Island Research & Education Initiative (IREI)

They are concerned with pollution on their home island - Satawal - located approximately 600 miles east of Yap and 400 miles southeast of Guam. Unlike most inhabited islands in the Western Pacific, the island of Satawal has no lagoon. This fact severely limits the natural resources available to support life on Satawal and the people utterly depend on the narrow fringing reefs surrounding their island and two additional uninhabited islands, Pikelot and West Fayew, under Satawalese traditional jurisdiction. The reefs and islands are used for fishing and the hunting of turtles and birds for consumption. The Satawalese community makes every attempt to utilize the natural resources in a sustainable manner and in accordance with traditional methods and regulations. The people of Satawal persistently struggle to keep their islands in a natural state and make efforts to keep their reefs clean and free from waste and contaminants. Nevertheless, pollution is a serious problem threatening the well-being of Satawal's reefs and community.

One major cause of pollution are wrecked ships. In Satawal, several shipwrecks happened in the last two decades. A Japanese fishing vessel named Tenri Maru ran aground on the westward side of the island. Another fishing vessel crashed on the reef on the eastern side of the island. The people of Satawal utilized as much of the remains as possible, but parts of both vessels still sit on the reef. In 1994, a large ship Oceanus ran aground on the island's eastern side. It caused much physical damage to the reef, as it plowed into it at full speed. The ship was able to reflot and leave after dumping many tons of coal it was carrying. Pieces of coal are still found among the corals and rocks at Wenimoang Reef, which has special significance to the Satawalese who protect is as a traditional sanctuary and do not habitually fish there. Several wrecks also occurred at otherwise pristine West Fayew and Pikelot islands, including an oceangoing ship Solar, several Japanese and Taiwanese fishing boats and one sailboat.

In addition to the wreckages, large amounts of trash get washed up on the reefs. All kinds of plastic garbage, aluminum cans and other floating debris are currently scattered in both the water and on land. This trash comes from at least three sources, and includes debris from the shipwrecked vessels, debris that independently floated to the reef and shore, and garbage discarded by unconscientious locals.

As a result of pollution, environmental and health problems felt on Satawal are growing. Parts of the reefs seem to be dying, and in several locales formerly healthy corals have been turned into bleached remains. These 'dead' areas no longer sustain fish and invertebrates, and are rapidly being colonized by unusual algae. Alarmingly, people have experienced stomachaches after eating fish caught in the vicinity of the shipwrecks on Satawal and West Fayew.

All three islands (Satawal, Pikelot and West Fayew) are listed as Areas of Biodiversity Significance (ABS) priority areas in 'A Blueprint for Conserving the Biodiversity of the Federated States of Micronesia', a study carried out by The Nature Conservancy and supported by the national and state governments of the FSM, the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the United Nations Development Program. The report specifically identifies pollution as a major threat.