A Tiny Island Nation Is Burning Illegal Fishing Boats to Prove a Point

Palau, an island nation in the western Pacific, has decided to take protecting its marine resources into its own hands in fiery fashion.

Palau’s president recently ordered its one police boat to tow four Vietnamese blue-hulled fishing boats out to sea and set them on fire.

The boats were found fishing in the nation’s waters, which were recently closed to all commercial fishing. Palau’s move in March 2014 to protect 230,000 square miles of ocean created one the world’s largest marine sanctuaries.

“We hope to send a very clear message to poachers, who are raping our marine environment,” Palau President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. said in a statement.

Since the sanctuary was established, Palau police have captured 15 Vietnamese fishing boats in its territorial waters. The ocean surrounding Palau’s 250-plus islands are rich with fish such as tuna, reef fish, and sea cucumbers.

Remengesau said the four fishing vessels were spotted harvesting sea cucumbers—a traditional Vietnamese dish—and reef fish. More than eight metric tons of fish were found on board the boats, bringing the total amount of illegally taken marine life found aboard Vietnamese fishing vessels to 25 metric tons.

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Ref: https://www.takepart.com/