August 26, 2024 — Palau made history a decade ago when it closed off 80% of its oceans to any kind of fishing. A proposal to open up some of its marine sanctuary to fishing has divided residents on how best to protect the oceans around the Pacific nation.
ADRIAN MA, HOST:
The tiny Pacific Island nation of Palau is facing a dilemma. See, about a decade ago, this island of just 18,000 residents became a model of ocean conservation when it completely closed its waters to foreign fishing. But since then, Palau’s economy has taken a dive, and locals are now divided over whether it’s time to open up their piece of the ocean to commercial fishing and outsiders. To explain more, NPR’s Emily Feng takes us to Palau.
EMILY FENG, BYLINE: I catch Lt. Cmdr. Mayce Ngirmeriin as he’s reading for two weeks at sea on one of Palau’s maritime patrol boats, designed to catch illegal fishing operations.
MAYCE NGIRMERIIN: Leave all the stress behind and then I go out at sea and feel free.
FENG: He helps enforce the Palau National Marine Sanctuary, enacted in 2015 that eventually closed off about 180,000 square miles from any fishing in Palau, which is near the U.S. territory of Guam. This size makes Palau’s marine sanctuary one of the largest ever. The remaining 20% is only open to Palauan fishers, and they only sell their catch locally.