Palau changes ocean sanctuary plan for Japanese trawlers

Money talks!

The remaining 20 percent was to be reserved for Palau trawlers only -- but President Tommy Remengesau said Japan, one of Palau's major foreign aid donors, asked for the plans to be changed.

Right, "asked"? I wonder if he said that with a straight face or not? When Japan "asked" I am quite sure they were holding a check in their hands, ready to rip it up, if he said no.

Money now trumps environmental future.

Fishermen from Okinawa have traditionally fished in waters around Micronesia for generations. The amount of fishermen who still do is so few as to not make much of an environmental impact.

If you’ve ever been to Palau, you’d notice there are environmental taxes for everything. Sport fishing $15, surfing $5, camping $20, landing tax $60, Rock Islands visitor tax $50, etc...

There’s something very fishy about this story. It’s hard to believe Palau would just give Japan access to 20% of its fishing grounds for no particular reason.

Maybe Palau was threatened with the withdrawal of foreign aid. I wonder how the Palaun's themselves think of this move. It certainly looks like money was a huge incentive, but to whom.

Micronesia became one of Japan Protectorate after WW1 awarded as mandate by the League of Nations. Ever since Micronesia has been a pro-Japan region in which Palau adopted the rising flag(Changing the color) as their national flag. Many still speaks Japanese to this day and counts Japanese as their official languages.

While the instinctive reaction is to say that this move is the result of coercive actions by Japan, the truth is actually far more complex.

I have been visiting Palau for the last 20 years and they are fully committed to the preservation of their waters, far more so than many other Pacific island nations.

And their relationship with Japan is somewhat unique, as a general matter and as it relates to this issue in particular.

To say that they can preserve their waters and the wildlife while allowing for these exceptions is not unreasonable.

My suggestion? Stay tuned!

Great, so Japan can fish yet another breed out of existence and the old people will whine about how expensive their nostalgia has become, and how it should all belong to them, etc.

Pardon my ignorance, but do trawlers drag their net along the sea floor, or am I mixing things up? From a recent BBC special I saw, drag fishing is the most devastating type of fishing there is.

do trawlers drag their net along the sea floor

It’s most likely a translation error, as long line fishing and trolling is written as トローリング in Japanese. The type of fishing you described would be called 底曳網.

Pardon my ignorance, but do trawlers drag their net along the sea floor, or am I mixing things up? From a recent BBC special I saw, drag fishing is the most devastating type of fishing there is.

Long-line fishing is NOT drag / drag-net fishing. Doesn't mean it doesn't have different issue, but very different.

Many still speaks Japanese to this day and counts Japanese as their official languages.

Yes I was surprised to see this on ItteQ on Sunday. Very interesting to see a whole different country speak Japanese, I didn't pay close attention but I'd want to listen to hear if there is any sort of dialect.

It’s hard to believe Palau would just give Japan access to 20% of its fishing grounds for no particular reason.

Did anyone say money?

Let's hear it for "extortion."

Japan is the loudest voice nowadays demanding others to embrace "multilateralism.",,,,except of course in its own case when multilateralism doesn't suit its vested interests.