Fourteenth U.S.C.R.T.F Meeting -- Koror, Palau
The USCRTF meeting was my first one
attended and I can say that it was a very informative well received meeting by
all as the major theme was Marine Protected Areas or MPA’S as they will be referred to throughout this
document. Below I will list the highlights of the meeting from that I felt
relevant that I feel appropriate to mention without being too long winded and
losing you. You may at any time should you feel the need to want to read
everything that happened there go to http://www.coralreef.gov
and read the whole excerpt’s from each committee member online.
The USCRTF is made
up of many different United States Agencies and Foreign Members. Below is a
list of those in attendance.
• Karen Wardzinski –
Department of Justice
• Bob Ballard – State
of Florida
• Penny Cutt – U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers
• Merlyn Carlson – U.S.
Department of Agriculture
• Bill Rohring –
Territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands
• Paula Bontempi –
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• David Cohen – U.S.
Department of the Interior, Office of Insular Affairs
• Felix Camacho – Territory of Guam
• Redley Killion –
Federated States of Micronesia
• David Smith – Department
of the Interior
• Tim Keeney –
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
• Fabian Iyar – Republic of Palau
• Witten
T. Phillipo – Republic of the Marshall
Islands
• Tagiola Tulafono – Territory of American Samoa
• Aida Rosario – Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
• Stephanie Burkhart
– U.S.
Coast Guard
• Christine Dawson – U.S.
Department of State
• Don Schregardus –
Department of Defense, Department of the Navy
• Peter Young – State
of Hawaii
• Fran Castro –
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
• Wayne Nastri – U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency
• Barbara Best – U.S.
Agency for International Development
Before I list key issues for each Member Nation lets speak a
little on what exactly a Marine Protected Area is. An MPA is a section of
environment that the nation restricts collection of either ornamental organisms
or feed fish or restricts any collection at all. An MPA is basically determined
by the most desirable area that can be protected from natural destructive
measure. The exact specifics can get very technical but in layman’s terms they
map out there territorial waters. They then try and pick area’s that would be
protected from water climate temperature shifts from prevailing currents that
may bring in warmer waters which can cause bleaching events as well as which
areas have the greatest biodiversity. These areas would be the least affected
from any disaster. This way should a bleaching event or other natural
destructive force wipe out any number of there coral reef environments they can
in turn reseed the affected areas and maintain restoration of this wondrous
environment for our children and grandchildren to come?
Northern Marianna Islands:
In the Northern Marianna Islands
the most notable issues are that of watershed restoration in Saipan.
Erosion and Sediment dumping into Laulay
Bay has caused a
significant impact on marine environments there and actions taken are as
follows. There has been 24 acres of nursery and reforestation to help with
erosion and paving of many of the dirt roads.
State of Hawaii:
The most notable report from Hawaii is their clear cut commitment to
leading the world on MPA’s. Nearly 40% of Hawaiian waters are marked as MPA’s
in one form or another. Some only allow commercial fishing while others permit
no collection at all. Governor Linda Lingle declared the waters of the Northern Hawaiian Islands off limits to fishing and
recreation after a long three years of public debate making it the single most
extensive MPA on the planet. Hawaii
urges all nations to adopt laws that prohibit fishing in their respective
territorial waters. The DNLR has adopted a definitive definition of what a
Marine Protected Area is through executive order.
Territory of American Samoa:
Samoa has completed a workshop
and formed a taskforce to study the strong climate changes and overpopulation
they face in an effort to help preserve there marine environments.
Territory of Guam:
Guam faces extreme
challenges as there small islands are overcrowded. They are promoting
conservation through outreach and education. They are trying to balance
economy, culture and environment. They have set up several Marine Preserves as
they call them and the majority of there citizens support these and they are
looked upon as areas of tourism which give them economic security.
The key area of concern in Guam
is with land based population and wastewater runoffs. They have closed Ordot
dump and made significant improvements to their Storm water designs in an
effort to focus attention towards conservation of there natural environments.
With a lot of these local islands a big concern is over fishing as local people
consider it there main source of economic support for there family where
recently one such event of over fishing led to wiping out entire schools of
fish.
Republic of Palau:
Palau has set aside currently 20% of its
territorial waters for its MPA which is the largest in Micronesia. They have vowed to set
aside up to 30% by 2020. They have received a number of grants to aid in this
venture with the most notable grant coming from Japan. In Palau there
biggest restriction overall is that there can be no commercial fishing within
50 miles of its shorelines. They have improved in recent years a strong effort
on fish and wildlife protection making them a leader in the Micronesian area.
There are some As small a nation as they are they are definitely leading the
way to marine conservation in the area and anyone who has visited Palau knows
their Coral Reefs are some of the richest in the world. I was quite pleased to
see a lot of new growth in areas that where decimated a few years ago when they
had a major coral bleaching event. Some of the major factors they are dealing
with inland to help control polluting of its waters are paving of the main
islands Babeldaob’s roadways in an effort to stop sediment from running off
into the surrounding waters as well as reforestation in areas that are affected
by farmers and runoff from fields. Probably the biggest issue inland being on
such a small island with there population is on of solid waste disposal.
Republic of the Marshall Islands:
CMAC (Coastal management Advisory Council) formation was at
the high of their report. They have performed extensive survey expeditions of
there marine environments. They are setting aside plans to put into action
several MPA’s for conservation of many of there major atolls. Their main
obstacles are climate changes, erosion, illegal fishing and over fishing. Since
their islands encompass a wide area there main restriction seems to be
enforcement.
Federated States of Micronesia:
They have conducted research into the need to establish
MPA’S to protect there biodiversity. Over 86 sites have been noted most notably
along is Pohnpei which has established MPA’S and Yap
which has two reserves in the works.
Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico:
Puerto Rico faces a lot of
obstacles including over fishing and sediment and erosion from construction.
They are working with partners to overcome this obstacle. The most notable issue
in Puerto Rico is that of increasing water temperatures in the 31-33 degree Celsius
range which is resulting in huge widespread coral damage and bleaching in there
waters. They are working on trying to find sources of funding to help save
there environment.
State of Florida:
Florida
has updated there MPA’S and looking at ways to further aide in the preservation
of there natural environment. Major obstacles to face are land based pollution
as well as coastal factors. Most notable is the passing of the Ocean and
Coastal Resources Management Act and the formation of the Gulf of Mexico
Alliance which includes 5 US
states and soon to include states from Mexico.
United States Virgin Islands:
They urge the USCRTF to call into action the study of
bleaching events in the Caribbean. Many
workshops held to improve education and study factors. Most of focus has been
put into the St. Croix east End
Marine Park.
Agency Reports:
I would urge anyone who wants specifics on these reports to
go to the USCRTF site. The highlights are such that each agency reports on
there accomplishments since the last meeting. Most notably are reports on where
grants have been issued to aide in efforts of marine conservation. Grants have
been issued totaling in the millions of dollars.
Steering Committee
Report:
The key reports from this committee where on the Grant
Workshops held in Guam and the US Virgin Islands, Mapping of Palau’s Reefs,
Environmental Enforcement Workshop, Pacific Refugees Update as well as a report
on the Overall Status of the Coral Reefs in the US and the Freely Associated
States. Most did not know the extent of the money that is out there for use for
marine conservation and everyone recognizes the need for enforcement. Everyone
was impressed with Palau’s
enforcement of there marine areas and talk was done on ways to improve
enforcement. Major factors include money and manpower to enforce the MPA
regions in the world. Talk was done on remote surveillance and enforcement in
regions that are remote that make traditional enforcement practices unlikely.
The steering committee brought forth several issues for the
USCRTF to adopt and guide them to work on before the next meeting in March of
2006 and or fall meeting 2006 where noted.
- Local
Action Strategies adopted unanimously
- Caribbean
Bleaching Event to form committee
to look into this adopted unanimously
- Capacity
to develop response to grounding events of ships adopted unanimously
- Call
for additional enforcement capacity and link with ICRI efforts with report
on progress at fall 2006 meeting adopted unanimously
- Recommendations
on a sustainable Financial Toolbox adopted unanimously
- Proposal
to hold Grant Workshop in the Pacific adopted unanimously
- Complete
inventory of Coral Reef Protected Areas in National Action Strategy
adopted unanimously
- Develop
options for a year of the reef and work with partner ICRI adopted
unanimously
- Requested
proposed meeting dates for 2006 passed unanimously. March 2006 and Mid
October dates to be determined
- Resolution to adopt and pass all open or
shelve motions. Task Force tabled this till they have time to look into
these and see how to change or resurrect them.
Summary:
Overall as initially stated the main theme of this meeting
was about MPA’S and each area’s achievements and challenges they face within
their own ecosystems. We have along way to go to preserving our natural
resources but there have been some strides made in the past years. Most notably
the main restriction in protecting our coral reefs seems to be manpower and
money is my understanding. In my opinion with the exception of Hawaii the present MPA’S
set into place I do not feel are enough. Setting aside 10-20% of the Coral Reef
Ecosystems as protected is not going to be enough should the trends we are
seeing with warming waters continue. We need to make some long hard decisions
about our natural resources and lock down more areas for preservation. I know
this is not something the normal marine aquarist wants to here as it might
restrict some species from being imported for sale. However I think recent
events warrant this. What got me foremost is almost no one spoke on Global
Warming at this meeting except one statement where one speaker attributed
excess light which heated the waters in areas of his study which leads to coral
disease and bleaching events. This is a discussion of intense debate from
scientists on the exact nature of whether there is a problem or not with global
warming and climate shift. The recent warming of the Caribbean waters this past
late summer resulted in temperatures in the steady 31-33 degree Celsius range
which ended with anywhere from 10% to nearly 100% devastation of the Caribbean
Reefs. Puerto Rico was most notably hit very
hard. I urge everyone to look at this issue and we can come up with an action plan
of what we as Aquarists can do to help. If you have any questions or comments
please direct them to me at industry@masna.org
