Success From The Sea

Kirino Olpet of the Conservation Society of Pohnpei collects sponge broodstock for delivery to local farmers. (Photo: Eugene Joseph)

Lohn is one of eight farmers cultivating natural Micronesian sponges in hopes of appealing to a tourist appetite. The farms function under the guidance and assistance of the Marine and Environmental Research Institute of Pohnpei (MERIP), a local non-governmental organization whose recent redirection is allowing the landscape of Pohnpei sustainable development to grow richer.

Established in 1997, MERIP was absorbed by the Roman Catholic-run Pohnpei Agricultural and Trade School (PATS) in 1999. From 1999 to June 2005 the non-government organization directed much of its energy toward educating PATS high school students in marine biology and aquaculture.

However, the shuttering of PATS resulted in an organizational shift from classroom instruction to outreach and sustainable development.

The newly standalone organization receives funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Canadian government and two private foundations and has partnerships with various entities such as the University of Hawaii at Hilo, the College of the Marshall Islands, the Conservation Society of Pohnpei and the Pohnpei Department of Marine Resources.

Through these partnerships the NGO is advancing private sector development with an emphasis on conservation and products that minimize impact to the environment. Aside from sponges, MERIP is also pursuing commercial production of hard and soft corals and giant clams for the international aquarium trade as well as black lip pearl oysters for pearls and shell craft handiwork.

"The push is much more toward the community and income generation," says Simon Ellis, MERIP's new director. Ellis and wife Eileen, MERIP's assistant director, and four employees compose the new face of the organization. One of them is Lohn, who Ellis jokingly refers to as the grandfather of sponge farming in Pohnpei in reference to his decades of experience working with them. In addition to tending his three sponge farms, Lohn recruits potential farmers as a part-time field extension agent.

"For me, it really helps," Lohn says of the added income the sponges provide. Farmers receive approximately $3.50 a sponge from MERIP in addition to technical advice and assistance. Start-up costs are also shouldered by the NGO. In addition to these incentives, sponge farming is also extremely low-maintenance. Ellis says the demand for sponges could easily support 50 farms or more. More farms would help defray costs and theoretically attract the interest of wholesalers.

Ellis seems particularly keen on the potential for soft coral. There is robust demand for coral as aquarium decor, and like sponges, soft coral is relatively easy to maintain. It is also profitable. Each fingernail-sized piece takes only about five months to raise and earns a farmer US$3. MERIP is currently harvesting approximately 500 pieces of soft coral per month via four local farmers and its own farm. Its success has led the NGO to begin research and consideration of developing other coral species as well.

However, such economic lures require careful consideration of potential recruits and even so, appealing to the community can be a hurdle. And like most economic ventures in the central Pacific, marketing poses one of the largest challenges to success.

MERIP is currently seeking overseas buyers for its sponges. Corals are already earning profits. Sensitive to the pulse of the market, Ellis is also exploring interest in other products such as a local tea made from the cinnamon-like bark of a tree, called madeu.

"We want to take more of a regional focus, which we're already starting to do in the Marshalls," says Ellis. MERIP's relationship with the Marshall Islands Mariculture Farm, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Florida-based Oceans, Reefs and Aquariums (ORA) has provided an entree to the global marketplace. The farm currently buys MERIP's soft coral and supplies them to its parent company. It is MERIP's goal to develop similar collaborative partnerships across the region in coming years.

Lohn recognizes the need for the expansion of sustainable development practices, the opening of economic outlets and the long-term benefits these opportunities may offer local families and the FSM economy.

"We always complain we're out of fish," he says, "We need to make something else."