Drop Off, Koror, Palau – In honor of a beloved fisher, congressman, athlete, youth advocate,
and active member of the Palauan community, the Palau Sports Fishing Association held the Tekoi ‘L Beluu Fishing Derby to celebrate the life of the late Senator Regis Akitaya. Each
state was asked to sponsor a team for this first-of-its-kind Tekoi ‘L Beluu.
We thank the following for their support:
Delegate Frutoso Tellei hosted two teams from Melekeok, Delegate Sebastian Marino
sponsored a ladies bottom fishing team and two trolling teams for Hatohobei, Delegate
Yutaka Gibbons for the Sonsorol trolling team and the House of Delegates for sponsoring
team Toumata; Delegate Nace Soalablai for team Peleliu.
Senator Sengebau was kind enough to sponsor the Senate Staffers. Team Senate came in
second place for the ladies bottom fishing. The derby brought in fishers from all over Palau, sparking fierce competition throughout the day. Clear skies and good company brought out the best in the fishers, with teams bringing in their catch right before cutoff time. Team Omenged, captained by Clint Madracheluib, came in with a whopping 73.5 lbs yellowfin tuna (fully dressed mind you!) and scooped first place!
The winning teams are as follows:
Tuna
1st – Team Omenged (Captain Clint Madracheluib) – 73.5 lbs
Barracuda
1st – Team Kesewaol (Captain Ivan Blesam) – 28.0 lbs
Ladies Bottom Fishing
1st – Team Shark Angels (Captain Martul Scott) – 21.5 lbs
The board of the Palau Sports Fishing Association would like to extend their deepest
gratitude to the Tekoi ‘Beluu Fishing Derby in Memory of Regis Akitaya sponsor: Senator
Hokkons Baules. Ke kmal mlo mesaul!
Part of the work of the Palau Sports Fishing Association, established in 1991, includes
deploying fishing aggregating devices, or FADs. PSFA deployed a 5th FAD last year in April,
however vandalism by a local commercial fishing operator caused this most recentdeployment to break. FADs attract ocean going pelagic fish such as marlin, tuna and
mahi-mahi, and deployment costs can amount up to $17,500 per FAD. For over 10 years
PSFA has been deploying offshore FADs with significant support from Taiwan. Typically
consisting of buoys or floats tethered to the ocean floor with concrete blocks, FADs can
attract over 300 species of fish to aggregate around them in the open ocean.