Little Bay, an attractive inlet on the north-western coast of Anguilla, is not only a much-frequented delightful place for tourists and excursionists, but is one of the seascapes where there are a number of marine protected areas and moorings or marine parks.
Now, it is also going to be the site of an artificial concrete-based reef for lobster spawning to improve stocks for the island’s fishermen.
It is a project being undertaken by the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources and the Anguilla National Trust with funding from the European Commission amounting to 100,000 euros. Both local entities are being assisted, in building and establishing the artificial reef, by a number of consultants with Mr. Remon Jonathan, of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, leading the project.
“We want to diversify the fishing livelihood a little bit and to train some of the fishermen as eco-friendly tour guides,” Mr. Johnathan told The Anguillian. “We also want our tourists to have something else to see. Another primary reason is that we want to have new habitats for juvenile lobsters. We are hoping that, as they grow into adults, they will move farther out to sea to become exploitation resources outside the marine park for fishermen.”
“We are pouring strong concrete into molds, in the shape of boulders, to make the artificial reef look as natural as possible and to match the natural environment,” Mr. Johnathan explained. “Over time, coral, algae and sea urchins will eventually settle on the molds and become incorporated into the overall ecosystem. The area will be about 100 meters in length.”
Ms. Farah Mukhida, Executive Director of the Anguilla National Trust, told The Anguillian: “We have consultants from the Turks and Caicos Islands and the United States. They are all involved in the Reef Ball Association. They have many years of experience in building and monitoring these types of structures and making sure that they are functioning as they should.”
Ms. Kafi Gumbs, Director of the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources, was asked how the artificial reef would benefit her organisation.
“It will hopefully help us to build a better relationship with fishermen as I believe the artificial reef will greatly assist them,” she replied. “By increasing the marine habitats, with lobster species, we will have more lobsters for our fishermen to catch. It is also an opportunity for the department’s staff to learn something from the consultants and facilitators about building extra habitats. They have been doing this type of work since 1993 – around the same time when our marine parks were established. I think this is a great learning opportunity for us.”
Ms. Gumbs stressed that fishermen will not be permitted to fish on the artificial reef which is only for the spawning and development of juvenile lobsters. As indicated above, the fishermen will have to wait until the adult lobsters travel to the open waters of the island’s seabed and natural coral reefs.
This is obviously a long-term opportunity but one that may be worth waiting for.
