GRENADA - Caribbean Compass

JULY 2010 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 10
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CARIBBEAN
ECO-NEWS
Regional Whale Watchers Seek Support
Experts, international whale-watching industry representatives, civil society
groups and international NGOs met at a symposium in Sainte Luce, Martinique,
from February 18th through 21st. The symposium addressed opportunities for
building local, sustainable “blue” tourism and combating threats to marine mammals
in the Caribbean.
The Symposium strongly urged Caribbean governments to give their full support
and encouragement to whale-watching activities as a valid and sustainable means of
protecting marine mammal populations and creating jobs, earning foreign exchange
and providing sustainable livelihoods for fishermen and local coastal communities.
Whale-watching has become a US$2.1 billion global industry, with whale-watching
as a tourism activity growing in the Caribbean and Central American region at a rate
of 12.8 percent (2008), three times more than the growth rate of the global tourism
industry (4.2 percent). Countries in this region are now earning nearly US$54 million
from whale watching as part of their tourism product, while earnings from whale
hunting are minimal. These figures indicate that whale watching contributes to sustainable
development and helps to preserve biodiversity and natural heritage, for the
benefit of fishers and local communities.
The symposium called on all Caribbean Governments to ensure that any participation
by them in the International Whaling Commission (IWC) reflects these economic
and ecological realities of the region. The symposium further recalled the principled
position of Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit, for his 2008 decision
to withdraw his government’s support for whaling at the IWC as being “incompatible”
with Dominica’s brand as a “Nature Isle”, and calls on the leaders of other OECS
countries to join him.
The IWC’s 2010 meeting is being held as this issue of Compass goes to press.
No Dumping Garbage from Ships in Caribbean
Decisive action by the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the
International Maritime Organization (IMO) at its 60th Session, held March 22nd
through 26th, has resulted in the adoption of a resolution prohibiting the discharge
of all garbage by ships in the Wider Caribbean Region as of May 1st next year.
With the adoption of an MEPC resolution establishing May 1st, 2011 as the date
on which the MARPOL 73/78 Annex V (Regulations for the Prevention of Pollution
by Garbage from Ships) Special Area regulations take effect in the Wider Caribbean,
this region becomes the sixth zone to be protected against the discharge of all garbage
from ships, other than organic materials under certain conditions (based on
distance from shore and particle size). This is a very timely move, as maritime traffic
is expected to continue to dramatically increase in the Caribbean region with the
expansion of the Panama Canal.
The Wider Caribbean Region contains 28 coastal and insular countries that have
coasts on the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and part of the Atlantic Ocean. It
covers an area of more than 3.3 million square kilometres, from the United States to
French Guiana. The region’s highly productive but extremely sensitive marine ecosystems
provide a livelihood for many coastal communities and more than 41 million
people live within 10 kilometres of the coastline.
Garbage in the marine environment can damage habitats and kill wildlife, and can
also impact the quality of life of local communities and affect the economies of a
region, notably by its consequences on tourism.
A study conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) assessed
that litter from ocean-based sources of pollution (such as fishing nets, gear and supplies,
ropes, etcetera) accounted for at least 11 percent of all marine litter in our region.
Chris Corbin, UNEP Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit Programme Officer for
Pollution Prevention, congratulated the countries for their collaboration on this matter,
but also stressed the importance of having the entry into force as soon as possible
of the related pollution control agreement for Land Based Sources of Marine
Pollution. This will further assist efforts to tackle the problem of solid waste and
marine litter in the region.
Big Fish Lacking in Big Pond
Sharks, barracuda and other large predatory fishes disappear on Caribbean coral
reefs as human populations rise, endangering the region’s marine food web and
ultimately its reefs and fisheries, according to a study by Chris Stallings of the
Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory.
While other scientists working in the Caribbean have observed the declines of large
predators for decades, the comprehensive work by Stallings documents the patterns
in far more detail at a much greater geographic scale than any other research to
date. His article on the study, “Fishery-Independent Data Reveal Negative Effect of
Human Population Density on Caribbean Predatory Fish Communities”, was published
in the May 6th, 2009 issue of the journal of the Public Library of Science
(www.plosone.org).
—Continued on next page
NOAA