Bill Jeffery
Bill Jeffery has been working as a maritime archaeologist for over 40 years. Bill’s background in maritime archaeology is in Australia, where after studying with the Western Australian Museum, he formulated and coordinated a maritime heritage program for a state government agency, Heritage South Australia from 1981-2001. He went onto working with the Federated States of Micronesia National Historic Preservation Office and completing a PhD on the World War II shipwrecks in Chuuk Lagoon. He is a consulting maritime archaeologist to ERM Hong Kong, and Research Associate with the Hong Kong Maritime Museum. Since 2002, he has been working on various aspects of maritime archaeology in Hong Kong and more recently the training of a number of local divers, and the implementation of maritime archaeology research and excavation projects, the first such projects to be conducted in Hong Kong. He has implemented various types of archaeological and heritage investigations in Australia, the Pacific region, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and various countries in Africa. Bill has lectured in cultural heritage preservation, maritime archaeology and conducted maritime archaeology field schools with Flinders University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of Guam and James Cook University in addition to teaching Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) training programs in eleven different countries. In 2015, he began his current position as Assistant Professor of Archaeology at the University of Guam.
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Videos by Bill Jeffery
The field school was led by the University of Guam (UOG) and included specialist instructors for Marine Biology, Corrosion Science, and Photogrammetry. As part of the field school a seminar on World War II sites was held on July 22, with participants and topics from Japan, USA, Palau, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Guam, including 2 students, was held at the Guam Museum and attended by the general public, all available on YouTube, 1 example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEqKfm2mMA
The film provides details about the multi-disciplinary approach used in maritime archaeology and stresses the need for a holistic understanding of what is maritime culture in Guam and Micronesia. Guam Preservation Trust and UOG Sea Grant funded the field school.
Papers by Bill Jeffery
This paper provides information on the steps taken in achieving this position. It also considers the archaeological remains, primarily the fishing boat wrecks located in Chuuk and the Marshall Islands. They are a significant part of the underwater cultural heritage of Micronesia, yet little is known about them, given the dominance of the World War II shipwrecks and the highly profitable diving tourism industry. An aim of the paper is to raise awareness about this overlooked heritage, a heritage that has focus and relevance for local people of Micronesia.
This paper and the presentation highlight the value of the Yapese fish weirs and how they, and the associated intangible cultural heritage can be used to assist modern-day approaches to marine ecological conservation, in addition to keeping traditional sustainable fishing practices alive. The presentation also highlights how maritime anthropology research can assist countries in their Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 14: Life below Water.
Understanding this heritage and its interest groups is an important consideration in managing this material culture. The Chuukese government and portions of the local community are interested in the underwater sites because of the financial rewards from tourism, which has transformed these former war machines into a vital economic asset. Does this make the sites less important or less significant as historic resources to these groups?
The field school was led by the University of Guam (UOG) and included specialist instructors for Marine Biology, Corrosion Science, and Photogrammetry. As part of the field school a seminar on World War II sites was held on July 22, with participants and topics from Japan, USA, Palau, Philippines, Indonesia, Australia and Guam, including 2 students, was held at the Guam Museum and attended by the general public, all available on YouTube, 1 example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stEqKfm2mMA
The film provides details about the multi-disciplinary approach used in maritime archaeology and stresses the need for a holistic understanding of what is maritime culture in Guam and Micronesia. Guam Preservation Trust and UOG Sea Grant funded the field school.
This paper provides information on the steps taken in achieving this position. It also considers the archaeological remains, primarily the fishing boat wrecks located in Chuuk and the Marshall Islands. They are a significant part of the underwater cultural heritage of Micronesia, yet little is known about them, given the dominance of the World War II shipwrecks and the highly profitable diving tourism industry. An aim of the paper is to raise awareness about this overlooked heritage, a heritage that has focus and relevance for local people of Micronesia.
This paper and the presentation highlight the value of the Yapese fish weirs and how they, and the associated intangible cultural heritage can be used to assist modern-day approaches to marine ecological conservation, in addition to keeping traditional sustainable fishing practices alive. The presentation also highlights how maritime anthropology research can assist countries in their Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 14: Life below Water.
Understanding this heritage and its interest groups is an important consideration in managing this material culture. The Chuukese government and portions of the local community are interested in the underwater sites because of the financial rewards from tourism, which has transformed these former war machines into a vital economic asset. Does this make the sites less important or less significant as historic resources to these groups?
This joint-research aimed to review practices in the protection and management of World War II UCH in Pacific nations. One of the aims of the research is to provide a foundation on which Small Island Developing States (SIDS) can implement the sustainable use of cultural resources underwater with appropriate protection. The increase of awareness of the significance of UCH has been recognized by practitioners and stakeholders in many Pacific countries, together with understanding the vulnerabilities of UCH. The identification of threats and human activities that impact UCH is considered to be key to maintain public access to underwater sites and increase community benefit. The outcome of the research will be a compilation of good practices and recommendations for a way forward.
On the reef flat adjacent to the volcanic islands, the Yapese developed a harmonious, sustainable system of fishing that incorporated spiritual, social, cultural and environmental connectivity and awareness. This is of particular importance to the inshore fishery, which is a sensitive region for fish breeding, which needs to be well conserved, maintained and not overfished. The Yapese employed a number of cultural practices related to fishing, and created a number of tangible cultural heritage practices, of which some remains still can be found in Yap. This system employed the use of tidal stone-walled fish weirs the most numerous called aech, of which about 800 can still be found.
Yap has now four Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). People in Yap are aware that fishing is currently not
implemented in a sustainable manner and are declaring ‘no catch zones’ in certain marine areas. Fish were one of the few sources of protein for Yapese, and although there are now many other introduced sources of protein, fish are still highly valued as a major staple. Biological studies on fish weirs around the world have shown the biodiversity inside a fish weir is significantly higher than outside.
Many of the studies associated with the need for and development of these MPAs are largely science based, with little relevance and benefit given to traditional fishing (cultural practices and the material cultural). Traditional fishing practices were carried out sustainably for hundreds of years, so their incorporation into MPAs could be an invaluable source of knowledge to supplement the science.
The presentation will highlight the value of the Yapese fish weirs and how they, and the associated cultural practices can be used to assist modern-day approaches to marine ecological conservation, in addition to keeping traditional sustainable fishing practices alive. The presentation also highlights how maritime archaeology can assist countries in their Sustainable Development Goals, particularly SDG 14: Life below Water.