The Pacific Islands News Association is one of the best resources for tuna news in the Pacific. This week they are reporting from Honolulu for the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) and have filed several reports about the politics surrounding the tuna industry.
A story about the Marianas caught my eye, from the story:
1. Tan Holdings owns one of the largest fishing companies in the world. If fishing was profitable in the Marianas, they would already be fishing there. Just ask Jerry Tan.
2. There have been several heavily subsidized attempts to start industrial fishing in the Marianas, and they have all gone belly up. The Lady Carolina, the longline vessel wrecked in our lagoon, made more money taking tourists to look at fish than it ever did trying to catch fish.
3. There are no local people who will want to work on a fishing boat for weeks at a time.
So not only do I think it won't happen, but I think it is a bad idea for the following reasons:
1. The fishing fleet based out of Hawaii has been exposed using slave labor. Saipan has enough human trafficking problems with the casino. A fishing fleet would invite more abuse.
2. If Saipan wants commercial fishing, we should be talking to Palau, Micronesia, the Marshalls, and the other members of the PNA, rather than taking our cues from Hawaii.
3. Saipan has already pre-approved a plan that would allow the governor to sell our waters to the Chinese. I don't want to sell our waters to the Chinese and would prefer that local fish be caught by local fishermen.
4. The rest of the world is moving in the direction of more conservation and sustainability. With the Mariana Trench Monument, about 5% of the United States waters around the Marianas are protected from commercial fishing, while making allowances for recreational, non-commercial, and traditional indigenous fishing. The other 95% is open to fishing. I wish the Marianas was talking about increasing ocean protection, not ocean exploitation.
5. High end tourism does better when tied to conservation initiatives. Look at every national park around the world as evidence.
So what the heck is going on? Why push for something that has already failed several times? Why throw more good money after bad? Why undermine Saipan's reputation as a green destination?
I blame Hawaii. The CNMI representatives who represent us at WCPFC tend to do whatever the Hawaiians tell them to do. In fact, in most of the WCPFC meetings I've attended, a Hawaiian was sitting on the CNMI delegation. Everything the CNMI says at these meetings is to the benefit of the Hawaiian fishing fleet. I suspect the calls for increased fishing subsidies in the Marianas are somehow tied to the ask for increased fishing quota for the Hawaiian fleet.
UPDATE 1/17/2018
Did I call it or did I call it? The Saipan Tribune reports on this story today:
A story about the Marianas caught my eye, from the story:
Meanwhile, Northern Marianas Governor Ralph Deleon Guerrero Torres called on the WCPFC for financial assistance to develop their fisheries.I know Governor Torres. He is my second cousin. Like all Pacific Island men, he considers himself a fishermen. He's also a jobs guy. He prides himself in bringing the casino to Saipan and all that has resulted from that. I assume he sees fishing as an additional economic activity that could buoy up the economy. That is a valid point of view, and is in line with the Trump Administration priorities to exploit American natural resources. And the governor is very much a Trump guy. But I don't think Saipan will have any industrial fisheries anytime soon for the following reasons:
“We have fisheries resources in our waters but lack access to capital needed to institute large scale fisheries operations (emphasis mine). In this regard CNMI Is interested in how the commission can insist some members and territories to obtain increased benefits and capacity derived from tuna Fisheries in the region," said Torres.
1. Tan Holdings owns one of the largest fishing companies in the world. If fishing was profitable in the Marianas, they would already be fishing there. Just ask Jerry Tan.
2. There have been several heavily subsidized attempts to start industrial fishing in the Marianas, and they have all gone belly up. The Lady Carolina, the longline vessel wrecked in our lagoon, made more money taking tourists to look at fish than it ever did trying to catch fish.
3. There are no local people who will want to work on a fishing boat for weeks at a time.
So not only do I think it won't happen, but I think it is a bad idea for the following reasons:
1. The fishing fleet based out of Hawaii has been exposed using slave labor. Saipan has enough human trafficking problems with the casino. A fishing fleet would invite more abuse.
2. If Saipan wants commercial fishing, we should be talking to Palau, Micronesia, the Marshalls, and the other members of the PNA, rather than taking our cues from Hawaii.
3. Saipan has already pre-approved a plan that would allow the governor to sell our waters to the Chinese. I don't want to sell our waters to the Chinese and would prefer that local fish be caught by local fishermen.
4. The rest of the world is moving in the direction of more conservation and sustainability. With the Mariana Trench Monument, about 5% of the United States waters around the Marianas are protected from commercial fishing, while making allowances for recreational, non-commercial, and traditional indigenous fishing. The other 95% is open to fishing. I wish the Marianas was talking about increasing ocean protection, not ocean exploitation.
5. High end tourism does better when tied to conservation initiatives. Look at every national park around the world as evidence.
So what the heck is going on? Why push for something that has already failed several times? Why throw more good money after bad? Why undermine Saipan's reputation as a green destination?
I blame Hawaii. The CNMI representatives who represent us at WCPFC tend to do whatever the Hawaiians tell them to do. In fact, in most of the WCPFC meetings I've attended, a Hawaiian was sitting on the CNMI delegation. Everything the CNMI says at these meetings is to the benefit of the Hawaiian fishing fleet. I suspect the calls for increased fishing subsidies in the Marianas are somehow tied to the ask for increased fishing quota for the Hawaiian fleet.
UPDATE 1/17/2018
Did I call it or did I call it? The Saipan Tribune reports on this story today:
"One of the topics at the meeting is the effort being done by the United States to increase the catch limit in the Pacific, which is the world’s largest fishing ground for tuna. The U.S. is pushing for a quota of 4,600 tons."