Welcome to the Marine & Environmental Institute of Pohnpei
Welcome to the Marine & Environmental Institute of PohnpeiWe are based on the beautiful island of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia and we serve the entire Micronesia region as well as other areas of the Pacific. Founded in 1997 as part of the Ponape Agriculture and Trade School, our initial focus was teaching practical marine sciences to students from all over Micronesia. In 2005, our focus changed to implementing sustainable development projects for rural communities in Pohnpei and the Micronesia region. Because Micronesia is 99% water and marine conservation is critical to sustainable living in the region, our main focus is developing low-impact aquaculture as a means of income generation for communities who sponsor and support marine protected areas. But aquaculture is only one of the areas we specialize in. We also educate communities in climate change mitigation and adaptation; we collaborate with regional institutions in water quality monitoring; we provide research facilities for visiting scientists; and we develop local entrepreneurship through financing and business education.
Take some time to visit our pages to learn more about us, our products, and what we do. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
MERIP’s mission is “supporting environmentally and economically viable natural resource-based businesses through technical services, partnerships and research”.
Rabbitfish Farming
Please follow this link to download a short manual on rabbitfish capture and farming. Starting in 2015 MERIP began researching the potential for sustainable capture-based aquaculture of rabbitfishes, a favored food in the Pacific Islands. Young rabbitfishes…
Sponge Farming
One of the more unique products that have been researched and developed by MERIP are farmed natural sponges. Work began on farming sponges in Pohnpei as early as the 1940’s and Mr. Richard Croft, a modern pioneer of sponge farming in the region…
Marine Ornamentals
Live soft and hard corals, giant clams, zooanthids and corallimorphs make up a valuable portion of the marine ornamental trade. Nearly all these animals are sold for stocking in home aquariums in the USA, EU and, increasingly, Asia. Fish and corals…
Affiliations & Partnerships
MERIP has extensive partnerships and affiliations and has been fortunate to receive funds from many different organizations. Our most important partnerships are with the communities of Micronesia whom MERIP is committed to supporting….