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Palau Torches Illegal Fishing Vessels

By Scuba Diving staff | Published On August 21, 2015
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Palau Torches Illegal Fishing Vessels

Fishing vessels set ablaze.

Sending A Message
Palau wants to make it as clear as possible that they will not tolerate illegal fishing in their waters.

The Pew Charitable Trusts / Jeff Banube

They're mad as hell, and they're not going to take it anymore.

Lacking resources to enforce increased protection of its marine resources, another Pacific island nation is following in Indonesia's footsteps and torching the boats of foreign fishermen believed to be poaching in its waters.

Palau is the latest to seize and burn Vietnamese fishing boats, incarcerating their captains and repatriating the fishermen to Vietnam empty-handed. Authorities found more than 8 tons of sea cucumbers and reef fish aboard four boats, which were towed to sea and set alight.

"We hope to send a very clear message to poachers who are raping our marine environment," Palau's president, Tommy E. Remengesau Jr., told National Geographic."We will not tolerate any more unsustainable acts. Palau guarantees you will return with nothing."

In 2014, Palau, which created the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009, announced it would designate its 230,000 square miles of territorial waters as a marine protected area.