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Category: News
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Published: Thursday, 23 April 2020 23:08
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Written by Bill Jaynes
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By Bill Jaynes
The Kaselehlie Press
April 3, 2020
Federated States of Micronesia—FSM President David Panuelo today decreed new actions aimed at lowering the risk of introduction of COVID-19 to the FSM by fishing activities conducted within the FSM’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The decree specifies new temporary rules for transshipment of fish by commercial fishing vessels.
The decree additionally bans the public from approaching any commercial fishing vessel. It prohibits both the public and commercial fishers from bartering for, trading, or locally selling fish caught on commercial fishing vessels. The press release on the decree points out that any person who violates the decree, whether they are a commercial fisherman or a local resident is subject to the penalties of Title 11, Chapter 8, Section 803. That section says, “Any person who, during a state of emergency, fails to comply with restrictions imposed by proclamation of the President under section 802 of this chapter (emergency declarations) commits a crime, and upon conviction, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than five years.”
For a reason that is not explained in the decree, purse seine vessels will still be allowed to transship in Kosrae. Nothing precludes FSM flagged vessels from also transshipping in Kosrae but if they did so, they would also still have to return to their Pohnpei bases for supplies. All other transshipment will be required under yet to be released regulations by NORMA (National Oceanic Resource Management Agency) to transship their fish for market at sea in a designated area in territorial waters beyond the three nautical miles from baselines.
Longline fishing vessels are still allowed to come to port for transshipment purposes subject to additional measures established by NORMA for the avoidance of COVID-19 and also only if they follow additional guidelines established in the decree. Longline vessels that transship at port must have had no contact at any time prior to the transshipment. They must have observed the 14 days quarantine at sea and no crewmembers will be allowed to disembark at port. The 14 day quarantine is counted from the date of last contact with other humans.
The decree says that domestic fishing vessels are allowed to call port in the FSM States for repair, maintenance and provisioning purposes but all of that must be accomplished at anchorage areas and not at the docks. Domestic fishing vessels are vessels that are flagged in the FSM or that have a base of operation anywhere in the FSM States.
For vessels that are required to transship at sea, Immigration and Customs clearance procedures will be conducted electronically.
Vessels are now required to give 72 hours advanced notice of transshipment to the FSM Department of Justice and to NORMA. Information they must submit in advance must include the body temperatures of each crewmembers taken at 24 hour intervals prior to transshipment.
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Category: News
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Published: Thursday, 23 April 2020 23:05
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Written by Bill Jaynes
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The crews of FSS Palikir and FSS Independence have completed their participation in the recent Forum Fisheries Agencies Operation RAI BALANG 20. The operation is unprecedented in achieving maritime surveillance across 14.1 million square kilometres, including 108 sighting and 24 boardings, during the heightened global response to coronavirus.
The FFA coordinated air and surface surveillance assets from eight Pacific Island countries and four regional Defence partners for 12 days from 16-27 March, during which time international response to coronavirus was rapidly developing.
“Fishing doesn’t stop, so neither will our surveillance,” said Commander Robert Lewis, at the FFA’s Regional Fisheries Surveillance Centre (RFSC) in Honiara. “Fisheries surveillance in the Pacific is imperative to ensure compliance by the fishing fleets, and deter any illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities. Fisheries have a direct benefit for Pacific island counties economies, and that makes surveillance even more important in these unprecedented times.”
The participants of Op Rai Balang were eight FFA member states: Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. This was supported by Quadrilateral defence partners: Australia, France, New Zealand and the United States, and the Pacific Maritime Surveillance Programme aircraft. Due to developing global travel restrictions and recalls of national surveillance assets, not all surveillance assets were utilised as planned.
Some of the aims of this Operation were:
- to detect, deter, report and/or apprehend potential illegal, unregulated or unreported (IUU) fishing activity;
- to enhance Pacific Island Countries involvement and participation in maritime fisheries surveillance and response operations; and
- to test the Niue Treaty Information System and processes supporting the enactment of specific provisions of the Niue Treaty Subsidiary Agreement through a planned series of table top exercises embedded within the Operation.
FSS Palikir departed Yap 02 March to conduct a Sea Air Rescue to locate a missing fisherman off Satawal Island, Chuuk State. Aircraft from the USCG in Guam as well as USCG Kiska and merchant vessels were also involved in the search. Unfortunately, the search was called off on 11 March with the missing fisherman unable to be located.
FSS Palikir departed Chuuk 15 March to commence OP RAI BALANG 20 and proceeded to conduct a patrol from Chuuk to Pohnpei, during the course of the patrol which lasted 156 hours the vessel covered 1560 nautical miles and investigated 19 merchant / fishing vessels.
FSS Independence departed Pohnpei 18 March to commence OP RAI BALANG 20 and conducted a patrol along the southern Exclusive Economic Zone towards Yap. Her patrol lasted 133 hours and covered 1337 nautical miles and investigated 4 merchant / fishing vessels.
The Commander of the Maritime Wing, Commander Steward Peter stated “I am very proud of the efforts of my crews to ensure the continued safety and economic viability of the FSM’s Exclusive Economic Zone particularly during the current COVID-19 crisis. We must ensure that foreign vessels understand that we will continue to patrol our waters and enforce our National laws”.
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Category: News
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Published: Thursday, 23 April 2020 22:54
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Written by Bill Jaynes
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By Bill Jaynes
The Kaselehlie Press
March 16, 2020
Palikir, Pohnpei—In a 29 page ruling, the FSM Supreme Court has dismissed the claims of Janet Semes Panuelo against the FSM Government, the FSM Public Information Office, the FSM Department of Foreign Affairs, the FSM Congress, President David Panuelo, and Patricia Edwin.
On December 3, 2019 Semes Panuelo filed a civil action containing several claims related to the use of the term “First Lady” as applied to Patricia Edwin and for the government’s treatment of Edwin as such. She claimed to be still legally married to President Panuelo, a legal matter that is currently before the Pohnpei Supreme Court.
The court dismissed the claims against all of the government actors including the FSM Congress “with prejudice” which means that those same claims cannot be brought against them again in any court. It generally dismissed the claims against President Panuelo and Patricia Edwin “without prejudice” which means that Semes Panuelo’s claims against them are dismissed at the FSM Supreme Court but the same claims or others can be brought against them in another court.
The court thoroughly explained its ruling based on legal precedence and interpretation of existing law. It concluded:
“Accordingly, the court dismisses the intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against every defendant because Janet Semes Panuelo’s factual allegations are insufficient for a court to grant any relief thereon. The court dismisses Janet Semes Panuelo’s claims against Congress with prejudice because they present a non-justiciable political question. The court dismisses all causes of action against the government defendants because they do not present claims for which the court can grant relief. And the court dismisses the tortious interference with a marriage contract [alienation of affections, enticement (causing spouse to separate from other spouse), or criminal conversation], slander claims (and civil conspiracy, if it has survived with slander as the underlying tort) against Patricia Edwin (and David Panuelo) without prejudice to any future state court proceedings thereon.”
So ruling Associate Justice Larry Wentworth ruled the case to be closed.
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Category: News
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Published: Thursday, 23 April 2020 22:55
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Written by Bill Jaynes
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By Bill Jaynes
The Kaselehlie Press
March 18, 2020
Pohnpei—On March 13, 2020, the FSM Department of Justice filed criminal charges against three correctional officers of the Pohnpei State Correctional Facility. M.C. Ioanis, Robert Celestine, and Isabella Sipwoli Primo each face charges of Deprivation of Rights, Official Repression, and Assault against a female inmate at the prison.
On March 13, the FSM Supreme Court in Chuuk sentenced Anreta Fred and her husband Jayson Jappan of Fananu, Chuuk to eight months of probation and 92 months in prison after having been convicted of Human Trafficking, Trafficking in Children, Aggravated Human Trafficking and Conspiracy. Jappan is serving his prison term in the Kosrae Correctional Facility. Fred is serving her sentence in Pohnpei.
The charges say that in approximately July 2019, Correctional Officer Ioanis told inmate Fred to give him a massage and that while Fred was massaging him he told Fred to have sex with him. Allegedly Fred initially resisted but eventually complied with Ioanis’ demand for sex.
Officer Celestine is accused of entering Fred’s cell sometime in January while Fred was sleeping and performing oral sex on her.
The charges accuse Primo of repeatedly verbally abusing and threatening Fred, and on at least one occasion assaulting her. The charges accuse her of removing the sheets, mattress and pillow from Fred, forcing her to sleep on the concrete floor, and refusing to allow Fred to leave her cell on several occasions.
The accused correctional officers have had their initial appearance at the FSM Supreme Court on March 13 and were remanded to the custody of National Police until March 16 at which time the court released them on their own recognizance. The defendants are not allowed to go “anywhere near the Pohnpei State Jail. Additionally, if any of the defendants, “at some point, seek to perform a traditional apology ceremony toward the alleged victim, that defendant must first seek, by motion, the court’s permission.”
The parties will have until May 21, 2020 to file pretrial motions and opposing parties will then have until May 31 to respond to a pretrial motion.
The pretrial release said that since it is expected that Chief Justice Dennis K. Yamase will preside of the the case for all matters beyond the initial appearance, hearing dates will be set by later court order.
Associate Justice Larry Wentworth presided over the preliminary hearings.
The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless they are proven to be otherwise after a fair hearing.
