Sea Park

I'm intrigued by the proposed National Park of the Sea surrounding Maug, Asuncion and Uracas Islands. I've never been that far north in the Marianas, but I know a few people who have fished there. They sure didn't do it to make money; it doesn't work economically these days.

I seem to remember that some people thought the Olwol might have been in that area when it went missing with 13 fishermen in 1986.

Oh, and there was the Captain of one of the prepositioning ships who supposedly lost a ridiculously expensive anchor while fishing on Maug.

But really, I don't know any traditional or commercial reasons to fish there. If there are, I'd like to hear them. Otherwise, it seems like a Fine Thing.

So I've been reading, and over on Malaria, Bedbugs, Sea Lice and Sunsets mention of government opposition and the quote "Hmm, I wonder who might not want to see fishing limits in CNMI waters?"

Who indeed? In my NetTreks, I've run across Luen Thai Fishing Venture, a wholly owned subsidiary of Luen Thai International Group, an affiliate of Tan Holdings Corporation. They had some unpleasantness with Greenpeace about shark fins.

What was tickling the back of my brain was this quote from the Company Profile: "Having established its name in the Pacific tuna fishing industry, LTFV is now gathering momentum to develop its non-tuna commercial fishing in the Central Western Pacific region."

Now then, this may have nothing to do with the proposed monument. I don't even know what 'Central Western Pacific' is supposed to mean. It's just that the companies have such a close relationship with the CNMI: "1983 Luen Thai made its first venture in the apparel business through a sweater facility in Saipan." (Luen Thai 'milestones' page)