Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

CEP Technical Report No. 12
As an alternative to the use of impermeable structures, the CCPU has been carrying out
the re-vegetation (primarily using native "sea grape", Coccoloba uvifera) of selected beaches.
The use of vegetation such as sea grape for beach stabilization will have an additional benefit for
nesting hawksbills, since they often prefer to nest amidst vegetation (Mortimer, 1982). Adequate
protection of supralittoral vegetation cover on beaches may require additional legislation (section
4.23). Another alternative which has been used to promote the accretion of beach sand is
synthetic seaweed. Synthetic seaweed was installed at Rockley Beach on the south coast on an
experimental basis in 1985. After some initial success and noticeable sand build up, the seaweed
fronds started to sink under the weight of enmeshed sand and beach erosion resumed. There are
no immediate plans to install any more synthetic seaweed in Barbados unless the weighting
problem is resolved.
The reconstruction of beaches elsewhere in the region is sometimes accomplished by
dumping sand dredged from offshore onto a beach or former beach. This causes several
problems for sea turtles, aside from the danger that heavy equipment on the beach and/or in
adjacent waters can obstruct or preclude nesting and the new over-burden can smother
incubating eggs. The most serious concern is that physical and organic characteristics of
offshore sediments generally lead to compaction on the beach. This is well documented in
Florida (USA) and was recently observed in Belize when a "renourishment" effort on Caye
Chapel resulted in a hard compacted sand beach unusable to sea turtles for nesting (Smith et al.,
1992). If this expensive method of reconstruction occurs in Barbados, the new sand should
reflect the original material (e.g., organic content, grain size) and rebuilding should not occur
during the nesting season.
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4.14 Prevent or mitigate degradation of marine habitat
4.141 Dynamiting reefs
Dynamiting for fish is illegal (section 4.21), but occurs quite regularly on both fringing
and bank reefs on the west, south and southeast coasts. Dynamiting is an extremely destructive
form of fishing. Many fish killed by dynamiting do not float to the surface and therefore are not
collected. Moreover, the destruction wrought on slow-growing coral reef environments reduces
the fish carrying capacity of the system. Localized reef blasting has been conducted to improve
fishing boat navigation channels at several points along the east coast (Tent Bay, Foul Bay,
Skeete's Bay and Conset Bay). The long term effects of these actions are not fully known, but it
appears that the exposed coral and coral rubble created by the blast are very susceptible to
erosion, the navigation channels are already quite undercut, and the beaches parallel to reef cut
channels may be more prone to erosion.
Because healthy coral reef ecosystems are vital to sustainable fisheries and tourism (both
economically important industries in Barbados), as well as to endangered sea turtles, it is the
recommendation of this Recovery Action Plan that laws prohibiting the use of explosives for the
purpose of fish extraction be rigorously enforced. In addition, blasting to improve access for
marine vessels should be closely regulated, if not prohibited, and ongoing studies to evaluate the
long-term effects of past blasting should be conducted. Penalties for fishing with explosives
should be severe and include heavy fines, in addition to the confiscation of vessels and other
equipment in use at the time of violation.