A new app developed to combat illegal fishing and dumping on Guam launched today.

It began a couple of years ago, with the University of Guam Sea Grant program partnering up with the Guam Department of Agriculture conservation officers by launching the TOKA Hotline to further battle threats to the island's fish and wildlife. The TOKA Hotline is funded by the Sea Grant program and is a community initiative that allows island residents to report environmental violations to conservation officers.
Now, the program has taken it a step further in fighting this growing issue by making reports tech-savvy, according to Department of Agriculture Director Chelsa Muna-Brecht.

"So they've created an app that people can use to report the same concerns so if they saw someone in a marine preserve or you know adjacent to a wild end fire they can use the app to take pictures, document their GPS coordinates and upload it so that the conservation officers receive it instantaneously," she said. "And then the conservation officers can use the app to indicate if the situation has been received or the report has been received that it's an ongoing investigation and just connects us and it provides a connectivity that wasn't once there."

In January, Vincent Munoz along with four other volunteers were looking for ways to give back to the community and did so by developing the TOKA app that enables community members to submit environmental violation reports such as illegal dumping, and littering.

Fran Castro, the Associate Director of the Sea Grant program, said that she is excited about the extension of this initiative.


"So we hope to get people to participate by downloading the app and you know using it to report," she said. "It is meant to provide ease to the community. When they see something say something. I think this app is a wonderful way to do it."

With the rise of illegal dumping on the island during the COVID-19 pandemic, Muna-Brecht echoed Castro's sentiments stating that this app will be beneficial for Guam.

"I think it's gonna be outstanding and tremendous," she said. "We have a lot of people in our community who are concerned about our environment and our natural resources. I mean just as the people we feel our direct connection to our land and our ocean. So when we see people doing things that we know they shouldn't be doing or that are harmful to our environment and they want to get involved and this provides an avenue for that."

Residents can immediately report any potential illegal activity by contacting the TOKA Hotline at 864-8652 (TOKA). You can also download the app from the Google Play Store and the App Store.