Leaving a lasting Pacific Ocean legacy
IN a vast ocean area with around 30,000 known islands, traditional navigators of the Pacific have been known to say, “first you choose your destination, then you figure out how to get there”.
The health of our ocean and all who depend on it are facing a multitude of threats. If our destination is an ocean that provides sustenance and support for present and future generations, we have a lot of navigating to do, including a major course correction from our present path.
Indigenous communities know what’s required to preserve our oceans. Island people have developed some of the most effective practices to support the sustainable use of coastal resources from fishing techniques, tools and timing, to wise land-use practices in watersheds affecting coral reefs and offshore ecosystems.
For example, some fishers on Yap Island in the Federated States of Micronesia, use kites made from native breadfruit leaves and pandanus spines to carry their coconut fibre fishing lines over the reef.
They use shark muscle bands instead of hooks. They can only catch long-nose needlefish and avoid other species so nothing goes to waste.
Chiefs in Palau close off fishing in reef channels during grouper spawning events (this practice is known as a “bul”) to protect these important species when they are most productive and vulnerable.
Palauans also protect mangrove forests and use taro fields to protect coastal coral reef ecosystems from damage from terrestrial runoff and sedimentation.
However, these traditional tenure systems did not have to address present-day problems. The ocean is suffering from the push-pull of too many toxic things being inputted, and too many valuable resources extracted at levels that undermine the health and longevity of marine ecosystems.
Human-based sources of pollution and the use of pesticides, microplastics, mercury accumulating in tuna, large-scale toxic sewage outfalls, oil spills, industrial level overfishing, illegal fishing, as well as global climate change are all contributing to the ocean’s destruction.