Getting Back On The Air!

Apologies for the long absence since my last post following the ground breaking announcement by President Toribiong at the U.N. on September 25, 2009!

The frenzy of activities and media attention following the President’s historic announcement coupled with business obligations that included a lot of international travel and the fact that my organization Palau Shark Sanctuary consists of just me on the ground in Palau, simply overwhelmed me!(yes I have lots of support from individuals and organizations around the world...but in the end, it's just me!).

My schedule has slowed down temporarily giving me long overdue time to update my supporters, blogs, website and other sources on what has happened since President Toribiong’s historic announcement. Rest assured, despite the absence of blog postings etc., much work has gone on to bring the President’s announcement to life!
My website is due for overhaul too as soon as time and money permits.

In the days ahead I will provide more detailed updates on actions and activities in Palau and at Palau Shark Sanctuary and in the meantime please be assured that every effort is being made to ensure the full realization and long term success of President Toribiong's vision for Palau’s National Shark Sanctuary.

Posts Coming Soon (not necessarily in this order):

SHARKS SAVERS: Thank You Booklet is in Palau and ready for presentation to President Toribiong. Just waiting to finalize a date for the presentation. Standby!

ENFORCEMENT UPDATE: Updates on actions and activities to detect sanctuary violations and enforce the law. The first prosecution of illegal shark poaching under the new sanctuary declaration has just finished with sentencing about to be announced. Government prosecutors are seeking maximum penalties of over $1 Million plus jail time as an example and deterrent.

TUNA CONFERENCE: Updates on recently held symposium in Palau to better manage Palau’s high seas fisheries where a lot of “shark interactions” occur. Interaction sounds oh so innocent! Full report coming.
CITES CONVENTION: Palau is reviewing its’ position on CITES reservations with many positive changes forecasted. Palau is supporting US and EU proposals at upcoming CITES convention in Qatar to enhance protection for four additional sharks species.

DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHARK WEEK: A little story about DISCOVERY COMMUNICATIONS bully tactics against those who are genuinely trying to educate the public about sharks (that would be me) as opposed to their despicable money driven fear-mongering about sharks. They are not nice people!

Stay tuned!

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

Please Sign Shark Savers THANK YOU to President Toribiong!

An on-line THANK YOU note to Palau President Johnson is open for signatures on Shark Savers web site.

I urge everyone who cares for the marine environment

to show support for Palau's declaration of a 

National Shark Sanctuary.

CLICK HERE TO THANK

PRESIDENT TORIBIONG!

The Power of One!

I am a strong believer in the power of positive thinking. Likewise, I believe that one person CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. As I come to grips with the reality and magnitude of what one amazing person, President Johnson Toribiong of Palau, just did by declaring Palau a Shark Sanctuary, I reflect on being just “one” person back in 1995 when I set about my efforts to save sharks.

But just as true as it is that one person can indeed make a difference, it is equally true that achievement of Palau’s declaration as a Shark Sanctuary is not just the work of one person. On the contrary this ground-breaking achievement reflects collective efforts over time of a great many “ones” who believed that they too could make a difference and were willing to help.

No one person can lay claim to credit for Palau’s historic announcement at the U.N., including myself, and I simply don’t. This achievement is testament to a powerful collective effort by lots of “ones” who simply did what they could. There are many such “ones”, some visible and some invisible, but all of whom deserve credit for this tremendous decision

.

Just as with a digital image consisting of many pixels, no one pixel tells the whole story, but combined the pixels bring the image to life.

No pun intended, but all I did was my bit!

The rest is the work of others. To each and every “one” who pitched in and helped make this happen I am sincerely grateful and thankful for your contributions. Every “one” of you made a difference!

One such person is Edward Dorson, Professional Photographer and Advocate for the Ocean Environment. Edward has worked tirelessly and endlessly in rallying broad support for the protection of sharks and the marine environment in Palau. While Edward’s hard work may often seem invisible, the results of his efforts are not! Thanks Edward!

Another “one” is my long time friend and professional photographer Gunther Deichmann, who was an environmental activist before I knew what that even meant! His work and his friendship have inspired me over the years. He’s also been most generous in providing images, securing media coverage, and in building and hosting the Shark Sanctuary website at his expense. Gunther is a founding father of Palau Shark Sanctuary. Thanks GD!

Speaking of father figures!…..I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the encouragement and support of my good friend and “father” Dennis Camblin who schooled me and scolded me as necessary and helped me get Palau Shark Sanctuary off the ground. It would not have happened without him. Thanks Dennis!

And then there was “one”. Lots of “ones” in fact…and that’s Michael Skoletsky and Shark Savers. Michael responded to the call for help early this year when Palau’s shark protection laws were under threat by launching an on-line petition on his Shark Savers website. The Shark Savers petition resulted in more than 4,500 “ones” who signed and or sent letters from around the world urging Palau’s leadership to stand firm on their strong shark protection laws. The power of “one” multiplied. Thanks Michael!

No doubt there are other “ones”. But I’m pressed for time right now and want to post this before I sign off so I must stop here. Apologies in advance to those not yet mentioned. You’re next.

Thanks!

A Hero’s Welcome for Palau President Johnson Toribiong.

For Immediate Release:

KOROR, PALAU, 9/28/2009, 7:45 p.m.

A Hero’s Welcome for Palau President Johnson Toribiong.

Palau President H.E. Johnson Toribiong arrived home moments ago to a hero’s welcome at Koror International Airport, Palau, organized by Palau Shark Sanctuary. Dermot Keane, founder of Palau Shark Sanctuary and Managing Director of Palau dive shop Sam’s Tours, was on hand to greet the President and thanked him for declaring Palau a Shark Sanctuary.

 

(L) Dermot Keane, Palau Shark Sanctuary; (R) President Johnson Toribiong

The large welcome committee included grateful members of the Palauan community who greeted President Toribiong with flower leis and loud applause upon his arrival. Palauans are understandably proud of their President who declared Palau as a Shark Sanctuary during his recent address to the United Nations, General Assembly, on Friday, September 25, 2009.

(C): President Toribiong; (R): Sam Scott, Sam's Tours (blue shirt)

Despite his long journey from Washington D.C. to Palau, the President was clearly moved by the warm reception and graciously thanked everyone for showing up to welcome him. Palau Shark Sanctuary once again thanks and admires President Toribiong for his landmark declaration of Palau as a Shark Sanctuary.

Palau Shark Sanctuary was founded in 2001 with a goal of securing a declaration by Palau that the waters of their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) are a Shark Sanctuary.

For more information visit: www.sharksanctuary.com or http://www.sharksanctuary.blogspot.com/

All images courtesy Nick Martorano - Ocean Wonders.

Images are approved for use provided credit is noted to:  http://www.oceanwonders.org/

THANK YOU PRESIDENT TORIBIONG!

President Toribiongs Landmark Speech to U.N. General Assembly

"The strength and beauty of sharks are a natural barometer for the health of our oceans.  Therefore, I declare today that Palau  will become the world’s first national shark sanctuary, ending all commercial shark fishing in our waters and giving a sanctuary for sharks to live and reproduce unmolested in our 237,000 square miles of ocean. We call upon all nations to join us." Johnson Toribiong, President of Palau, 9/25/09.

 Image Courtesy: Gunther Deichmann - http://www.deichmann-photo.com/blog.html

Below is President Toribiong's entire speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Friday, September 25, 2009, in which he declared Palau as the world's first national shark sanctuary. 

I urge you to read this excellent speech and to then send a Thank You Note to President Toribiong commending him for his unprecedented actions to protect sharks and other marine creatures.

Send notes for President Toribiong to:  sharksanctuary@gmail.com

I will deliver them promptly to the President's Office.

Thank You!

Dermot

SPEECH:    United Nations General Assembly, New York, September 25, 2009
 

Mr. President, Mr. Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am speaking here for the first time as a Head of State.  However, in 1977, I appeared with my country’s delegation before the Trusteeship Council seeking independence.  In 1994, the Trusteeship ended and we took our place as a member of the United Nations. Our independence is testament to the success of the International Trusteeship System, for which we are grateful. The legacy of our experience is a Constitution which incorporates the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- freedom, democracy, equal protection, rule of law.

Mr. President,  

Palauans have lived throughout history in symbiosis with the sea.  We are seeing now though that the sea, which has long been the source of our sustenance, is both rising in rage to destroy us and becoming barren.  This fury was caused by the abuses of humankind and we therefore need to take every action necessary to allow the oceans to heal themselves.

In days gone by, the traditional chiefs of Palau would declare a “bul” – a moratorium to protect a resource which had become scarce. This traditional concept, now popularly known as conservation, shows the way for us to move forward.  As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s need, but not every man’s greed. “ This is why the world must declare a bul on destructive fishing practices like deep sea bottom trawling, unsustainable harvesting of shark for their fins and overexploitation of tuna stocks. 

Mr. President,

The odious fishing practice of bottom trawling, where a weighted net is dragged along the sea floor crushing nearly everything in its path, is contributing to the rapid loss of a critical ecosystem, our coral reefs. We have outlawed deep sea bottom trawling in Palau, but no matter what we do in our own waters, there must be an international solution.

For several years, we have advocated, along with our Pacific neighbors, a moratorium on this practice.  The Sustainable Fisheries resolution adopted by the UN in 2007, urged nations and regional fisheries management organizations to stop trawling in sensitive areas by 2009. We have waited for compliance, which has not come, and now renew our call for a worldwide moratorium on this practice.

Mr. President,

An equally destructive fishing practice is shark-finning.  We have banned it in Palau and call upon the world to address this issue in order to save the sharks from extinction. 

The strength and beauty of sharks are a natural barometer for the health of our oceans.  Therefore, I declare today that Palau  will become the world’s first national shark sanctuary, ending all commercial shark fishing in our waters and giving a sanctuary for sharks to live and reproduce unmolested in our 237,000 square miles of ocean. We call upon all nations to join us.

Mr. President,

It is anomalous that Palau is experiencing economic difficulty while it sits in the middle of the richest waters in the world.  We can no longer stand by while foreign vessels illicitly come to our waters to take our greatest resource, our tuna stocks, without regard to their conservation and without regard for adequate compensation to the island states which rely on this resource.

Palau believes that the best model for a regional effort to conserve our tuna resources and maximize the benefits to us is the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). I therefore will work for the establishment of OTEC, the Organization of Tuna Exporting Countries, and I now call upon our friends in OPEC to come forward and help us to understand and obtain fair value from our threatened resource and to make tuna fishing sustainable. 

Mr. President,

I come now to the economic crisis which my country is facing.  As a developing nation, we are grateful for the grants provided by our allies and partners to advance our development.  They have been helpful.  But, we must acknowledge that outright grants do not always create meaningful employment.  Jobs created are illusory and temporary. 

Without a strong local economy, our children, our most valuable resource, are leaving our shores for opportunities elsewhere.  As they leave it creates a continuing downward cycle which we must stop. 

Our allies and partners can help us stop this cycle by promoting the development of private enterprise in our country. We need capital, and entrepreneurial expertise. I implore our allies and partners to consider providing incentives to their nationals to encourage them to come to our islands and launch partnerships with our talented people to create a viable economy. Let us once and for all put aside the fiction that we need handouts. What we need are partners to help advance our economy and put an end to the out-migration of our people. 

Mr. President,

We note with satisfaction the decision by the People’s Republic of China to invite Taiwan to attend the World Health Assembly.  The health and safety of the world’s people is at the heart of the ideals of the UN. In order to further promote these, we recommend that Taiwan be invited to participate meaningfully in the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and other international organizations. 

Mr. President,  

We have heard the voices of world leaders from countries small and large, powerful and vulnerable.  We have heard the voice of science.  Let us heed these voices, fulfill our obligations to our people, and work for a strong economy and a healthy planet. 

Thank you.

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