SHARK SAVERS "THANK YOU" TO PRESIDENT TORIBIONG

Field Report from Palau Capitol Building, Ngerulmud, Melekeok, Palau, Micronesia, April 16, 2010.

You may recall that Shark Savers fielded two petitions regarding Palau. The first one opposed a bad proposed shark fishing law and the second one thanked Palau for subsequently protecting sharks by creating the national Palau Shark Sanctuary. Shark Savers subsequently created a book consisting of all the signatures and comments collected for presentation to President Toribiong. The book was presented to President Johnson Toribiong of Palau on behalf of SHARK SAVERS by Palau Shark Sanctuary. Here's the report I filed with Mr. Michael Skoletsky, Executive Director of Shark Savers:

Dear Michael:

I met with the President re: Shark Savers' Thank You. Others present were Mr. Ngirai Tmetuchel, Special Advisor to the President and Ms. Bernadette Carreon, Reporter, Palau Horizon (she’ll do a story in local paper which will be syndicated on line) and a few of the Presidents staff.

I gave a brief history / reminder of how Shark Savers answered the call by my organization Palau Shark Sanctuary to rally international support to prevent the undoing of Palau’s landmark shark protection legislation as proposed in Senate Bill 8-44. Shark Savers created an on line petition calling on Palau to block SB 8-44 which resulted in conservation minded people around the world rising to the call. Those messages and petition were already provided to Palau’s President and copied to the Senate, Belau Tourism Association, Chamber of Commerce and others.
Image Above Left:  Copyright Shark Savers; Design Jamie Pollack.

Following the President’s historic announcement at the U.N., Shark Savers again rose to the call and gathered over 1500 signatures on a Thank You note to the President for his ground breaking shark sanctuary announcement and wise leadership in conservation.

I informed the President that I was present on behalf of Shark Savers and Executive Director Michael Skoletsky to hand over the printed and bound “thank you” signatures to him and to extend the deepest gratitude of Shark Savers and the thousands of people around the world who signed the petition and the thank you, for the Presidents Shark Sanctuary announcement at the United Nations General Assembly Meeting in New York, late last year.

I read your letter to the President after which I presented him the award on yours and Shark Savers behalf.

The President was deeply moved. He smiled when I mentioned the on line petition as there is no doubt he “heard the noise” at the time.

He extended his thanks to Sharks Savers and those who signed the petition and thank you note for their positive and constructive contribution to the protection of sharks. He sends his best wishes to you and all Shark Savers and vowed to continue his efforts to fulfill his vision for Palau Shark Sanctuary.

Cheers!
Dermot

IMAGES ABOVE LEFT and BELOW RIGHT:  Copyright Palau Horizon;   Courtesy Palau Shark Sanctuary

Below is the text of the letter from Shark Savers that accompanyied the book:

Dear President Toribiong,

It is with great pleasure that we present to you this book containing the signatures and messages from the many people throughout the world who are grateful for your actions to protect the sharks of Palau.

As you read through the comments in the book, you will notice how greatly moved we all are that you have taken this important and bold action. Palau has become much more than a place in our diving logs, but a place in our hearts, as well.

Sharks are important to us, to Palau, and to the world. After Palau took its pioneering step, the Maldives has joined you in declaring its waters a shark sanctuary. Honduras has placed a moratorium on shark fishing as it considers doing the same. We hope that you have started a trend among the nations that harbor the remaining sharks.

We also thank Palau for taking the lead at CITES to protect shark species from international trade. While we are all disappointed at the lack of progress at CITES this year, we thank you for leading the fight.

Dermot

Palau's Shark Alarm! A story by DATELINE reporter David O' Shea

PALAU'S SHARK ALARM!  By David O' Shea.

I recently joined video journalist David O' Shea, who had just completed his PADI Open Water Diver Certification with Instructor Jim Wilke of Sam's Tours Palau, as he plunges underwater for his very first scuba dive and into the controversy over saving the ocean's top predator. Coincidentally, it was also my very first dive in the newly created Palau Shark Sanctuary following President Toribiong's historic announcement at the United Nations in September 2009.

The teaser for David's story reads: The tiny Pacific nation of Palau has delcared itself the world's first national shark sanctuary. It's in response to the massive plunder of sharks that occurs in its vast territorial waters, part of an estimated 100 million sharks killed each year.  This carnage is being fueled by Asia's rapidly growing appetite for shark fin soup. The sharks are captured, have their fins hacked off and are then thrown overboard to die.

Image copyright Gunther Deichmann

Tiny Palau has warned the world it will protect its natural resources, but with only one patrol boat, can the shark sanctuary ever be enforced? Watch our report and take a look at our photo  gallery of behind the scenes photos and underwater pictures from David's story.

DATELINE is Australia's longest-running international current affairs program presented by George Negus and a team of acclaimed producers and video journalists.

Click Here for David O' Shea's report.

Dermot

Update: Proposed Shark Fishing Legislation, Palau, Micronesia.

The two controversial Senate Bills (SB8-44 and SB8-50) which propose to undo Palau’s landmark shark protection laws adopted under the previous Remengesau Administration in 2003, are both pending at the Senate Committee on Resources, Commerce, Trade and Development.

SB No. 8-44 which proposes to allow commercial fishing for sharks was introduced on March 5, 2009 and passed 1st reading on that same day.

SB No. 8-50 which proposes to exempt commercial fishing companies from export taxes on fish caught by purse-seining methods for a period of 5 years was introduced on March 26, 2009 and passed first reading on the same day too.

For background on these controversial Bills read earlier posts on this Blog. Visit Palau Shark Sanctuary for more information on shark conservation efforts in Palau at:
http://www.sharksanctuary.com/

According to Senate sources if the committee reports on these proposed Bills in the next session of the Senate which opens tomorrow, the Bills will go to their 2nd Reading.

The shark conservation organization SHARK SAVERS has created an on-line petition where you may register your opposition to Senate Bill 8-44 and commercial shark fishing. Please visit the link below and sign this petition today. Time is of the essence. Please act now!


PETITION: http://www.sharksavers.org/en/get-involved/sign-these-petitions/542-petition%20-to-palau-stop-senate-bill-8-44-on-shark-fishing.html

BLOG: http://www.sharksavers.org/en/blogs/shark-savers-blog.html

Also, please continue to pass the word to others and continue to submit comments to Palau Chamber of Commerce and Belau Tourism Association respectively at: pcoc@palaunet.com and bta@palaunet.com

Many thanks to all who have already acted including professional photographers and environmentalists EDWARD DORSON, TODD ESSICK and GUNTHER DEICHMANN who are among the many concerned individuals who have taken time to submit their comments in opposition to these Bills. These professional photographers have all visited and dived in Palau and know just how important sharks are to Palau’s tourism industry and to the entire marine eco-system. We appreciate their support.

Visit their websites and blogs for more information and fantastic images at:

Edward Dorson: http://dorsonstudios.com/

Todd Essick: http://www.blogger.com/www.essickphoto.com

Gunther Deichmann: http://gdphotonews.blogspot.com/

http://www.deichmann-photo.com/

http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

WWW.SHARKSANCTUARY.COM finally launched!

Koror, Palau

January 10, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

I'm happy to announce that my new (and first) website for the Palau Shark Sanctuary is finally launched. While there are still some edits and revisions required, the basic site is up and running. The URL is: http://www.sharksanctuary.com/

Additionally, my BLOG located at: http://www.sharksanctuary.blogspot.com/ will soon be linked to the new site.

I'm deeply indebted to my good friend, fellow environmentalist and amazing photographer Gunther Deichmann who sponsored and created the site in support of the International Year of the Shark 2009. Gunther was instrumental in helping me get the Shark Sanctuary off the ground back in 2001 and has been and ardent supporter ever since. Many thanks Gunther and Webmaster Arnold Munoz. I sincerely appreciate your support.

Check out Gunther's Blog at: http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

I also owe considerable thanks to Mr. Dennis Camblin of Logo Pacific, Hawaii who has supported me from day one and launched the Palau Shark Sanctuary line of logo clothing which has helped fund my efforts since 2001. Thanks Dennis!

Thanks also to Sam's Tours and Ben Franklin Department Store who are corporate sponsors of Palau Shark Sanctuary and sell Shark Sanctuary logo clothing in support of the efforts to end shark-finning in Palau and elsewhere.

Sam's Tours: http://www.samstours.com

Please pay a visit to http://www.sharksanctuary.com/ and link to: http://www.sharksanctuary.blogspot.com/ for the latest news on sharks and shark conservation efforts in Palau.

SAVE OUR SHARKS!

http://www.sharksanctuary.com/

Shark-finning continues in Palau

Originally posted Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Despite Palau's strong anti-shark finning laws the destruction of Palau's sharks continues!

Foreign fishing fleets licensed by Palau to fish in their territorial waters are repeatedly caught with illegal shark catches onboard and yet the country continues to encourage and allow their presence.

Foreign fishing is supposedly a big financial contributor to Palau's small economy though considerable debate exists as to whether or not that indeed is the case. Trying to get accurate revenue statistics on this industry is next to impossible. Tourism and specifically dive tourism is the current mainstay of Palau's emerging economy and to date is the only viable and productive industry established in Palau. As President Tommy Remengesau Jr. noted, the environment in Palau is the economy and nothing could be closer to the truth in case of Palau's dive industry. Palau is repeatedly top-ranked by divers worldwide for an abundance of large pelagic animals particulary schools of sharks as can be seen at Blue Corner, Palau's "signature" dive. It doesn't take a scientist to figure out that destroying Palau's sharks will severely impact and or destroy it's diving industry without which the country will continue to deepen it's dependence on foreign funding.

It is widely speculated that the large amount of finacial assistance pouring in to Palau from Taiwan is among the leading reasons Palau chooses not to rid itself of the licensed (mostly Taiwanese) foreign fishing vessels that repeatedly and demonstrably pillage Palau's marine resouces thereby robbing Palau of any hope of financial independence. Not surprisingly, the majority of foreign fishing companies in Palau exist with assistance from powerful and influential Palauans without whose support these companies could not operate here.

Marine law enforcement personnel, Customs officers and the Attorney Generals staff are engaged in trying to stem the destruction and have quite a number of successes under their belt. But the truth is that they are fighting an uphill battle against a well organized, well funded and well connected opponent and every success is overshadowed by the sheer volume of destruction that escapes detection and or prosecution.

It is a complex problem that requires a lot effort and resources to overcome and like any solution it has to start somewhere with someone. Palau has made solid first steps with strong laws against shark-finning and stepped up enforcement efforts but more work is needed. Enforcement requires personnel, equipment, expertise and great expense far beyond Palau's limited resources. Though Palau is a small country it has many strong, influential and wealthy friends including the United States with whom it is closely aligned under a Compact of Free Association, and the United Nations of which Palau is among the newest country members.

Foreign fishing fleets from wealthy powerful nations are guilty of stealing the natural resources of a sovereign nation (Palau). They operate with almost total impunity just like bullies in a playground who pick on the smaller guys because they know they can't fight back. It makes one wonder where are Palau's friends when needed and when will Palau sum up the courage to take on the neighborhood bullies.

Save our Sharks!