Micronesia summit today
Dionesis Tamondong • Pacific Daily News • December 3, 2009
Promoting regional tourism, conserving marine resources and discussing the impact of the upcoming military buildup to the entire Micronesia region are some of the topics on the agenda for 12th Micronesian Chief Executives' Summit.
The gathering of Micronesia's leaders takes place today and tomorrow at the Sheraton Laguna Guam Resort.
Since the Summit was established in 2004 by Guam Gov. Felix Camacho and Juan Babauta, who was governor of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands at the time, biannual meetings have been held to establish closer ties among the islands and promote initiatives beneficial to the entire western Micronesian region.
"As chief executives of the islands in our region, we recognize that maintenance of healthy ecosystems and sustainable resource management are critical to the livelihoods of Pacific people," Camacho said in a news release.
Renewable energy, invasive species and work-force development are among the topics on Summit's agenda today. Tomorrow, participants will get an update on the military buildup and its impact to the region from retired Marine Maj. Gen. David Bice, executive director of the Joint Guam Program Office, and Gary Kuwabara, Western Regional director for the Department of Defense Office of Economic Adjustment.
Camacho will be joined at the summit by:
# Kenneth Kedi, minister of Transportation and Communication for the Republic of the Marshall Islands, representing RMI President Jurelang Zedkaia;
# CNMI Gov. Benigno Fitial;
# Republic of Palau President Johnson Toribiong;
# Federated States of Micronesia President Emanuel Mori;
# Chuuk Gov. Wesley Simina;
# Yap Gov. Sebastian Anefal;
# Kosrae Gov. Robert Weilbacher; and
# Pohnpei Gov. John Ehsa.
Showing posts with label marine resource. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marine resource. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
GUAM FISHERIES WATCH - NOAA Chief Warns: Stop Overfishing Our Bluefin Tuna!
GUAM FISHERIES WATCH - NOAA Chief Warns: Stop Overfishing Our Bluefin Tuna!
Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Thursday, 12 November 2009 13:58
GUAM - Unless fishermen cease the illegal, unreported and unregulated overfishing of bluefin tuna, we aren't going to have any left to eat.
That's the word from U.S. Commerce Under Secretary and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco as the international body that manages Atlantic bluefin meets this week in Brazil.
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is tasked with conserving and managing America's coastal and marine resources.
Although this week's meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) focuses on the species of bluefin tuna that inhabits the other great ocean, it can't be long before Pacific bluefin is back in the spotlight again.
According to Wikipedia:
Pacific Bluefin Tuna are overfished throughout the world. They are hooked on long lines or illegally netted where they swim, and many young bluefins are captured before they reproduce. Creating effective fishing policies for bluefin tuna is difficult because they are highly mobile and swim through the territorial waters of many different nations. Data about their movements and high levels of international cooperation are needed to ensure sustainable bluefin tuna populations.
Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the Western Pacific between Okinawa and the Philippines and probably the Sea of Japan, then migrate over 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) to the Eastern Pacific, and eventually return to their birth waters to spawn again.
Here is the latest bluefin tuna news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
United States Pushes For Strong Measures To Protect Bluefin Tuna
November 9, 2009 - Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator issued the following statement urging the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to heed the scientific advice and adopt measures that will end overfishing in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean and put bluefin tuna on the path to recovery. The ICCAT is scheduled to meet this week in Brazil.
“As a member of ICCAT, the United States has a responsibility to work with other countries to end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and implement strong management measures that will end overfishing and help rebuild the stocks. “The status quo with respect to eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin is neither sustainable nor acceptable.
Conservation of this species depends on science-based management and effective compliance with the rules on both sides of the ocean. “I believe that to be most effective, the long-term management of the species must be led by ICCAT. I urge ICCAT to do the right thing – follow the science and implement strong new measures to protect the bluefin. I look to ICCAT for strong and definitive action at this week’s meeting.”
Background: ICCAT, an international body of 47 nations and the European Community, is responsible for the management of Atlantic bluefin tuna. The United States has repeatedly urged ICCAT to heed the scientific advice and adopt measures that will end overfishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean and put bluefin tuna on the path to recovery. This includes measures setting responsible, science-based quotas, stronger enforcement of those quotas, and closures during spawning periods.
The United States delegation to ICCAT travels to Brazil this week for the body’s annual meeting. This year, as in years past, the United States is seeking the strongest possible management for the conservation of Atlantic bluefin tuna. On October 14, the United States announced its support of Monaco’s proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to prohibit international trade of the species.
The final U.S. decision on whether to vote for Monaco’s proposal at the 2010 CITES Conference of Parties will take into account whether or not ICCAT adopts strong management and compliance measures at this week's meeting. For further background, please see October 14 release.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Written by Jeff Marchesseault, Guam News Factor Staff Writer
Thursday, 12 November 2009 13:58
GUAM - Unless fishermen cease the illegal, unreported and unregulated overfishing of bluefin tuna, we aren't going to have any left to eat.
That's the word from U.S. Commerce Under Secretary and NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco as the international body that manages Atlantic bluefin meets this week in Brazil.
NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce and is tasked with conserving and managing America's coastal and marine resources.
Although this week's meeting of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) focuses on the species of bluefin tuna that inhabits the other great ocean, it can't be long before Pacific bluefin is back in the spotlight again.
According to Wikipedia:
Pacific Bluefin Tuna are overfished throughout the world. They are hooked on long lines or illegally netted where they swim, and many young bluefins are captured before they reproduce. Creating effective fishing policies for bluefin tuna is difficult because they are highly mobile and swim through the territorial waters of many different nations. Data about their movements and high levels of international cooperation are needed to ensure sustainable bluefin tuna populations.
Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the Western Pacific between Okinawa and the Philippines and probably the Sea of Japan, then migrate over 6,000 nautical miles (11,000 km) to the Eastern Pacific, and eventually return to their birth waters to spawn again.
Here is the latest bluefin tuna news from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:
United States Pushes For Strong Measures To Protect Bluefin Tuna
November 9, 2009 - Dr. Jane Lubchenco, under secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere and NOAA administrator issued the following statement urging the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) to heed the scientific advice and adopt measures that will end overfishing in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean and put bluefin tuna on the path to recovery. The ICCAT is scheduled to meet this week in Brazil.
“As a member of ICCAT, the United States has a responsibility to work with other countries to end illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and implement strong management measures that will end overfishing and help rebuild the stocks. “The status quo with respect to eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin is neither sustainable nor acceptable.
Conservation of this species depends on science-based management and effective compliance with the rules on both sides of the ocean. “I believe that to be most effective, the long-term management of the species must be led by ICCAT. I urge ICCAT to do the right thing – follow the science and implement strong new measures to protect the bluefin. I look to ICCAT for strong and definitive action at this week’s meeting.”
Background: ICCAT, an international body of 47 nations and the European Community, is responsible for the management of Atlantic bluefin tuna. The United States has repeatedly urged ICCAT to heed the scientific advice and adopt measures that will end overfishing in the eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean and put bluefin tuna on the path to recovery. This includes measures setting responsible, science-based quotas, stronger enforcement of those quotas, and closures during spawning periods.
The United States delegation to ICCAT travels to Brazil this week for the body’s annual meeting. This year, as in years past, the United States is seeking the strongest possible management for the conservation of Atlantic bluefin tuna. On October 14, the United States announced its support of Monaco’s proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to prohibit international trade of the species.
The final U.S. decision on whether to vote for Monaco’s proposal at the 2010 CITES Conference of Parties will take into account whether or not ICCAT adopts strong management and compliance measures at this week's meeting. For further background, please see October 14 release.
NOAA understands and predicts changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and conserves and manages our coastal and marine resources.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
'Antiquities Act the wrong tool'
By Stefan Sebastian
Business Editor
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) is urging the White House to conserve the waters around the CNMI's northern islands under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, a statute that requires public and business sector consultations on management issues, rather than unilaterally designating the region as a national monument.
Bordallo's letter comes after local leaders in the CNMI long opposed to the Bush administration's proposal to establish a monument in the waters at issue, including Gov. Benigno Fitial, softened their stance last week in meetings with White House Council on Environmental Quality chief James Connaughton.
Talks will likely continue on the plan if measures to restore the CNMI's control over near-shore ocean resources-which it lost in a recent federal court case-play a part in them, a government spokesman has said, but the governor and other key figures are for now declining to give it their support.
In her Oct. 24 letter to Connaughton, Bordallo says that President Bush's plan to establish the proposed monument under the Antiquities Act would exclude economic interests and local communities from decision-making when it comes to how the waters would be managed. The Sanctuaries Act, she says, would serve as a more open way to craft a conservation plan for the region.
“I view retention of local flexibility to manage our marine resources in a way that balances the protections needed for sustainable marine resources with a thriving economy as an important sovereignty issue,” she writes. “The process in place under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which involves formal public consultation of stakeholders, is a far better process that could be used to assess the merits of these proposals.”
Bordallo adds that local fisheries should remain under the control of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which regulates fisheries, and regional fisheries management councils.
“In short, where local conservation efforts have proven successful, I believe we should employ existing administrative processes that provide a proper role for ongoing local involvement in the management of our precious marine resources,” she writes. “I am extremely concerned that the process that is being employed now, in the last weeks of the Bush Administration, does not provide for adequate public input, let alone adequate congressional oversight.”
President Bush is expected to issue a decision on the monument issue before he leaves office in January.
Business Editor
Rep. Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU) is urging the White House to conserve the waters around the CNMI's northern islands under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, a statute that requires public and business sector consultations on management issues, rather than unilaterally designating the region as a national monument.
Bordallo's letter comes after local leaders in the CNMI long opposed to the Bush administration's proposal to establish a monument in the waters at issue, including Gov. Benigno Fitial, softened their stance last week in meetings with White House Council on Environmental Quality chief James Connaughton.
Talks will likely continue on the plan if measures to restore the CNMI's control over near-shore ocean resources-which it lost in a recent federal court case-play a part in them, a government spokesman has said, but the governor and other key figures are for now declining to give it their support.
In her Oct. 24 letter to Connaughton, Bordallo says that President Bush's plan to establish the proposed monument under the Antiquities Act would exclude economic interests and local communities from decision-making when it comes to how the waters would be managed. The Sanctuaries Act, she says, would serve as a more open way to craft a conservation plan for the region.
“I view retention of local flexibility to manage our marine resources in a way that balances the protections needed for sustainable marine resources with a thriving economy as an important sovereignty issue,” she writes. “The process in place under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, which involves formal public consultation of stakeholders, is a far better process that could be used to assess the merits of these proposals.”
Bordallo adds that local fisheries should remain under the control of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, which regulates fisheries, and regional fisheries management councils.
“In short, where local conservation efforts have proven successful, I believe we should employ existing administrative processes that provide a proper role for ongoing local involvement in the management of our precious marine resources,” she writes. “I am extremely concerned that the process that is being employed now, in the last weeks of the Bush Administration, does not provide for adequate public input, let alone adequate congressional oversight.”
President Bush is expected to issue a decision on the monument issue before he leaves office in January.
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