Marine Global Park Defense in Palau Northern Reefs

Global Conservation mission to the Republic of Palau reviewed progress to deploy Global Park Defense for Marine Protection in Palau Northern Reefs. The delegation included board member Firth Griffith and Scientific Advisor Dr. Gerardo Ceballos meeting with the OneReef team and Northern Reef Conservation Director and his wardens.

Global Park Defense for Marine Protection integrates ProtectedSeas' Marine Monitor (M2) system with marine radar and thermal long-range cameras to immediately detect illegal activities 24/7 day and night. Global Conservation funds OneReef in Palau to deploy the systems and support Marine Warden patrol operations including communications systems, vessel operations, warden training and improving the effectiveness of marine warden patrolling efforts.

We visited Palau Northern Reefs with the OneReef team and more deeply understand its uniqueness and critical importance for Palau and the world. As South Palau now has fewer and fewer fish due to heavy line and spearfishing by local people and foreigners, Northern Reefs will be targeted even more by poachers.

Global Conservation is focusing on protection of the ‘No Take’ areas of Northern Reefs, especially the Ebiil Channel Conservation Area, known as a critical aggregation site for grouper and fish spawning. The Ebiil Channel is open for visitors who have permits and so the rangers also must monitor their activities in the channel, including snorkeling and diving.

The Northern Reefs are critical to protect as one of the most intact and least over-fished areas of Palau.  It is home to the highly endangered Dugong (sea cow), hunted down to under 30-40 individuals.

Spearing or possessing dugong is prohibited with penalties ranging from imprisonment of 6 months to 1 year or a fine of $5,000 to $10,000 for the first violation; for every violation thereafter, imprisonment of at least 6 months but not more than 3 years, or a fine between $10,000 to $20,000 or both.

Marine Monitor (M2) radar tracking of vessels entering 'No Take' MPA at night in 2018.

Marine Monitor provides 24/7 monitoring and surveillance over a 4-5 kilometer area. Marine Monitor equipment consists of a low-cost marine radar like those used on millions of boats today.

The Ebiil Channel ‘No Take’ zone is very small and most illegal fishing is still taking place in other large areas north of Ebiil for line or spear fishing at night, and the taking of species which are off limits or fishing over limits set by National and State regulations.

We were encouraged to hear that the new Governor is very supportive of our MPA Protection program and enforcement of very well designed National and State regulations.

The State Conservation Director Mr. Darwin is a strong leader, and with the M2 Radar and team of 8 rangers and 2 operational patrol craft, Marine Wardens can effectively protect Northern Reefs day and night.

The Lookout surveillance and radio network are highly effective for seeing fishing vessels in daylight.

The presence of Rangers operating and a M2 Radar spinning gives pause to any poaching group. Photo: Brett Loveman.

New laws protecting critical ‘No Take’ Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were put in place across Palau in 2015.  After the first 2 years of socialization and communications with local communities,

Marine Wardens are now making their first arrests and citations against blatant illegal fishing in Palau Northern Reefs with support from Global Conservation using Global Park Defense and Marine Monitor (M2).

The Director said there were 5 citations in 2018, but only one paid fine, and 4 cases were dismissed.  This means we much better dedicated attorney to help all cases to succeed in prosecutions, and may need to help pay for legal fees, transport and other legal expenses.

Most fishing vessels used are low profile fiberglass so the M2 radar often is not be able to see them.  Photo: Brett Loveman

The total number of fishing boats who come into Northern Reefs from Palau is under 50 vessels. Having strong intelligence about repeat violators, who are most likely offenders, and who can operate at night, ie. those with long-range, FishFinder and experienced crews, should be key part of Protection.

OneReef and the State of have a great team who can make MPA Protection excellent in Northern Reefs and a model for Pacific Nations.  If the M2 is to be core to helping effective protection, it must be fully operational - radar and alert communications - 24/7 365 days a year.

Ending our mission, we have a goal od 90% Uptime for Marine Monitor radar in 2019, and verified Alerts increasing to 20+ citations with 5-6 successful prosecutions.  With a strong 2019 success, Northern Reefs MPA Protection can be shown as a model at the 2020 Oceans Conference being hosted by Palau. The Marine Monitor and Global Park Defense model can be propagated to 100s of other island and coastal MPAs across the oceans.

Global Park Defense for Marine leverages a proven methodology and systems, providing a turn-key working MPA Protection system, marine warden training and Marine Patrol support to achieve “No Take” protection for critically endangered coastal fisheries and wildlife habitats.

Recommended actions to increase the effectiveness of Marine Wardens include:

Improving communication systems for the Marine Warden teams to have continuous line of communications with their base and up the chain of command with a backup system.

Deploying waterproof radios for each officer including radios on each patrol vessel with antenna for effective communications. The program needs a repeater purchased and installed at the lookout point at Todai to increase the communication range of the patrolling teams.

Training in Standard Operating Procedures, field operations, covert operations, field note taking, logbook system, communication and awareness, and report writing.

In 2018, Palau MPA Protection supported by Global Conservation included:

 - A rotating 9-person team patrols

 - Over 100 boat patrols (2-3 per week)

 - Over 11,000 miles patrolled (estimated)

 - Illegal fishing-related warnings (20-30 warnings) and citations

 - No fish bombing or habitat destruction observed

Global Conservation is supporting multi-agency training for marine conservation law enforcement officers. Training conducted by US Fish and Wildlife Warden from Guam.

The Ngarchelong enforcement team still needs a Solar Plant for reliable power to the Marine Monitor system, more radios, long-range thermal binoculars, 4 satellite communicators and and new motor for 3rd boat patrol. 

Photo: Brett Loveman

Palau is an emerging model in the Pacific for MPA protection and enforcement and bottom-up community engagement to save a remarkable marine ecosystem for the future.

There are an estimated 208 recreational /subsistence fishers, and 4 full-time fishers for both Kayangel and Ngarchelong States distributed over no more than 70 vessels. Fishing is not a primary source of income for locals, but more an important tradition and source of food.

Target species include groupers, rabbit fish, snapper, parrotfish, wrasse, lobster, unicorn and surgeon fish, emperor fish, sea cucumber, giant clams, corals, trochus, green turtles, mangrove and coconut crabs (WildAid 2016).

Most out-of-state fishers access Northern Reefs by 5-7 meter vessels using 100-200 HP outboard motors.

About Palau Northern Reefs

The two States comprising the Northern Reefs are Ngarchelong and Kayangel, both are home to some of Palau’s most abundant and productive fishing grounds.

The vast Northern Reef area combines two state territorial waters with a total area of 3,930 square kilometers, an area bigger than the city of Tokyo or the city of Los Angeles by land area, and is Palau’s most productive coastal fishing region.

Palau’s Northern Reefs are home to some of the most productive fishing grounds and encompass over 3,930 Km2 of territorial waters pertaining to the states of Kayangel and Ngarchelong.

Its waters include important habitats of coral reef systems, barrier reef, patch reefs, sea grass, nesting beaches, unique atoll forests; and offer spawning and aggregation sites for nationally protected fish species and breeding areas for sea- birds among other species.

The Northern Reefs supports many endangered maring wildlife like manta rays, sea turtles, humphead parrotfish, dugong and saltwater crocodiles.

WildAid carried out a physical site inspection to determine the best possible combination of potential surveillance tech- nology given site characteristics, the profile of stakeholders, use patterns, CAPEX and OPEX. For an in-depth assessment of MPA protection and law enforcement needs in the Northern Reefs, see WildAid’s report.

MPA Protection Challenges – Palau Northern Reefs

1. Remoteness makes it hard to attract personnel

2. Prevalent poaching  

3. Extreme weather conditions  

4. Most illegal fishing takes place at night with small fiberglass vessels

5. Limited fuel supply and operating budget

6. Monsoon season (November to April) limits patrols, as does the entry of out-of-state fishers

7. Prevalent Easterlies from May through October cause out-of-state fishers to enter Northern Reefs on western side of Island

8. Westerlies from November to April cause out-of-state fishers to enter the Northern Reefs on eastern side of Island

WildAid’s recommended strategy combines high-power video cameras and a robust VHF marine radio network with the strategic placement of buoys, patrol vessels and a floating barge to provide a constant presence and fast response capacity.

The Northern Reefs Fisheries Management Plan in 2016 identified a number of threats or challenges:

 - Lack of enforcement of existing laws and regulations that govern the Northern Reefs;

 - Insufficient number of laws and regulations;

 - Indeterminate poaching;

 - Unregulated or indiscriminate harvesting;

  - Loss of prime habitats;

  - Conflicting regulatory approaches between local, State and national.

In the past, people were catching fish before they had a chance to reproduce causing a steep decline in fish, despite their effort in marine protected area.  To help manage the Northern Reefs, the Northern Reef Fisheries Cooperative was created to unify fishermen and promote alternative fishing methods with the goal of relieving stress on the reef. The co-op follows catch and size limits, as well as self-policing for rulebreakers.

Over recent years, fisheries stock assessment conducted in the waters of Kayangel and Ngarchelong showed the area is grossly overfished. According to data collected from fish catch, nearly 70% of landed fish were immature or juvenile while less than 30% of landings were mature. These results are alarming and confirmed the Northern Reef is overfished that should the situation continue as is, the fisheries will no longer be able to support the livelihoods of the people in Ngarchelong and Kayangel, and has some real negative economic implications to the rest of Palau.

Due to this critical situation, the states took action and imposed a 3-year moratorium on four key species.

“There are laws and traditional moratoriums that have been established to protect the Northern Reefs, but they have not been effectively enforced,” proclaimed a resident. “Poaching and indiscriminate and uncontrolled fishing practices, which are major threats to the Northern Reefs, could be lessened if the arms, claws, and teeth of the laws and moratoriums are exercised regularly.”

Surrounded by water, Palauans have developed a life which is inextricably linked with the oceans. We derive food, identity and traditions from our relationship with the ocean. The long- standing success of this symbiotic relationship is based on responsibility that each Palauan is taught from childhood that they are caretakers of the sea.

  - Palau’s Sea Traditions - Mr. Noah Idechong, House of Delegates