NEPA was close to parrotfish ban, says agency head

Livern Barrett, Senior Gleaner Writer

The National Environmental Planning Agency (NEPA) today revealed that it was close to imposing a ban on parrotfish.

There has been a push by local environmentalists for a ban.

Seeking to support their lobby, environmentalists say parrotfishes clean coral reefs by eating the algae that grow on them and excrete sand, which is one way of countering beach erosion.

Peter Knight, executive director of NEPA, says the proposed ban was “considered, discussed, debated and almost reached the point of going for a policy position.”

In fact, Knight told members of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee of Parliament (PAAC) that the National Resources Conservation Authority (NRCA), which also serves as the Beach Control Authority, “came to a position” on the proposed ban last year.

However, according to Knight, the move was aborted after the Fisheries Division of the Agriculture Ministry was invited to join the discussions.

“The Fisheries Division was not of the view that a straightforward ban was what was required. There were a number of issues that Fisheries placed on the table for the consideration of the NRCA,” he said.

Knight told committee members he could not recall the issues.

“Fisheries being the authority on this issue, the NRCA did yield to Fisheries,” the NEPA executive director explained.

He was responding to questions from government member of the PAAC Alando Terrelonge, who wanted to know what measures are being crafted by NEPA to curb over-fishing of the parrotfish.

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