TWO YEARS AGO, James Blades made the startling revelation that the fringing reefs on the West Coast were dead – not dying – dead. Years later, he contends nothing has changed.
“Certain parts are nice and pristine but the real harsh reality is the near shore fringing reefs have been completely wiped out,” Blades concedes.
“The patch reefs around the South and West Coasts, those reefs have been virtually wiped out. The only thing that is basically hanging on is the barrier reefs,” he said.
The situation is so dire, said the surfer, diver and member of the Barbados Marine Trust, that the shoal reef from Sam Lords Castle, in St Philip, to Long Beach, in Christ Church, is now just a barren wasteland.
“There is no life because there is no food. There is no food because there is no management. There is no enforcement, so there is nothing.”
He remembers spearfishing in his younger days and bringing in between 60 to 80 pounds of fish; he challenges spearfishers today to see if they can get six to eight pounds. The effect is not only being manifested in an absence of marine life, but the sandy white beaches on which the island pegs its international tourist reputation.
“Healthy coral reefs produce sand and the sand producing ability of our reefs on the West Coast is gone because the reefs are dead,” Blades said.
“When the reef dies there is a glut of sand but when that glut is gone then you have got to buy sand, and . . .,” he said,
in a statement designed to provoke comment, “we are buying sand from Guyana.”
Reefs, especially the fringing reefs, he explained, break down wave energy, thereby protecting beaches. Remove them and the sand will be washed away. The dire predictions are also being casts by marine biologist and master diver Andre Miller.
“From my eyes as a diver,’ he told Everything Green, “the good news is that marine reserves like Folkestone and Carlisle Bay work well, especially with the self-policing, coast guard, and diligence by some stakeholders.
“Nowhere else,” he added, “will you see that amount of diversity and abundance of fish life, especially near to shore.
“Bad news,” he said, “is that beyond the marine parks, the rest of our reefs are severely overfished, and even since I first started 15 years ago, some reefs that were covered with the predators like mackerel and barracudas are now barren.”
Both Blades and Miller are calling for effective management of the island’s reefs. Blades has suggested that just like what Government has done with sea eggs, the same should be done with reefs.
“There are no controls so people can just spearfish,” he said.
Miller puts it this way: “Barbados needs to have large areas of its reefs closed off to all forms of fishing,” he said.
“After the initial period, fishermen will benefit from the spillover effect as large numbers of fish will be able to complete their natural life cycle and thereby breed several times.
“If you look at the islands that take diving, reef and fish conservation seriously, like Bermuda, Cayman and the Bahamas, they all have similar laws and plenty, plenty fish that sustain a multi-billion dollar dive and recreational tourism product.”