FSM Participates in the 5th Our Ocean Conference

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Category: News

Published: Monday, 24 December 2018 01:32

Written by Bill Jaynes

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FSM Information Services

Bali, Indonesia—His Excellency Peter M. Christian, President of the Federated States of Micronesia, along with a delegation of top officials, attended the 5th annual Our Ocean Conference from October 29th to October 30th, 2018. Focused on generating commitments and taking actions to maintain the sustainability of our oceans, the Our Ocean Conference has totaled more than 18 billion dollars in commitments from governments and organizations since it began in 2014.

This year’s conference focused on marine protected areas, sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and climate-change related impacts to the oceans. One of the key activities in this year’s conference was a plenary session, in which President Christian shared thoughtful remarks that were exceptionally well received—both in the form of applause and pledges to assist.

“We must commit, with increased determination,” said the President, “to toughen our stand against illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing—and commit to adopting more sustainable fishing practices. We must, without hesitation, consider the closure of fishing activities in the high seas pockets; we must work to terminate uncontrolled and unregulated fuel transfers on the high seas; and we must demand also higher regulatory standards for fuel transfers within zones.”

“Two years ago in Washington D.C., under then Secretary of State Kerry’s hosting of the Our Ocean Conference, I made the commitment that the Federated States of Micronesia would expand out to 24 nautical miles around each island, its marine protected area, to prohibit commercial fishing, protecting an additional 185,000 square kilometers of the FSM Exclusive Economic Zone.” The President kept this promise, and today approximately 286,000 square kilometers of the FSM Exclusive Economic Zone is closed to commercial fishing. (For comparison, the total protected area is larger than the surface area of Colorado or New Zealand, or approximately 856 islands the size of Pohnpei.)

“In keeping up with our crusade for the oceans,” the President said, “The FSM has stepped forward to take a leading role in another effort to further alleviate the pain and burden of the oceans…to this effort, I am happy to announce that the FSM, with support from The Nature Conservancy, is launching the Technology for Tuna Transparency Challenge or T-3 Challenge. The T-3 Challenge increases at-sea monitoring capability through electronic monitoring.”

“By taking this lead, the FSM is committed to full tuna transparency by 2023.”