Restricting access to Ritidian will mean less food for the community and threaten the island’s customs, according to Guam’s fishers.
They await final approval of a surface danger zone in the area.
“Fishing, it’s something you develop, you grow into. If you get rid of that, that’s part of our tradition that’s gone, 4,000 years of legacy that’s gone,” said Manny Duenas. “About 90% of the fishermen use Ritidian. The fishermen that fish out there, they feed their communities and their families. At the end of the day, it’s going to adversely affect us.”
Duenas, 63, has been president of the Guam Fishermen’s Cooperative Association since 1995. He’s been fishing most of his adult life, and was taught the trade by his uncle and others. He said the live-fire training range under construction at Ritidian, and its associated surface danger zone, diminishes fishing.
“We’ve always been known as a seafaring community. Now the ocean is being closed off to us.”
The danger zone, currently under review by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, would be about 3,660 acres, extending into the Pacific Ocean about 2.8 miles from the north coast of Guam along the Guam National Wildlife Refuge. It would intermittently restrict all access to the zone “to ensure public safety during small arms training activities” up to 75% of the year, or 273 days annually.
It’s part of the Marine Corps relocation, in which about 5,000 Marines and their dependents will be moved to Guam this decade.
“We will work together with the government of Guam and local leaders and consider all concerns when scheduling range operations,” stated Capt. A.J. Ramos, director of communication strategy and operations at Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, adding the buildup’s environmental impact statement determined “that there will be less than significant impacts to … fishing during operation.”
Duenas disagrees.
“The areas that are encompassed by the closure are good fishing grounds, during the mahi season especially, and during the wahoo season,” Duenas said.
With limited time at Ritidian, about 20-25% of the local catch is gone, he said.
The Guam Department of Agriculture asked the military to cease military training during seasonal fish runs, stating they “signify a cultural activity that has been practiced by Guam’s fishers for generations.”
“Seasonal fish runs are important because people catch the fish to feed themselves and their families and culturally, people have been targeting seasonal fish runs for sharing in the community for the last hundred years at least on Guam,” said Brent Tibbatts, a biologist with the Guam Department of Agriculture. “These fish only run for a few days, a few times a year. If it happens to coincide with a time that the firing range is active, you can’t have any access, and you can’t make it up another time.”
According to the agency’s data, there are about 30 fishing trips by boat to Ritidian annually. The number may be higher, Tibbatts said, as these are only fishers the agency was able to interview. It doesn’t include those who fish on the shore.
Duenas estimates there are about 200 active boat-based fishers on island, and “most of us” make use of Ritidian waters. If not fishing at Ritidian specifically, fishers must pass through Ritidian waters to fish in other northern areas.
“It’s causing a deviance from our travel zone, where we normally don’t fish,” Duenas said, pointing to safety concerns. “You’re thrown off an extra 3 to 4 miles. You’re out in deeper waters where you normally don’t fish.”
Duenas pressed for more effort by the military to work with the fishing community.
“Fishermen are always often ignored. Everybody has lawyers, everybody has government agencies, they get compensation, they get help. When it comes to us, who’s going to defend us? Who’s gonna fight for us?” he said. “Many of our members and our fishermen are veterans. They’ve participated in the military in some form or another. We support the military, however, the military has to be a little more forthcoming in the way it works with the community.”
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