Title: Depletion of Coral Reefs Affecting Jamaica’s Fishing Industry
By: Jordan Minos
Transcript:
The earth has many types of environments and of which are all connected in some way, shape, or form to maintain each other. Each year we face more severe novel challenges than the last. With approximately 70% of the planet covered by water, we've barely scratched the surface of the intriguing and complex oceans. Unfortunately, we're destroying species and ecosystems before we have the opportunity to discover they even exist. My name is Jordan Minos and I am a third year student at the University of Waterloo, studying environment resource studies as well as geography and environmental management. On February 14th, 2014, I left for the beautiful country of Jamaica to understand the troubles communities and more specifically fishermen are facing with the recent enhance degradation of the oceans. Day by day fishermen are struggling (whether they are line, pot, or spear fishing), they face the problems of low fish abundance and smaller capsize. Speaking with the freshmen in Jamaica one thing I began to realize in connection with each story was that it was only a short time ago that the sea was rich with large fish. To gain some personal experience, I went to the fish market in White House Jamaica and this is what it sounded like. Fifteen years ago the fish market what it sounded more like this. So what has changed? 40 to 50 years ago, Jamaican coast had more than 50% of living coral cover. According to Dr. Peter Gale of the Discovery Bay Marine Lab, this should be considered the sustainable norm for Jamaica. But in the 1980s and 1990s, living coral cover declined to 5%. Reasons for this include: Hurricane Allen in 1980 and Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. Other factors include: poor fishing practices, tourist disturbances, coral diseases, limestone runoff from the Jamaican mountains, and inland agricultural run-off. Fish need coral for shelter and a place to feed on other fish. Therefore, without the reefs there'll be no fish, and if there are no fish, fishermen will have to go further into the ocean for longer hours risking their lives. So, what is being done to fix this wicked problem? Right now, designated no fishing zones (called fish sanctuaries) seem to be the future for Jamaica's fisheries. The hope is that in the next decade or so there'll be a spillover effect of fish into the Caribbean Sea, if they should occur the fishermen and the local economy will be extremely pleased. It is a difficult task to replenish the coast of Jamaica with fish stock as it once was, but with determination for a better future and knowledge of the sea, anything is possible. The future of Jamaica’s fishing industry is right now. By this, I mean that the future is a reaction of today's actions, and the hope for Jamaica is that one day coastal marine ecosystems will be rich with fish as it once was.