You can see the petition Eli is referring to here Below is the email in which he describes the situation.

Dear petitioners, on behalf of the Antigua Conservation Society, I would like to thank you for your patience over the past few months. We have held off delivering these signatures to the Prime Minister for several reasons. Our goal was and still is to have new fisheries regulations signed by the minister responsible for fisheries. The 2004 Fisheries Act and it’s regulations had been sitting on the Minister’s desk for years awaiting his signature. To get to that point The Fisheries Division orchestrated consultations between stakeholders and fishers from Antigua and Barbuda. Consultants were hired and the laws and regulations were developed using input from all of these people. The Act was passed and all that needed to happen was Hilson Baptiste, Minister responsible for Fisheries, needed to sign the regulations. Year after year they remained unsigned and the marine environment suffered more and more. Everyone complained but the Minister just wouldn’t sign.
A few days after we started this petition to the Prime Minister asking him to get involved, The Minister responsible for Fisheries announced in the local media that he was going to sign these regulations at long last, but wanted a fresh round of consultations to happen first between the Fisheries Division, stakeholders and fishers.
This put us in a unexpected position and we decided that we would wait to see the outcome of these consultations before we took our petition to the Prime Minister.
The consultations were extensive and well managed both here and in Barbuda. Once again all interested parties got together to speak about the Act and it’s regulations and potential changes. One of the outcomes was that fishers actually wanted stronger conservations measures within the regulations. Finally when everything had been drafted up, Chief Fisheries Officer, Cheryl Appleton delivered the new regulations to the Minister. He received them from his Ministry’s top Fisheries officer on September 14th. A few days later a reporter from http://www.caribarena.com asked him when he would sign now that he had what he wanted on his desk once again. Astonishingly, he replied that he hadn’t read them yet but that whatever happened he wouldn’t sign them until there was more consultations just to make sure that his Fisheries people got it right.
It seems that so many of the pessimists have been right all along by saying that the Minister responsible for Fisheries had no intention of signing any new regulations which would be more conservation minded. We are still using regulations from way back in 1990 to manage our waters and so much has changed since then in those waters. It’s a terrible shame that the Minister seems to be doing anything he can to not sign these regulations and help our marine ecosystem.
With that in mind we have printed your comments and your signatures and when the Prime Minister returns to the island we will be delivering them to him. Of course this may not be enough. We have been advised by our legal team that legal action may need to be taken to protect some crucial marine species which are threatened with extinction in our waters. The ever increasing use of gill nets along the outer reefs is killing so many crucial species. Without these species the reefs will completely die out allowing more ocean surge to get to our shores. The effects for this little country could be devastating. If we get to the point where legal action is taken, the Antigua Conservation Society will need a larger membership. Becoming a member is free, but you do need to email us on antiguaconserve@gmail.com with your name and address telling us “I want to be a member of the Antigua Conservation Society.”
Thanks again for signing our petition and for reading this update.
I hope to have better news for you in the near future.
Eli Fuller
http://www.facebook.com/AntiguaConservationSociety

“Climate change is a crock,” responds our neighbor.

Over his shoulder, I see swaths of dying trees languishing on the flanks of Contact Mountain, the result of a pine beetle infestation that is very likely itself a result of stress from warming.  The fire danger is high from the intense heat and drought this summer. The box canyon where we are located in the Boulder River Valley is one of the places firefighters worry most about. There is only one way in and one way out – a single lane dirt road – for the 3,000 plus residents and visitors who are here during the summer months.

Why, I wonder, is it that the more evidence is right in front of us, the angrier and louder the voices of climate denial get? How many of these trees have to die before my neighbor will see a problem? Will the whole forest be enough? (And with the year-by-year increases in afflicted trees and fire danger that does not seem to be out of the question.)

So, I spent the better part of a morning when I could have been hiking responding to an email my neighbor sent.

What does this have to do with fishers? Well, the fishers I know aren’t arguing with the scientists about declines in the fisheries or whether the changes they see are related to climate change or overfishing. They’re working with the scientists to try to figure out how to conserve their livelihoods and their children’s futures. But, nothing they do will ultimately have much impact if we don’t act, because climate change knows no boundaries. When it comes to climate change, what happens in Montana, doesn’t stay in Montana. Red states influence on policy affects more than their own dying trees.

Anyway, for those of you who might be interested in responding to your neighbors when they give you “the facts on global warming”  — here’s my response to my neighbor and a link to an article deconstructing an editorial he attached with his email.  My neighbor hasn’t responded, but I learned a lot about the thinking behind climate change denial and how to respond.

Hi Carl,

Thanks for sending the article. I am glad you are open to a discussion!

That Open Letter to the Wall Street Journal you sent me from the 16 scientists who think it’s premature to take action on climate change was interesting. Here is a link with some background on the scientists who signed that article:

The Journal Hires Dentists To Do Heart Surgery

Did you know the Wall Street Journal turned down a letter signed by 255 scientists from the National Academy of Sciences in support of taking climate change seriously in policy considerations?

The tobacco companies were behind a disinformation campaign in the 1960’s to argue that tobacco didn’t cause lung cancer. The tobacco industry recruited scientists, attacked mainstream science as a conspiracy and contributed to “independent” groups just as the oil companies are doing now to discredit climate change science. The difference is that the atmosphere is our planet’s lungs and the consequences will most likely be dire for all of our children.

In fact, the pine beetle infestation that is devastating the forests here in Montana right now is likely connected to climate change.

http://deq.mt.gov/ClimateChange/NaturalResources/Forestry/forestryClimateChangeEra.mcpx

The thing I think about is this: even if the science confirming human influence on climate is wrong (setting aside the discussion of how likely that is), the benefits from not being dependent on foreign oil and ever-more dangerous oil extraction technologies can only be good for all of us.

When I make a personal decision, I always try to look at the worst case scenario. The worst case from taking action to limit carbon emissions is limiting the profits of oil and gas companies. The worst case on the other side is catastrophic for future generations.

Best,

Corinne

Best,                                                                                                                       Corinne

In this film, as usual, the fishers knew before anyone else. In addition to providing a historical context for climate change in the Arctic, it is both lovely and lyrical.

I can’t resist quoting from it.

“We often believe that our own time is at last modern, and we are the last men who can act with the authority and weight of the generations who came before us, the wisdom of all human history gathered together to inform our decisions. Yet after a century of knowledge we have arrived here and now, once again cursed by resource and conflict and unable to change. In another century, whatever happens to the world we know, those who look back will marvel at us for better or worse, our actions and decisions will be studied for years as they attempt to understand us better, those modern men from the past with a vague intellect and a comfortable heart, yet the finer they were the frailer and the cleverer the more wrong headed.”

“Can anyone recommend me kids or teenagers up to about 18 years old who are great spokespeople for the environment and nature conservation? It can be in any area related to the environment and they can be speakers of any language.
“The reason I ask is that once kids in the Caribbean reach their teens, there’s a dropout rate from environmental education programmes in support of our protected areas and protected species. One way we might try to combat this is by showing them kids their own age, or just older, who are cool, passionate and making a difference in the environmental area that they’re into.”

If you know of anyone who might be interested, post a comment in the comments section and I will connect you. Thanks!

I started fishing for crabs at the age of seven to contribute to the family economy. My sister and two brothers fished together but I always went by myself. When I got married at the age of 18, I started fishing with my husband to support our family. We would fish for shrimp using small trawling nets called changos.

I helped get fishing organizations together from Barra Sarstún to Punta de Manabique to form the Guatemalan Caribbean and Izabal Lake Artisanal Fishers Networks. Now we have a voice.

I have been the leader of the Livingston Artisanal Fishermen organization since 2004. We are promoting a no take season and have initiated a dialog with the authorities. But more is needed to strengthen surveillance and enforcement. The problem is that the fishing authorities don’t have any financial resources.

We are also trying to get funds for alternative projects so that we can reduce pressure on the resources. We are working on aquaculture projects and have opened a restaurant named El Manglar in Cayo Quemado in Rio Dulce.

We started with almost no participation from women in the fishers’ network, but now we are playing a very important role in building awareness about the conservation of resources. Many times, we are more involved than the men.

Of course, the fishing stock has decreased a lot. Twenty years ago there were more fish and bigger fish. Not only is the fisher population growing, but many of the fishers are not aware of the damage they are doing.

These communities have so many needs, but they also have many people who are willing to make a difference. I believe it is time for the fishers to give something back to the sea because sea has provided us with food for so many years. But we need support.

Claudio Gonzales of MARfund(right) with fishers in Honduras.

MARfund is an organization whose mission is to protect the Meso- american Reef, the second largest  in the world, a 700-mile long system off the Caribbean coastline of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. We spoke with Claudio in August.

On MARfund’s work with fishers:  In 2007 and 2008, MAR Fund, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Comunidad y Biodiversidad (COBI) organized workshops involving authorities, NGOs, academia and the fishermen in all 4 countries of the MAR region. Since then the fishers have been very interested in being involved in marine resources co-management.

The Barras de Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge: In Honduras, the fishers have been negotiating with marine protected area authorities in the Barras de Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge and were granted co-management of three fishing grounds. We were hoping that the fishers would propose one no take zone and instead they proposed four. All have now been officially designated as no take zones. This is just one example of our work.

 “Without them, we have less than half a chance.”  It is critical that we capitalize on the interest and willingness that has been demonstrated by the fishing groups. I can’t say conservation will have no success at all if the fishers are not involved. But without them, we have less than half a chance. They are the ones who are there, the ones who depend on these resources.

The importance of film and stories: The fishers are very inspired to see film about how resources can be conserved with their cooperation. It is proof for them that they can make a difference.

How to help MARfund: We have some wonderful private donors, but there is still so much to do. We have set up a project on the Global Giving website where people from all over the world can contribute. Please check it out!

Claudio can be reached at cgonzalez@marfund.org

And, of course, you can support At Sea Level, our film about the fishers, through the Ocean Foundation.

Head Warden CJ Jeffrey patrolling Moliniere-Beausejour Marine Protected Area (E. Doyle)

From Emma Doyle of the Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Management Network and Forum:

[St. George’s] (July 31, 2011) World Ranger Day is commemorated on July 31 by national parks around the world. In the Caribbean, let’s take this chance to honour the dedication and passion of the rangers and wardens who work in our region’s marine protected areas, such as a Head Warden from Grenada. Moliniere-Beausejour Marine Protected Area is considered to be home to some of the finest reefs in Grenada, and Head Warden ‘CJ’ Jeffrey tells us about the work that goes on to protect such a special area.

Most important to the wardens is ensuring that there are no illegal activities, especially spear-fishing, which is very destructive to the reef. “Marine protected areas play a vital role in helping provide refuges where fish can breed. The fish grow and fill the protected area, and because they’re territorial they then move out into the surrounding waters and help replenish nearby fisheries” CJ explains.
Wardens might give a warning on the first offense, but the second can lead to arrest. “Wardens have the power to arrest because they operate under the Grenada Fisheries Act.”
But policing is only one part of what the wardens do. At Moliniere-Beausejour there are excellent sites for boating, swimming, snorkeling and scuba diving, and the protected area is home to the famous, world-first underwater sculpture park. So the wardens are also ambassadors for tourism.
“We want to make sure that visitors have a safe time and an environmentally responsible experience. I remember having fantastic times on this part of the coast when I was a child, with clean beaches and lots of amazing sea life,” CJ comments.
“As more and more pressure is being placed on the environment, I want to help protect these areas and their marine creatures so that I can share the wonders of the sea with my own daughters as they grow up.”
When the wardens are patrolling they’re in communication with tour guides, yachts and dive operators to make sure everyone follows the guidelines and has a great time. “We also answer a lot of questions, things like where can you see a sea horse? ” adds CJ.

Ask him what the best part of his job is, and CJ doesn’t have to stop and think. “The wardens are all PADI-certified divers and it’s our job to know every inch of Moliniere-Beausejour, both above and below the water. We regularly monitor the coral, fish, lobster and other important species like turtles, and we work with marine biologists to evaluate our findings.”
In fact, before working for Grenada Marine Protected Areas, CJ was a professional Dive Master and Dive Instructor who already knew the underwater world of Moliniere-Beausejour like the back of his hand.
Apart from being divers, the wardens get to use some pretty sophisticated equipment in their jobs. They have to be adept at handling and maintaining the patrol boat, they’re proficient marine radio users, and they work with GPS and related computer equipment like geographic information systems. They also install and maintain the marker buoys and mooring buoys in the protected area, on occasion using specialist equipment like underwater jackhammers.
The wardens also do land patrols where they check the marine protected area from vantage points on land. This is where the wardens get to engage with the closest neighbours of Molinere-Beausejour, who are the people of the local communities.
So it’s a very cool job working in a very special place. “The wardens love their day-to-day work out on the water and meeting people” he says, but he also stresses “It’s an important job that we have in protecting the environment, and it’s a high profile job in our communities, who we want to serve well.”
So what can you and I do to help? CJ says “If locals and visitors alike respect Moliniere-Beausejour’s regulations and understand the importance of protected areas for now and for the future, then you help us to protect the beaches, reefs, fish and other marine biodiversity that we all love.”

Moliniere-Beausejour Marine Protected Area is located to the north of St. George’s, from near the north of Grand Mal to the north of Beausejour Bay. White demarcation buoys show the seaward boundary, which runs along the edge of the continental shelf and the seaway for maritime traffic. No anchoring is allowed in the protected area, and fixed red mooring buoys are available for day use, white buoys for mainly the yachts. Please be sure that you leave all marine creatures in place and dispose of all your litter properly.

For more information about Grenada’s Marine Protected Areas, please contact the Fisheries Division on tel +1 473 440 3814 or email mbmpa@hotmail.com. For more information about the Caribbean Marine Protected Areas Management Network and Forum (CaMPAM), see http://campam.gcfi.org/campam.php or email emma.doyle@gcfi.org.

Here’s one thing that these fishers get: without regulation and enforcement, conservation won’t happen, because without it, the good guys don’t matter. They also know that it’s up to them to make their voices heard. They’re talking with their government officials. They’re willing to make sacrifices to protect their future – and in so doing protect our future.

There are many in government in this country who are out to undo environmental regulations, and where they can’t repeal them outright drain the funds needed for enforcement.

Let’s make our voices heard. (Especially if you are a Republican who cares about the environment — your elected officials seem to believe only Democrats care. They need to know that someone’s behind them if they break ranks.)

Go to usa.gov, find your official’s contact information. Email ’em, call ’em then email ’em and call ’em again. Especially when it comes to matters regarding the marine environment. Let’s do our part to keep fish in the sea and a future for all our children.   These fishers are doing theirs.