Northern Islands get $90K fishing grant

Northern Islands Mayor Valentin I. Taisakan said his office has now received its much-awaited $90,000 federal grant for the municipality’s remote fishing station project.

“We’re very happy about this. We’re grateful to everybody who helped us get this funding,” said Taisakan yesterday.

The mayor said the money will be used to assist residents of Alamagan in setting up a small fishing station to promote subsistence fishing and to jump-start a small commercial operation.

Taisakan said the funding will be used to purchase traditional fishing canoes, small aluminum boats, solar power panels and accessories, chest freezers, sea-water desalination equipment, water tanks, fishing lines and hooks, and other related fishing gear to ensure a safe and viable method of fishing.

The mayor’s office originally sought for a $125,000 grant to cover the construction of two fishing stations in the Northern Islands, including one on Anatahan.

Taisakan’s office first submitted the project proposal in June 2002 to the U.S. Department of Commerce National Marine Fisheries Services office in Hawaii and the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council.

In October 2002, the Mayor’s Office was asked to submit additional forms to update the application.

In August and September 2003, the project passed a clearinghouse review, leading to the approval of the grant.

But the amount was reduced in view of the recent eruption of Anatahan volcano.

This even as the Northern Islands Mayor’s Office is pursuing a development plan for the whole islands, which requires legislative approval.

It includes the passage of the Northern Islands Transportation and Infrastructure Financing Act, which would allow the government to borrow money to buy a passenger vessel, a cargo vessel and the construction of ramps on Saipan and four Northern Islands targeted for the development of terminal facilities.

The plan also includes setting up of ports or terminals to allow easy access to the islands of Anatahan, Sarigan, Alamagan, Pagan, Agrigan and Asuncion on a daily basis.

The Mayor’s Office is also lobbying for a homesteading program and the passage of an economic development and incentive act, an initiative that would provide incentives or tax credits to Northern Islands developers or investors.