THE OCEAN AWARDS 2018
Long a campaigner against illegal fishing in the Tañon Strait
Protected Seascape in the Philippines, local councillor Norlan
Pagal was on his way home after making a speech in a village
hall in San Remigio when he was shot. The attack left the
father of five, a fisherman by trade, paralysed from the waist
down at the age of 46.
It was not the first time that Pagal had been physically
attacked – his boat was blown up on one occasion, and on another
he was beaten about the head with an oar – but he continues to
campaign on marine conservation issues with the Anapog
Fishermen’s Association.
The association was formed in his home village of Anapog(population fewer than 2,000) to guard against piracy in the
Anapog Fish Sanctuary, one of eight Marine Protected Areas
in the municipality where fishing was banned and for which
Pagal was a seaborne patrol chief.
Now a wheelchair user, he remains pragmatic, even optimistic
about the future. The association, which he chairs, has embarked
on a project to seed abalone, clams and sea cucumbers to nurture
new life that can in time be harvested. “I am not afraid to continue
my advocacy, even if I lose my life,” he has said. “What is
important is that our children and grandchildren will see that
it is not a lost cause; that there is value and goodness they get
out of it after all.”Local Hero Award
NORLAN PAGAL
Fearless campaigner and advocate of new seabed project
ABSAR KHAN
Former lawyer striving to rid
the Indian Ocean of ghost gearEvery year 640,000 tonnes of “ghost
gear” – as abandoned fishing nets and
otherequipmentareknown–isdiscarded
in the world’s oceans, trapping and in
many cases killing the marine life that
becomes caught in it. Absar Khan quit
acareerasalawyerintheUKtoreturnto
Pakistan where he co-founded TacTack,
a Karachi-based scuba-diving gear
supplier (he is also a dive master) with
abranchinDubai.Healsoworksas
a project co-ordinator with the Olive
Ridley Project, named after one of the
species of sea turtle it seeks to protect by
striving to clear the Indian Ocean of ghost
gear. Last year, with his colleague Asif
Baloch and a team of volunteers, he
helped remove more than half a tonne of
ghostgearbyhandinjustsixmonths.
As he puts it: “The ocean is intoxicating,
magical and purifying. We receive [so
much] from it, so it’s imperative to work
towards its well-being. Conservation has
to be a collaborative effort. Mother Earth
needs more people to help her.”JUAN CARLOS CÁRDENAS
Working to reduce the impact
of salmon farming in ChileThere are more than 450 fishing
communities in Chile, employing more
than90,000people,whocatchorgather
aboutamillionandahalftonnesoffish
and seafood a year. But the nation’s
industrial fisheries – Chile is the world’s
eighth largest fishing nation – are
threatening the traditional fishers’ way
of life. Cárdenas is a former co-ordinator
of Greenpeace Latin America’s campaigns
to protect dolphins and create an
Antarcticawhalesanctuary.Heisnow
executivedirectorofthecampaigngroup
Ecoceanos. In particular he has opposed
thegrowthofsalmonfarminginthesouth
of the country, which contaminates the
water through its use of nutrients,
chemicals and antibiotics. As he has
written: “The poverty and the social,
environmental and health reality that
is prevalent in the coastal communities
afterhavingendured25yearsof
salmon-industry expansion makes the
situation abundantly clear.”FinalistsWinnerTE MAU O TE VAIKAVA O RAPA NUI
Coalition that delivered
the Easter Island MPALast September 73 per cent of the 3,000
inhabitants of Rapa Nui, aka Easter Island,
voted to create a Marine Protected Area
about the size of mainland Chile, to which
it belongs. This is home to at least 142
endemic species, 27 of which are
threatened with extinction. By banning
the huge factory ships that have fished
for tuna in these waters, it will enable
the local community to continue the
subsistence farming practices on which
they have historically depended. As one
member put it: “We realised it was our
job to take care of the sea.” Hence
the formation of Te Mau o te Vaikava
o Rapa Nui, or Rapa Nui Ocean
Roundtable, a coalition of 20 local leaders
representing different industries on the
island – fishing, agriculture, tourism and
crafts – that meets once a week. Its aim
is to deepen understanding of issues such
as marine conservation and protection,
artisanal fishing and the way local
resources are managed by the
community itself.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY
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