Even the Palau Federation of Fishing Associations (PFFA) at Malakal, which was the guiding force for fishing activities in the country, has been closed for some years now and its expensive machineries, including its large refrigerators, have been abandoned and are rusting beyond repairs. The Government of Palau seems to have no interest in reviving the country’s once thriving fishing activities because the agency that oversaw these activities, the Division of Marine Resources, seems to have been closed its offices. It is nowhere to be found in Malakal or anywhere else.
Other than the scarcity of many species of reef fishes in the local markets, the conditions of our coral reefs are troubling many people in our communities, particularly those who do dive-fishing regularly in the inner lagoons. These people say they have seen Crown of Thorn starfishes (Acanthaster planci starfish or Rrusech as it is called in Palauan) infesting and killing many sections of coral heads in our reefs and lagoons. Thirty years ago these animals became a very big problem for Palau and the government launched a full scale war on them. Palauan fishermen and older students from various schools were mobilized and instructed how to fight the Rrusech. That program was successful and Palau’s reefs and corals were saved and spared from total annihilation.But the Rrusech (starfishes) seem to be making a “come back” as the reports from some fishermen seem to indicate. The scarcity of reef fishes in the markets and the unusually small trochus harvest some months back could be blamed on many factors, including the warming of the world’s climate. But they can also be the results of the destructions taking places on our reefs and coral heads by the Rrusech (Crown of Thorns starfishes). These pests must be destroyed correctly; otherwise they could become even more serious problems. These animals will not die by cutting them. They have the unique ability to rapidly heal and grow new parts to replace those that were cut off. With the demise of the Government’s Division of Marine Resources, who should we appeal to for instructions on how to fight this terrible menace?Another destructive pest that surfaced in the fifties and the sixties was the Coconut Rhinoceros Beetle, called Cheremel-a-Lius in Palauan The fight against the Rhinoceros Beetle was successful although it did not commence fast enough to prevent the destructions of numerous coconut trees throughout Palau. The beetle burrows a hole on the soft part of the coconut tree to lay its eggs. When the eggs hatch the young beetle eat their way out of the tree causing the coconut tree to die eventually. That kind of destruction was particularly bad and wide-spread in the coconut plantations on Babeldaob.Finally, scientists discovered that an insect species found on one of the islands in the South Pacific could control the Rhinoceros beetle because it eats the larva of the rhinoceros beetles after they had been laid inside the coconut trees. The insect was introduced in Palau. New generations of coconut trees were saved from total destruction.
