Victor presented, on Wednesday, the results and analysis of all the data collected from the MPAs to conservation officers and representatives of the states of Airai, Ngeremlengui, Ngardmau, and Ngchesar.
Victor said that based on the accumulated data collected there is a clear indication that there are more fish living in the Marine Protected Areas than in the areas that are not protected.Victor said the conservation area is working to benefit the community by increasing the number of fish.He said based on their survey, the MPA in Ngeremlengui has more sea cucumbers right now.“Based on surveys within the MPA there’s about 7 million sea cucumbers species in this area,”he said in an interview on Wednesday.Victor said they will continue monitoring the MPA in April and July.Victor said the objective of establishing the MPA is to conserve the fish and to conserve the sea cucumbers and giant clams.And the only way to do it is to monitor the seagrass and other species in the MPA.He said National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Conservation Program funded a project of training conservation officers to monitor the MPA and to assess the MPA.He said NOAA and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation funded $60,000 for the training of the conservation officers and monitoring of the MPA and for the educational awareness activity.He said they are looking for more funding to assist other States.He said they are monitoring the MPA in Airai, Ngardmau, Ngeremlengui and Ngchesar because these four States have the same types of conservation areas.They monitor Ngelukes Conservation area in Ngchesar, the Airai Reef Conservation, the Ngermeduu conservation area in Ngatpang, the Ngermasch in Ngardmau and the Bkulangriil in Ngeremlengui every quarter of a year.
