Palau?s Northern Reefs form one of the country?s largest coral reef complexes and include some of the most productive fishing grounds. The northern Reefs? fishery resources were relatively untapped due to the area?s remote location. However, improved access and better fishing technology has led to an increase in fishing in the Northern Reefs by outside fishermen, particularly fishermen residing in Koror. Today, overfishing has led to a decline in fisheries resources that has been further exacerbated by a nationwide change from traditional subsistence fishing to commercial fishing and by other drivers such as:
1) economic development and tourism growth;
2) high per capita fish consumption compared to other regions in the Pacific;
3) high demand for reef fish at family events and local food markets;
4) access to advanced fishing gear that increases harvesting potential; and
5) market dynamics, such as a low price for fish, that lead to an increase in fishing.
In response to this threat of overfishing, Kayangel worked closely with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to establish the 34.9 km2 Ngaruangel Nature Reserve in 1996 as the first Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the north. In 2000, Ngarchelong followed suit when it established Ebiil Channel Conservation Area to protect the grouper aggregation. Recognizing the benefits of this closure, Ngarchelong expanded the Ebiil Conservation Area in 2003 to cover approximately 19 km2 of reef channel and reefs.
Despite the success of support for biodiversity conservation across Palau, there is a general concern that the country?s fisheries are continuing to decline due to overharvesting.
In response, TNC launched a pilot project in the Northern Reefs in 2013 in collaboration with the States of Kayangel and Ngarchelong, Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC), Palau Conservation Society (PCS), Bureau of Marine Resources (BMR), and the Palau Protected Areas Network Office (PANO), to test an integrated fisheries management approach to reform fisheries management and rebuild depleted fish stocks in Palau. Through an engagement with the fishermen and communities of Kayangel and Ngarchelong States, the collection of fisheries data (on species and lengths of catch) for key species revealed that more than 50% of fish being captured in the Northern Reefs were immature and had not had the chance to reproduce (TNC unpublished data; Prince et. al, 2016). This trend has slowly contributed to the continued decline in fish, despite efforts to establish protected areas and manage over 50% of coastal marine areas in Palau. By participating in these studies, fishermen in the Northern Reefs were able to see firsthand why their fish stocks are declining.
Recognizing they needed to take immediate action, fishermen, communities, and traditional and elected leaders from the two states made a commitment to work with the its government and NGO partners toward managing their fisheries and toward recovering their important fish stocks by establishing the Northern Reef Fisheries Cooperative (NRFC) in 2015.
The proposed project will focus on developing NRFC capacity to help contribute to the development of alternative livelihood strategies such as utilization of anchored Fish Aggregate Device (FAD)and improving data collection that will further contribute to the management of northern reef fisheries. Development of alternative livelihood opportunities is an approach we hope will help to provide incentive for fishermen to shift their fishing pressure from reef fish population to offshore thus allowing reef fish stocks to recover and promote more sustainable fishing into the future.
The Northern Reef Fisheries Cooperative is looking towards the main goal and a vision: To aim for a sustainable institution that can operate on its own as a central unit for Babeldaob fishermen to sell their daily catch using sustainable methods such as sustainable caught reef fish using the implemented regulated size limits for both states of Kayangel and Ngarchelong. As well as fishing in the FADs that are located in the northwest and north east of babeldaob.