{"id":346165,"date":"2021-06-17T06:06:37","date_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=346165"},"modified":"2021-06-17T06:06:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-16T20:06:37","slug":"learning-is-fun-at-the-ocean-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/learning-is-fun-at-the-ocean-fair\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning is fun at the Ocean Fair"},"content":{"rendered":"
Coastal Resources Management director Janice Castro shows off a banner at the first ever annual CNMI Ocean Fair, held at the Civic Center in Susupe last Saturday. (Iva Maurin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hundreds flocked to the Civic Center in Susupe last Saturday to take part in the first ever Ocean Fair on island, organized by the Bureau of Environmental and Coastal Quality to celebrate the CNMI Ocean Month of June. <\/p>\n

The fair featured booths from Micronesia Islands Nature Alliance, Friends of the Mariana Trench, Northern Mariana College\u2013Cooperative Research, Extension, and Education Services, the Sea Turtle Program of the Department of Lands and Natural Resources, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, BECQ, and the Commonwealth Council for Arts and Culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ocean is a big part of our culture. As island communities, the ocean is super important to us because it\u2019s a source of our economy, sustenance, recreation. It supports our tourism, which obviously is one of the largest economic drivers in the CNMI,\u201d said Janice Castro, Coastal Resources Management director, who added that the fair is meant to give community members an opportunity to experience, or use the ocean resource in ways that they do not or would not do normally. <\/p>\n

Castro added that they want to ensure that the community knows how important the ocean is beyond just being a place to swim and have picnics during the weekends\u2014the ocean is \u201cmore than just a playground\u201d; it is a source of food for the table and supports the island economically. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn taking care of the [ocean\u2019s] health, not just the quality of the water, we want to make sure that the marine life in there are healthy too so that they all balance each other. They need each other, just the way that we need it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Protecting marine species<\/strong>
\nOne of the marine lives that badly need to be protected are turtles, which, based on the last estimates of the CNMI Sea Turtle Program, now only run between 55 and 65 in numbers, with only about 12 turtles that come to nest here every year. <\/p>\n

According to Endangered Species Program manager Lisa Sztukowski, sea turtles are a part of the local culture in that people used to eat them for special occasions. Now, however, the taking of any sea turtle of any size class is against the law, with fines and penalties ranging from $5,000 to $25,000, and up to six months imprisonment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s illegal to harass turtles. It\u2019s illegal to have parts of them, and it\u2019s illegal to hunt them. \u2026If we want sea turtles to be part of the CNMI culture, we need to protect them. It\u2019s not only federal but also locally. It\u2019s very important because we have a small population that nests on the islands.\u201d<\/p>\n