Saturday, April 21, 2012

3rd MC Marine Measures Group Workshop

Sharing our  outcomes.

The 3rd MC Marine Measures Group Workshop was held in Palau in February, 2012.  Among the topics discussed in the workshop were: MC jurisdictions came into agreement on MPA monitoring protocols; in unison on the services provided by the Database Management and the MPA Effectiveness Tools; and regional collaboration as an on going goal.


It was a great experience to be able to participate in the MC Marine Measures Workshop. I took a lot in from the trip and met a lot of inspiring people from the different jurisdictions. Getting to know some of them and the work they are involved in, in conservation, further inspired and stirred my soul.


Dr. Peter Houk, PMRI

Dr. Yimnang Golbuw, PICRC

Participants from all MC jurisdictions

 /s/jonathan

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Groundwork for Shark Sanctuary in Chuuk


People tend to think that sharks are harmful predators that harm both aquatic life, as well as human beings who dare enter dark waters. How wrong they are! Today sharks are in danger from their most terrifying predators, us humans. Humans tend to forget that a shark only attacks a person when it is being provoked or senses that it is in danger, while we continuously fish them nonstop for profit or just for the heck of telling friends or others about a shark that one caught.

A White Tipped Shark here in Chuuk
Sharks have really slow growth and low reproductive rate, because of this their number is rapidly depleting. Today their population has really declined to the point where they are not able to fully perform their roles as top predators in the marine environment, causing possibly unchangeable damage to the marine environment.

Here in Chuuk, The Chuuk Conservation Society has started a petition on a Shark sanctuary. So far I've gotten more than hundreds of signatures from students, faculty and staff from the different schools in Chuuk who support the idea of having a shark sanctuary here. After collecting all the signatures, my boss, Mr. Wisney Nakayama, the director of CSS, presented it to a few of the government officials of Chuuk. The director met with Willy Kostka, the Director of the Micronesian Conservation Trust, on this matter. We are optimistic about how the idea is moving, because although it’s a bit slow the end results will be immense!

/s/ Kriz in Chuuk

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Water Works in the Nimpal Channel

"Bravo" pickup...
It has been a busy start in the new year of 2012. Nimpal Channel MCA has gone into a lot of works with Water Quality monitoring with technical support provided by Dr. Peter Houk and Dr. Yimnang Golbuw, and the Yap State EPA. Conservation and the whole science aspect of it is a fairly new idea in Yap and to effectively conserve we must learn the science and methods and incorporate it with our traditional knowledge. When the Nimpal Channel MCA first sprouting as a no-take zone, new studies and science has brought to the attention of the community the need to further monitor not only the no-take zone, but also adjacent areas and other elements such as water quality, current flows, etc.

And so begins our Water works.

With the deploying of water quality sensors and surface current GPS trackers, more and more data has been gathered that helps give more understanding about the resource we protect and care for. In tracking the surface currents in the immediate area of the Nimpal Channel MCA, we can asses the total water shed area and how we can improve on managing land based activities. With the data gathered from the water quality sensors, we can get a better idea of what is in our waters that is natural and what is foreign and how these things affect these areas. These additional data helps support the decision making of the community. Knowing more of the factors that affect the community conservation areas and living spaces helps to better understand current impacts. This leads to better resource management, by flagging any potential future problems or challenges and addressing these directly to get the desired results, efficiently. The science confirms and supports the traditional knowledge of ridge-to-reef resource management as practiced for eons on our island.

"Charlie" tracking...
Pickup Run
Gotcha!!



Heading to Drop zones...

Preparing Sensors
Drop site Sensor #1
Deploying Sensors
The TEAM: (Left to Right - Thomas Gorong- Nimpal Project Manager; Tina Fillmed - Yap EPA Director; Junior Thinom and Foruw Aiven - The Crew



/s/jonathan