The Pacific island nation of Palau has wisely decided to decline offers of assistance from the rogue organisation, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, for the coming months while its own reconnaissance vessel is undergoing renovation in Australia.
Palau President Johnson Toribiong had briefly considered an offer from Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherds to "patrol" Palau's coastal zone and extended exclusive economic zone in order to diminish the effects of fish poaching in national waters.
When allied nations heard about the possible involvement of Sea Shepherds, however, they offered the assistance of their own navies to continue to monitor those waters, an action gratefully accepted by President Toribiong, who subsequently informed the Sea Shepherds that their "assistance" would not be necessary.
President Toribiong has welcomed the offers of Australia, the United States and Japan to monitor Palau's waters in this time of economic hardship.
He noted that each time his nation's own vessel, the HI 'Remeliik', left port, it needed some US$40,000 worth of fuel to do so, and that the cost was more than his nation could afford at this time.
It now appears that a traditional, nation-to-nation agreement has been finalised for the benefit of Palau's security and marine conservation programmes. IWMC applauds both the wise decision of President Toribiong and the generosity of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, a Japanese non-governmental organisation, and the generosity of the nations of Australia, New Zealand and the United States. It appears that these entities feel it is prudent to assist in such an effort rather than to allow the unfortunate precedent of an allied nation state being assisted by a criminal organisation whose goal is to elevate its reputation through such a venture.
IWMC World Conservation Trust
