Bureau of Maritime Safety and Fish and Wildlife Protection (BMSFWP) Director Thomas Tutii said in an interview yesterday that there was no marine law violator caught during the surveillance they conducted in the southwestern part of Palau from April 18 to 23.
Seventeen marine law enforcers including the new Coast Guard Adviser from Japan, Lieutenant Commander Toshiaki Tomita, conducted a maritime surveillance on board the PSS Kedam, a huge patrol vessel donated by the Nippon Foundation to Palau.
Coast Guard Adviser Tomita told Island Times in a separate interview yesterday that during their marine surveillance, they had conducted on board inspection of foreign fishing boats, two of which were from Taiwan, another two were from the Philippines, and one was from Indonesia.
Tomita said that all the inspected boats from other countries possessed permits from Palau.
As the Coast Guard Adviser, Tomita, who was on his first maritime surveillance with the country’s marine law enforcers, said that Palau’s maritime law enforcers were already well-trained.
“I am very happy patrolling with Kedam crew members. I think Kedam crew members are well-trained,” Tomita said.
“I would like to find what I can do while working with them from now on. PSS Kedam was built in, and many equipment [inside it] are made in, Japan. So I think I have something to do from this aspect,” Tomita added.
During their surveillance, the Kedam crew members also delivered food and medical supplies to the outlying islands of Palau, the Sonsorol and Pulo Anna islands. (Rhealyn C. Pojas/Reporter)