THE OCEAN AWARDS 2018
Long a campaigner against illegal fishing in the Tañon Strait
Protected Seascape in the Philippines, local councilor 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, paralyzed 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’m not afraid to continue
my advocacy, even if I lose my life,” he has said. “What’s
important is that our children and grandchildren will see
that it’s not a lost cause; that there’s value and goodness they
get out of it after all.”LocalHeroAward
NORLAN PAGAL
Fearless campaigner and advocate of new seabed project
WinnerABSAR KHAN
Former lawyer striving to rid
the Indian Ocean of ghost gearEvery year 640,000 tonnes of “ghost gear”- abandoned fishing nets and other
equipment – is discarded in the world’s
oceans, trapping and in many cases killing
the marine life that becomes caught in
it. Absar Khan quit a career as a lawyer
in the UK to return to Pakistan where he
co-founded TacTack, a Karachi-based
scuba-diving gear supplier. He also works
as a project coordinator 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
ofghostgearbyhandinjustsixmonths.
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. 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
than 90,000 people, who catch or gather
about a million and a half tonnes of fish
and seafood a year. But the nation’s
industrial fisheries 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 Antarctic whale
sanctuary. He’s now executive director of
the campaign group Ecoceanos. In
particular he has opposed the growth of
salmon farming in the south of the
country, which contaminates the water
through its use of nutrients, chemicals
and antibiotics. As he has written: “The
povertyandthesocial,environmentaland
health reality that’s prevalent in the
coastal communities after having endured
25yearsofsalmonindustryexpansion
makes the situation abundantly clear.”FinalistsTE MAU O TE VAIKAVA O RAPA NUI
Coalition that delivered
the Easter Island MPALast September 73 percent 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 realized 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,tourismand
crafts – that meets once a week. Its aim
is to deepen understanding of issues such
as marine conservation and protection.