Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority MIMRAMIMRA Annual Report FY2017 MIMRA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 1 Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority ANNUAL REPORT 2017 Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority, PO Box 860, Majuro, Marshall Islands 96960 Phone: (692) 625-8262/825-5632 • Fax: (692) 625-5447 • www.mimra.com 2 MIMRA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 MIMRA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acting locally benefits the Marshalls internationally anagement and sustainable and the Western and Central Pacific Fish- development of our ocean re- Message from Dennis eries Commission. M sources took a big step forward Momotaro, Chairman At the international level, our National in 2017 with the holding of the First Na- of the MIMRA Board of Oceans Policy is part of a call by Pacific tional Oceans Symposium. This event Directors and Minister of Island nations for global action on our brought together national government Natural Resources and oceans with particular focus on eradicat- leaders and officials, mayors and other ing illegal, unreported and unregulated Message from MIMRA Board Chairman local government representatives, stu- Commerce. (IUU) fishing that undermines sustain- dents, non-government organization rep- able management of these resources. It Minister Dennis Momotaro resentatives, and members of the public. supports implementation of many of the Page 5 The National Oceans Symposium out- 17 Sustainable Development Goals en- comes represent wide stakeholder input dorsed by world leaders as part of Agen- into national oceans governance issues da 2030: SGG 14 “Life Below Water,” Message from MIMRA Director and commitments to addressing these is- SDG 16 “Climate Action,” SDG 2 “Zero Glen Joseph sues. Hunger,” and SDG 3 “Good Health and The Symposium led to formulation of Well-Being” as well as others. Pages 6 and 7 the first National Oceans Policy, which Our Oceans roadmap clearly defines lays the foundation for sustainable man- our sustainable management and devel- Coastal and Community Affairs agement and use of our marine resources opment goals for the Marshall Islands. and the fragile eco-systems on which To effectively implement the National Page 8 these are based. Oceans Policy, MIMRA and its partners The Marshall Islands’ National Ocean outlined the six essential areas in need of Oceanic Policy starts with our “Governance Vi- focus and funding: sion,” which states: “As a large ocean na- • Legal and Regulatory. Page 26 tion with a rich history in sustaining and • Human Resources/Capacity Devel- being sustained by the resources of the opment. Legal Affairs sea, we commit to ensuring that our re- • Public Awareness and Education. silience in the face of global oceans chal- • Data Collection, Management and Page 36 lenges endures for generations to come.” Information Sharing. The National Oceans Policy focuses in BOARD MEMBERS • New Projects/Conservation, Man- Finance and Corporate Affairs four main areas: Sustainable Fisheries, Permanent: Minister of Natural agement and Livelihoods. Climate Change Impacts, Marine Pollu- Resources and Commerce Den- • Networking and Establishing Part- Page 39 tion, and Coral Reefs and Marine Pro- nis Momotaro, Vice-Chair Bobby nerships. tected Areas. Critical to the success of Muller, Tommy Kijiner Jr., Danny We encourage our partners and donor our National Oceans Policy is the “Im- countries and agencies to engage with Wase, Moriana Philip, Rina Keju, Planning for the Future plementation Plan for the National Guid- MIMRA to increase the pace of imple- and Sa’ane Aho. Page 42 ing Principles to Sustain and be Sus- mentation of our National Oceans Policy. tained by Our Ocean and Coral Reefs” Implementing these objectives domesti- that was developed in tandem with the cally will bring many benefits to the National Oceans Policy. This lays out our its many partners to focus actions and Marshall Islands and its people, as well roadmap for implementing and enforcing resources in key areas of need. as contribute to supporting important sustainable development practices in the At the regional level, the National global Sustainable Development Goals. Marshall Islands. Oceans Policy is an essential guide to This year’s annual report includes ad- The Policy and the Implementation our ongoing membership in and benefits ditional information on the 2017 First Plan are the essential guides to a healthy from the fisheries rights-based organiza- National Oceans Symposium, as well as future for our marine resources, which tion Parties to the Nauru Agreement. Our the numerous programs and activities of Cover photo: Francisco Blaha. translates directly into a healthy nation National Oceans Policy also guides us as the Marshall Islands Marine Resources Inside and back cover photos: Benedict Yamamura, Emma Kabua-Tibon, Lyla Lemari, Karen Earnshaw, Francisco Blaha, that depends on these resources. These we engage with fisheries management Authority during the year Rebecca Lathrop, Hilary Hosia, and Kelly Lorennij. two documents help the Marshall Is- organizations including the Forum Fish- lands Marine Resources Authority and eries Agency, Pacific Community (SPC), Dennis Momotaro 4 MIMRA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 MIMRA ANNUAL REPORT 2017 5 Making coastal ‘right’ is the key to success he Marshall Islands Marine Resources Authority’s engage- T ment in the commercial tuna Message industry generated another year from Glen of record-breaking revenue. This Joseph, is the result, principally, of mem- Director, bership in the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) and management Marshall of the purse seine industry through Islands its Vessel Day Scheme (VDS). Sim- Marine ply put, we would not be where we Resources are in terms of sustainable manage- Authority. ment of the purse seine fishery and the financial benefits this is bring- ing were it not for PNA. In 2017, PNA nations continued to progress implementation of a VDS for the longline industry, a fishery that for decades has been in need of man- agement and control. There are still uncertainties in the Oceanic fishery due to deficiencies in provision of catch data by distant wa- ter fishing nations and ability to collect Coastal staff Emma Kabua-Tibon and Kalena data in certain sectors of the Oceanic deBrum conducting regular coral reef monitoring fishery. These, however, have been in Majuro under a NOAA Coral Reef Monitoring greatly reduced over the past several Grant. Right: MIMRA hatchery technician Clyde years through ongoing improvements extracting zooxanthellae from a clam’s mantle. in management of the commercial tuna fishery. 2015, Nitijela adopted the Protected Coastal fisheries is increasingly gain- Plan sets out a roadmap for successful While there are still areas in the Oce- Areas Network (PAN) Act. But this ing a higher profile, not only within management of our marine resources. anic fishery in need of improvement, ‘An essential important plan for managing our do- MIMRA but nationwide. Our Coastal ‘A key element in As was emphasized during the First the foundation through VDS manage- element for mestic ocean resources, particularly on Division increased the number of outer developing National Oceans Symposium in 2017, ment is in place. This guarantees sus- implementing action remote outer islands, has not been im- islands visited this year in line with im- sustainable implementing sustainable oceans man- tainable use and revenue streams to plemented. The National Oceans Im- plementing the Reimaanlok (Looking management agement is not alone the responsibility the Marshall Islands and other PNA in the Coastal fishery plementation Plan identifies six areas to the Future) Process of developing of MIMRA. members. is translating for action on the new National Oceans and implementing sustainable marine plans and This requires the active participation The hosting by MIMRA of the First surveys and analysis Policy, which includes plans to put the resource management plans with lo- activities is collect- of everyone in the Marshall Islands, National Oceans Symposium in 2017 of ocean and ma- PAN legislation into action. cal governments and the remote com- ing quality data from elected national and local leader- helped to focus attention on marine re- An essential, but largely missing el- munities they represent. This has been and linking this ship, to national and local government sources and needs generally — and in rine resource health ement, for implementing action in the an under-resourced area of activity, but agencies, non-governmental organi- particular, domestic fisheries develop- into management Coastal fishery at the domestic level in 2017 began receiving greater atten- data to manage- zations, students, businesses, and the ment and marine conservation needs decisions.’ is translating surveys and analysis of tion, through such developments as the ment decisions.’ community as a whole. of our atolls and islands. The establish- ocean and marine resource health into First National Oceans Symposium and The National Oceans Policy and ac- ment of a National Oceans Policy and management decisions. We need to MIMRA’s outer islands visits. tion plan are in place, as is the Protect- Implementation Plan from the Sympo- more effectively bridge the gap be- A key element in developing sus- ed Areas Network legislation. Now it’s sium is probably the most important put the spotlight on marine resources tween science and management. tainable management plans and ac- be used to produce sound management time for all of us to push ahead with the development in fisheries and