PICRC awarded research funding from Ireland to assess the reproduction and status of key fishery species in Palau

The Palau International Coral Reef Center (PICRC) has successfully been awarded an 18-month grant-aid through the Our Shared Ocean programme for an ambitious project “Assessing the reproduction and status of a key reef fishery species, the longnose emperor, Melangmud (Lethrinus olivaceus), to inform fisheries management in Palau”. The project is funded by the Government of Ireland through Our Shared Ocean, an initiative to build strategic research partnerships between Ireland and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Palau. The competitive funding, subject to a detailed application by PICRC, and up to a maximum of €148,200, will be used to continue and expand on vital research currently being conducted by PICRC on the longnose emperor, from January 2024 to June 2025.

Reef fisheries are an important part of the culture, economy, and food security in many Pacific Island nations, including Palau. Effective fisheries management decisions rely on detailed biological information on target fish species. PICRC’s project will investigate the reproductive biology and status of the longnose emperor, a key reef fishery species in Palau and in surrounding Pacific waters. The project will focus on continued data collection at a suspected spawning aggregation site, to confirm spawning, and describe the timing, seasonality, and movement patterns of fish at and around the site. This includes conducting diver-operated stereo video surveys, collecting fish for biological sampling, and acoustic tagging. Fish landing data collection will also continue, to improve life-history estimates, length-frequency distributions, and update stock status estimates for this species in Palau. The results on this important reef fisheries species will be used to inform a new reef fisheries management plan (the Koror Southern Lagoon Coastal Fisheries Management Plan) and improve management of Palau’s reef fisheries resources.

Our Shared Ocean will establish and grow research partnerships between Irish institutions and international counterparts, providing research and technical support to assist eligible SIDS in addressing specific ocean and climate related challenges within three key pillars, Oceans & Climate Action; Inclusive and Sustainable Blue Economy & Marine Policy & Ocean Governance. The team is very much looking forward to working with and learning from PICRC and to building research capabilities in the region.

PICRC would like to thank the Marine Institute in Galway, Ireland and Irish Aid/DFA for funding this project. On February 26, the Ambassador-designate H.E. William Carlos from the Embassy of Ireland in the Philippines visited PICRC to hear about the research projects and have an aquarium tour.

Notes:
Through Ireland’s development cooperation programme, Irish Aid, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Marine Institute (MI) have established ‘Our Shared Ocean’ to support research, knowledge exchange and capacity building in partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The programme will run until December 2026 with a total investment of €3.8 million funded by the DFA, and administered by the MI.

Our Shared Ocean will establish and grow research partnerships between Irish institutions and international counterparts, providing research and technical support to assist eligible SIDS in addressing specific ocean and climate related challenges within one of three thematic pillars:
• Oceans & Climate Action
• Inclusive and Sustainable Blue Economy
• Marine Policy & Ocean Governance

Marine Institute
The Marine Institute is the state agency responsible for marine research, technology development and innovation in Ireland. It provides government, public agencies and the maritime industry with a range of scientific, advisory and economic development services that inform policy-making, regulation and the sustainable management and growth of Ireland’s marine resources. www.marine.ie