Arrival in the Marshall Islands
Posted by Andrew via Email at 11:00 AM, July 30, 2004
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| (C) Greenpeace/Natalie Behring |
We received another warm welcome on arrival today. First, Kirtley Pinho, Chair of the Board for the Visitors Authority, welcomed us and talked about what a travesty it is that Pacific nations get only five percent of the profits from the fish caught in their waters. He (half jokingly I think) suggested this isn't even worth their while, saying, "Might as well chase everybody out and raise the fish for ten years".
Larger photo
This was followed by a prayer lead by Reverend Johnson. Then the high chief of this area, Leroj Takbur Ishinguro (Leroj means "Chief") stood up to speak. Ishinguro, translated by ex-Minister Tony Debrun, thanked us for coming, and emphasized the importance of fishing here, saying, "We, the Marshallese people, are humble people. We live on islands that are small. You do not look up at the sky to see us. Where you see us is on the ocean".
Of course, although today we are here to talk about the fisheries, Greenpeace also has a long history in the Marshalls working on nuclear weapons and nuclear waste issues. Most memorably, in 1985 the Rainbow Warrior helped relocate Marshall Islanders suffering from the effects of US nuclear tests to a new life on Majato Island.
Today, however, we wasted no time getting on to the job of helping islanders protect their fish stocks from overfishing and pirate fishing. Our team has already been out documenting the fishing boats in the harbour - and checking them against our database of suspect vessels. They also witnessed no less than three transhipments from fishing boats to reefers (refrigeration cargo ships), which will take the fish out of the region without ever landing them in the Marshalls - one example of how fisheries profits bypass the local economy.
