Suzanne Stanley | The regulation and sustainable management of parrotfish in Jamaica

In response to the article ‘Where are they? – Kong questions the NGOs’ actions to save parrotfish’ published in The Gleaner on Saturday, January 25, the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) would like to make clear the following:

Parrotfish are widely accepted by the local and international scientific community as being important for maintaining healthy coral reefs and beaches, because of their functions as herbivores and sand producers. Although managing parrotfish is not a panacea for protecting Jamaica’s marine environment, regulating their catch is a crucial step towards sustaining the health of reefs and providing high-quality habitat for reef fisheries.

For more than two decades, there has been significant public education and advocacy on parrotfish conservation and management by non-government and community-based environmental organisations, academia and corporate Jamaica.

In October 2018, it was revealed that Jamaica’s environmental regulatory agency – the National Environment and Planning Agency – had arrived at a proposed parrotfish ban in 2017; however, the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture was not in support of the proposal, and no way forward could be determined.

In November 2018, JET and six other environmental interest groups and individuals wrote to Senator Matthew Samuda in an attempt to engage the Government of Jamaica (GOJ) on the regulation and sustainable management of parrotfish in Jamaican waters. The letter to Senator Samuda, which was also published and circulated online by JET as a position paper, outlined a proposed parrotfish management strategy as follows:

Immediately:

1. Present the case to the Senate that parrotfish management is an urgent priority.

2. Establish a standing inter-ministerial planning and monitoring committee with broad-based representation from academia, the fishing industry, civil society and government stakeholders to provide oversight for the development and implementation of a regulatory framework for parrotfish management.

3. Convene stakeholder consultations to identify practical management solutions for regulating the catch of parrotfish, which consider the livelihoods of fishers.

4. Review and update existing socio-economic research on fishing livelihoods in Jamaica.

5. Investigate funding for the parrotfish management programme, and identify feasible alternative livelihoods strategies for Jamaicans currently dependent on the catch and sale of parrotfish.

Within six months:

6. Launch a national public-education campaign to raise awareness about the impending parrotfish management programme, including notice of an appropriate grace period to allow fishers to adjust.

7. Review management and operations at the Fisheries Division, to ensure it focuses on its role as conservator of fisheries – protecting the health and sustainability of fish stocks and enforcing fisheries regulations.

8. Establish a rigorous national monitoring and evaluation programme to conduct frequent and regular assessments of Jamaica’s parrotfish populations.

Within 12 months:

9. Impose minimum mesh size restrictions for fishing nets and/or bans on fish traps (pots).

10. Regulate spearfishing. The ban on spearfishing at night should be strictly enforced.

11. Increase the size and number of fish sanctuaries supported by GOJ in ecologically important areas.

12. Establish an Alternative Livelihoods Programme for Fishers to be delivered concurrently with strategies 9-11.

Within 24 months:

13. Inter-ministerial committee to review the results of the national parrotfish monitoring and evaluation programme to determine whether a temporary closure of the parrotfish fishery should be imposed.

COUNTERPRODUCTIVE AND EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING

In December 2018, Senator Samuda came out in support of the sustainable regulation and management of the parrotfish fishery. To JET’s knowledge, this is the only one of the 13 recommendations outlined in our proposed strategy which has been pursued by the GOJ to date.

The Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture is the agency of the GOJ which, according to its own website, is responsible for the conservation and sustainable utilisation of Jamaica’s Fisheries in a manner that ensures optimum social and economic benefits to Jamaica.

For André Kong, the director of fisheries, to publicly decry the long-standing efforts of NGOs to engage with the Fisheries Division and other branches of the GOJ to arrive at sustainable management solutions for parrotfish in Jamaica is counterproductive and extremely frustrating.

It is also unclear why Mr Kong objects to advocacy to control the demand for parrotfish. In the absence of regulation from the GOJ, this is the only option available for concerned citizens who want to protect parrotfish.

JET and other environmental interests have acknowledged in countless public and private fora that the management of Jamaica’s parrotfish fishery could take various forms, but it must prioritise sustaining fish stocks over time, as benefits can only be derived once fish and their habitat are healthy.

If Jamaica continues to fail at taking hard management decisions to address protection of parrotfish, then the problems of depleted fish stocks, degraded coral reefs and reduction of beach sand replenishment will only worsen. The economic implications will extend beyond fisheries, as a degraded marine environment will impact tourism, food security and our resilience to climate change.

The poor state of fisheries in Jamaica requires nothing less than bold and decisive action from the Fisheries Division.

Suzanne Stanley is the chief executive officer of the Jamaica Environment Trust. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.