Our marine monument II

Mr. John Gourley has written a few letters in opposition of our CNMI Marine Monument, or as he calls it the Pew Monument. He keeps bringing up subsistence fishermen in the northern islands. There are none. He harps on mineral/oil rights. CNMI has no underwater mineral/oil rights up there. He mentions current commercial fishermen. But not by name. Well, they are Northern Marianas Fisheries Inc. and Crystal Seas-CNMI Inc.—same principals I think, but two corporations. And they have recently spent a lot of money building a fish processing facility on Tinian. They were previously ported in Seattle, WA. I can only guess that they left Seattle because they could no longer make money catching fish along the west coast of the U.S. There are more species of fish there that you cannot catch versus the ones that may be caught. The commercial salmon fishing along the Oregon and California coast was cancelled this year due to depleted salmon stocks. After the fish stocks here are depleted, usually commercial fishermen will move on to better waters. They always do. The coastlines around the world are littered with abandoned fish processing facilities. I am all in favor of sustainable commercial fishing especially here in the CNMI. I have 14 various fishing rods and reels of my own. I am against plunder.

Mr. Gourley always makes reference to the Pew paid lobbyist here on Saipan, never identifying him by name. Well, it is no secret, it is Angelo Villagomez, co-founder of Beautify CNMI. And it is about time someone is paying him for his work. Just last year he was, in his words, a broke ass environmentalist. He was born on Saipan, a Chamoli, who left the island, got educated and returned to his homeland as an environmentalist and he has been busy. If you have the Internet, Google him. You will find literally hundreds of articles about Angelo and his environmental activities in the CNMI and Pacific region.

Now do a Google search on “John Gourley, Saipan”. Except for his recent letters to the editor, there is not much about Mr. Gourley. I could not find any involvement in any environmental activities. He did not plant any trees, hold summer school environmental classes, paint the old light house, or any of the many various environmental activities that Angelo imitated and followed through last year. Mr. Gourley, who are you and who do you represent?

There have been other letters in opposition of our Monument. Google search the writers. Who are these people? Except for a few, they are not home boys. I know the style of most of the hack writers on this island. The opposition letters are usually professionally written and not actually documented. They are not working for you or your future or your children’s future. At this time.

The opposition has some valid points. Mr. Gourley and others have advised of us of possible pitfalls we may encounter with this venture. Why don’t you guys help us resolve these issues before we make the big decision?

As for the commercial fishermen on Tinian, let’s hear from you. Put in your honest concerns. We know you have a lot of bucks riding on this proposal. Or do you? Maybe a one- or two-year delay in implementing the monument would allow you to recapture your investment in the processing facility. It would look good on your website that you supported our CNMI Marine Monument! Do you have any ideas how this can work for you? Again, I favor sustainable commercial fishing in the CNMI.

We know Angelo. He has one heck of a track record here in the CNMI. We know where he stands on the future of the CNMI. Mr. Gourley and others are unknowns. Therefore, I will continue to support Angelo on our CNMI Marine Monument. Let’s look at our cards before we walk away from this jumbo pot. If you want to know who I am, you can also Google me. Oh yeah, write a letter or two.