Sea Turtle Recovery Action Plan for Barbados - WIDECAST

Barbados Sea Turtles …
Water quality and reef health
The Marine Areas (Preservation and Enhancement) Cap 392, 1976, makes provisions for
the assignment of certain areas as protected marine reserves. The Barbados Territorial Waters
Act, Cap 386, 1979, defines the limit of territorial waters around Barbados as 12 nautical miles.
It prohibits the unlicensed extraction of living and non-living resources by foreign ships, and
prohibits pollution likely to damage the marine environment and its resources. The Health
Services Act Cap 144, 1969, prohibits the disposal of any filth or offensive matter into a
watercourse or onto a beach. The Oil in Navigable Waters Act Cap 394, 1927, prohibits the
fouling of territorial waters from vessels, land-based activities or apparatus used to transfer oil
from or to any vessel or place. The Petroleum Winning Operations Act Cap 281, 1951, prohibits
the searching for oil on Barbados or within the territorial waters of Barbados without a license or
lease. Licensees are to take all practicable precautions to prevent pollution of coastal waters by
oil, mud or any other fluid which might contaminate the shoreline of Barbados. The Barbados
Water Authority Act Cap 274A, 1980, gives to the Barbados Water Authority the power to
regulate sewage disposal and to determine standards of water quality for waste effluents.
Enforcement
The Marine Boundaries and Jurisdiction Act Cap 387, 1979, identifies marine
conservation officers to be police, Fisheries and Coast Guard personnel, and the Defense Force.
The responsibility for the enforcement of laws relating to Fisheries, territorial waters, beach
mining, etc., is given to the Barbados Coast Guard in The Defense Act Cap 159, 1979.
4.22 Evaluate the effectiveness of law enforcement
This is an area where there is potential for considerable improvement and suggestions are
offered in section 4.616. In general, environmental laws are not well publicized and/or not well
respected by the public. This situation is aggravated by the large size of the area of coastal water
that has to be patrolled by the Coast Guard, making it difficult for them to be effective law
enforcers. With regard to the turtle preservation section of the Fisheries Regulation Act,
effective enforcement has been lacking. The slaughter of turtles is generally considered a petty
offense, and this is reflected in the small penalty for offenders (Bds. $100). As part of the sea
turtle conservation activities of Bellairs Research Institute and the Fisheries Division, the public
has been encouraged every year to call in and report all nestings. Callers reporting poaching
incidents are advised to call the police immediately. The Royal Barbados Police Force are
willing to assist, but can rarely reach the beach in time to catch the poachers.
An additional problem with enforcement of the present turtle legislation is that it may be
difficult to obtain a successful prosecution since poachers must actually be caught in the act of
taking a nesting female, or an animal within 100 yds (92 m) of shore. Usually poachers can
argue that the turtle was merely being dragged ashore from a boat, having been caught legally
offshore. The police are not equipped with boats and so have to depend on the Coast Guard to
check how far offshore nets are set. No prosecutions have ever been made for violating
legislation protecting turtles. The fact that the slaughter of turtles on land is illegal would be
emphasized if perpetrators were successfully convicted. Increasing environmental awareness a-
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