January 8, 2015 — The legislation would ban destructive foreign commercial fishing practices such as longlining, a technique where baited hooks are attached at intervals to a main line, for its ocean territory the size of France. It would permit 20 per cent to remain open solely for domestic fishing and tourism.
In the early days of his dive shop, cradled by an ocean flush with giant clams, Sam Scott and his crew became known for agitating against Chinese vessels and their hauls of shark fins.
Situated adjacent to a longlining operation, Scott would marshal his fellow conservationists and they would siege boats entering the harbour, tear down fins hanging from rafters and hurl them back into the deep sea.
It was the early 1990s, more than a decade before the Republic of Palau would adopt the same stand and formally establish itself as the globe's first shark sanctuary. Now, the palm-fringed archipelago in the remote North Pacific is on the verge of extending protection to all marine life in its 600,000 square kilometres of waters.
"It's a good time to offer it," said Scott, as divers rinsed out their gear near the open-air bar of Sam's Tours, which doubles as a Royal Yacht Club since his stepfather was one of Palau's high chiefs.
"I think Palau can have very sustainable fisheries that could support the local people more than the foreigners."
Encroachment upon both sea and land by mighty Asian nations including China and Japan is a growing concern among inhabitants of the tiny country that's buoyed by tourism — yet has a largely underdeveloped industry compared to equally sun-kissed destinations. It's located 800 kilometres east of the Philippines and more than 300,000 kilometres south of Tokyo, with a population of 21,500 (a 2012 census found one-quarter are foreigners) at the gateway to Micronesia.
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