News

On Friday the Palau government announced that it was reconsidering an agreement signed with the vigilante, environmentalists on the Sea Shepherd that would permit them to patrol the Palau shark sanctuary.

The announcement comes after Japan officials reciprocated with their own offer to help monitor illegal shark fishing in the sanctuary. Although Palau President Johnson Toribiong did not reveal who in the Japanese government was behind the offer, he did admit that “ministry officials” in Japan considered the Sea Shepherds as “terrorists.”

"I am weighing things now,” confessed President Toribiong. “I want to make sure I get potential diplomatic issues resolved."

The accusations from Japan seem to be based in the clash of their whaling vessels with the Sea Shepherd Conservation society in Antarctica. Last month, the Palau government announced a joint effort with the Sea Shepherd to enforce the rules of the world’s first shark sanctuary, despite the organization’s vigilante reputation.

Toribiong explained although the agreement was signed officially last month, the partnership is only final once reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office.