Day: August 21, 2023

The Friends of the Mariana Trench is withdrawing their nomination for a Mariana Trench national marine sanctuary and requesting that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) remove the Mariana Trench from the sanctuary inventory, Friends board chairwoman Sheila Babauta announced today. 

“The Mariana Trench is a national treasure, a great natural wonder of the world that is worthy of pride and protection,” Babauta said. “But in the 15 years that have passed since the Friends first requested a national marine sanctuary, and the 6 years since NOAA accepted our nomination, circumstances in our community have changed and we see the need for more dialogue and education.”  

“We need to have more conversations about how we can work better together with our local and federal government partners to protect our ocean resources and achieve our conservation goals. We are withdrawing our sanctuary nomination for now, to make space for these important conversations,” she added.
Friends board member emeritus Ignacio V. Cabrera “Ike” noted that the Friends leadership consulted with many stakeholders prior to making their decision to withdraw the sanctuary nomination. “We had meetings with ocean elders and youth, community members, Congressman Gregorio Kilili Sablan and Governor Arnold Palacios,” he said.

 
“Withdrawing the sanctuary nomination right now doesn’t close the door on resubmitting a nomination in the future,” he added. “But we believe that at this time we should focus our efforts on gathering more community input, implementing our ongoing ocean programs, and improving the management of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument.”

The Friends of the Mariana Trench is a community-based, nonprofit organization whose mission is to be guardians of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument and the ocean resources of the Marianas, by empowering communities with ocean conservation strategies and research grounded in traditional teachings. For more information, contact Executive Director Laurie Peterka at (670) 483- 7499 or visit www.friendsmarianatrench.org.

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My Dear People of the Marianas,

I’ve been advocating for the Monument for 15 years and the Sanctuary nomination for the last 5 years. I am particularly frustrated with the federal process but hopeful that the Palacios/Apatang administration will help us move forward as a community, in the way that we protect our ocean resources and engage with our partners and each other. And there is currently only one way I can see that we can start. I would like you to know that the Friends of the Mariana Trench wrote to NOAA Sanctuaries requesting that they withdraw our sanctuary nomination from the inventory.

We believe in the preservation of our culture. Our people have always lived off our lands and waters. We have always understood that the land and ocean can provide sustenance for our families. It is our honor and responsibility to perpetuate this legacy. We want our children to inherit abundance and we believe that conservation management of our resources done correctly can provide for them indefinitely. We believe in providing support to allow traditional knowledge to coexist with Western-style research and the recording of scientific findings. Through this model, we can share our knowledge and translate culture into research outcomes which will, in turn, provide our youth with the skills to maintain the gifts that our islands have provided to us for generations. We believe that science and research can be beneficial in helping us to carry our best practices forward.

It’s with this in mind, that I see that our community situation is deeper than the Mariana Trench. It is clear in every conversation that we have that there is a lot of confusion about what’s the Monument and what’s the Sanctuary nomination. We have listened to the community and believe it is more important to address our community’s concerns first. By withdrawing the sanctuary nomination, we can start over, and start at a neutral ground. To begin with we will ask for dialogue with our local government agencies, BECQ, CNMI Fish and Wildlife, to discuss the differences between the Monument and what is a sanctuary. We will also invite our federal partners (US Fish & Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Sanctuaries) to join these conversations.

There is common ground to be built on in the values we share about ocean conservation. To
ensure that everyone can join in the dialogue, we will work with these agencies to figure out ways host village meetings to give everyone the chance to participate. Together with the community, we can rebuild the ideas we want for ocean conservation that balances protections with sustainable fishing, cultural practices, and our way of life. The solution is to come together to build a plan that we can all agree on, and then share resources and collaborate to implement that plan. Our collective love for the ocean is deeper than the Mariana Trench, and future generations are counting on us to take care of it.

Ignacio V. “Ike” Cabrera
I Akgak, Saipan