Small fishing boats for Micronesia

All;

Mr. Nelson contacted me as below thru linked in.

Please contact him directly if you are interested in helping.

I don't think he is on this forum yet.

Thanks

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Hi Chris:

Thanks making the connection!

I contacted you because I work with outer island communities in Micronesia. Many, probably most, of these people are facing food security issues stemming from local over-fishing, reef degradation, crop failure (probably related to sea level rise and salt intrusion) and the loss of traditional management and knowledge. These are complex issues as you might imagine, but we think that one of the factors in overfishing is recent reliance on fiberglas skiffs powered by outboards. We think this has had the effect of collapsing previously diverse (>100) fishing techniques into 5-7 and focusing fishing efforts on a similarly small number of species and habitats. New high schools have had the unintended consequence of dramatically altering the human population distribution, at least during the academic year; this has exacerbated the situation for the islands that host these schools.

We think that improving access to a greater diversity of habitats and species, coupled with the introduction of fishing methods and management based on traditional practices, would alleviate the fishing pressure on depleted resources and ease some of the food security issues. These communities are unique in my experience (20+ years all over the Pacific) in that they want to fix things using the best available science. More importantly, each community is essentially autonomous, so decisions are made by the communities on the spot and changes are implemented immediately. There is no red tape or bureaucratic baloney though there are other challenges.

I wanted to contact you because I would like to explore the possibility of introducing a boat design that might take the place of the traditional canoes. The traditional designs are unused in most of these outer islands now, partly because of the difficulty and time required to build them and the limitations inherent in a vessel dependent on sail or paddle. Is there a design out there, perhaps stitch and glue plywood, that could be powered by sail, paddle and a small outboard (<10 hp)? Something that wasn't too expensive or complex to build? I've a vague memory of a Swedish multi-hull design that was developed for a similar purpose in the Central Pacific, but I've not been able to substantiate this.

Any ideas? Someone I should talk to?

It'd probably be easier to continue this via regular email (pnelson@cfr-west.org) or by phone (831-440-8690) if you're willing.

If you'd like to learn more about our work in Micronesia, we have a web site: http://ulithimarineconservation.ucsc.edu/ For information on my work in California, see http://www.cfr-west.org<br>

Best, Pete
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The designs you are looking for are here:
http://www.spc.int/coastfish/en/publications/posters/boat-plans.html

Gary

 

Agreed, the outrigger canoes are best. Catamarans are also very useful and have a very long history in Polynesia/Micronesia.

"The historic catamaran is the workboat of the Polynesian Pacific. Archaeological excavations, legend and early Western observers have shown that they had been in use hundreds of years - perhaps thousands - for fishing, coastal trade and ocean exploration...."

Thus, some affordable CAT plans would also be a good idea. They are arguable the better option and would be a good back-up for these outboards. As everyone knows motors do fail so paddles, oars & sails should be factored in for propulsion.

http://wharram.com/site/how-we-design/catamaranstability