The highlight of your Antigua vacation

Antigua and Barbuda, renowned for their stunning beaches and vibrant culture, offer visitors a plethora of activities to make their Caribbean vacation unforgettable. Among these, a private charter or day tour with Adventure Antigua stands out as a must-do experience. Founded by local entrepreneur and environmentalist Eli Fuller, Adventure Antigua provides authentic, educational, and exhilarating excursions that many travelers consider the highlight of their trip.

Eli Fuller: The Visionary Behind Adventure Antigua

Eli Fuller, a third-generation Antiguan, grew up immersed in the natural beauty of Antigua's North Sound area. His grandfather, Nick Fuller Sr., arrived in Antigua in 1941 and was so captivated by Bird Island that he decided to make the island his home. Continuing the family legacy, Eli's father, John Fuller, was born in Antigua and returned after studying law in the UK to raise his family. Eli's childhood was filled with boating, snorkeling, and exploring the islands, fostering a deep appreciation for Antigua's ecology and history.

At 16, Eli represented Antigua and Barbuda in windsurfing at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, showcasing his dedication and passion for water sports. After completing his studies in Business Management at Florida Tech and traveling the world as a professional windsurfer, Eli returned to Antigua to share his love for the island's natural wonders. In 1999, he founded Adventure Antigua, designing tours that mirror his family's adventures, aiming to provide guests with an authentic and educational experience of Antigua's marine and coastal ecosystems. 

Adventure Antigua: Authentic and Educational Excursions

Adventure Antigua offers a variety of tours, each meticulously crafted to highlight the island's natural beauty and rich history.

Eli's Original Eco Tour: This excursion takes guests through the North Sound Marine Park, exploring mangroves, reefs, and islands. Activities include snorkeling, caving, and hiking, with opportunities to spot local wildlife such as turtles, frigate birds, and rays. The tour emphasizes ecology and history, providing insights into the island's natural habitats and conservation efforts. 

Xtreme Circumnav: For those seeking adventure, this tour circumnavigates Antigua, stopping at key sites including Stingray City, Green Island, Nelson's Dockyard, Rendezvous or Pinchin Bay. The custom-designed speedboat ensures more time is spent exploring these remote locations, offering a comprehensive view of the island's coastline. 

Adventure Islands: This unique tour combines ecology, history, and adventure, allowing guests to explore Hell's Gate and Laviscount Island. Participants can engage with the island's wildlife, including giant tortoises, and learn about its fascinating history. 

Private Charters: For a personalized experience, Adventure Antigua offers private charters aboard their 37-foot yacht, "Seclusion." These charters are tailored to guests' preferences, providing a luxurious and intimate exploration of Antigua's coastal treasures. Charters using their other larger vessels can also be arranged. 

Guest Testimonials: A Highlight of the Vacation

The exceptional experiences provided by Adventure Antigua are reflected in numerous guest testimonials.

Spangler Dawne shared, "We LOVED the Extreme tour…the crew was fabulous and the tour is just so much fun!! I have mentioned you guys so many times they think I am getting kickbacks!!" 

Gena B. expressed her gratitude, stating, "I just wanted to thank you for the wonderful tour I had with you last week. It was a gorgeous day and I couldn’t have asked for a more wonderful excursion. Our team of guides – JD, Alex, and Tony – were all wonderful and so accommodating. I will recommend your services to anyone I know going to Antigua." 

Carol, who faced physical challenges, recounted her experience: "I have bad knees and have trouble even climbing stairs, so you can imagine my apprehension about getting in and out of the boat. On top of that, I too get seasick. However, the ride was wonderful and their team pay special attention to special needs. Take Eli’s tour and enjoy. Even if you don’t snorkel, it’s the best." 

These testimonials highlight the personalized attention, accommodating nature, and unforgettable experiences that guests encounter with Adventure Antigua.

Why Choose Adventure Antigua?

Several factors make Adventure Antigua a standout choice for visitors seeking an authentic and enjoyable experience:

Local Expertise: Eli Fuller's deep-rooted connection to Antigua ensures that each tour is infused with local knowledge, history, and a genuine passion for the island's natural environment.

Environmental Stewardship: The tours emphasize ecological education, fostering a greater understanding and appreciation of Antigua's unique ecosystems calling for help in preserving these infinitely valuable areas. 

Personalized Experience: With smaller group sizes and attentive crew members, guests receive personalized attention, making each excursion feel like a day out with friends.

Diverse Offerings: Whether you're seeking adventure, relaxation, or education, Adventure Antigua's variety of tours cater to diverse interests and preferences.

A private charter or day tour with Adventure Antigua offers more than just sightseeing; it's an immersive experience that connects you with the heart and soul of Antigua and Barbuda. Eli Fuller's dedication to showcasing the island's natural beauty and his commitment to environmental education ensure that your excursion will be both enlightening and exhilarating. As echoed by numerous guests, a day with Adventure Antigua is not just a tour but a highlight of any Antiguan vacation.

The Best way of learning more is to go to the Adventure Antigua website, their Instagram or Facebook accounts or just calling them on WhatsApp +2687266355

Protecting Beach Access and Historical Sites: A Policy for the Future in the Face of Climate Change!

Protecting Beach Access and Historical Sites: A Policy for the Future in the Face of Climate Change

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) stand on the frontline of the global climate crisis. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and the degradation of natural and cultural heritage are more than distant threats—they are stark realities. For governments in SIDS, crafting policies to protect beach access and access to historical sites for local citizens is not merely an act of preservation but a critical step toward sustainable development and climate resilience. By ensuring access to these natural and historical assets, governments safeguard not only environmental and cultural treasures but also the social and economic well-being of future generations.

The Concept of Sustainable Development in SIDS

Sustainable development seeks to balance economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity to meet present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. For SIDS, whose economies often depend heavily on tourism, fisheries, and agriculture, this balance is particularly delicate.

Beaches and historical sites serve as pillars of this sustainability framework. Beaches provide ecological services such as storm surge protection, carbon sequestration in coastal ecosystems, and biodiversity habitats, while also being central to tourism and local recreation. Historical sites, on the other hand, foster a sense of identity, preserve unique cultural heritage, and attract cultural tourism, which can stimulate local economies. The preservation and equitable accessibility of these resources are vital to ensuring that SIDS can sustainably develop without eroding their natural and cultural foundations.

Climate Change: A Direct Threat to Natural and Historical Assets

The impacts of climate change are disproportionately felt in SIDS. Rising sea levels erode beaches, threatening not only biodiversity but also local livelihoods and tourism revenues. Storm surges and hurricanes, increasing in intensity and frequency, damage infrastructure and historical landmarks. For instance, UNESCO has identified several world heritage sites in SIDS as at-risk due to climate change.

Without proactive policies, these losses could cascade into broader societal challenges. Beach erosion reduces public access and narrows opportunities for recreation and livelihoods. Similarly, the destruction or neglect of historical sites leads to cultural amnesia and diminished national identity. The disappearance of these resources would leave future generations deprived of their intrinsic and economic value.

The Role of Beach and Historical Site Access in Social Development

Access to beaches and historical sites is not just about recreation or tourism; it is about equity and social inclusion. In many SIDS, these resources are deeply embedded in local traditions, serving as spaces for community gatherings, cultural ceremonies, and education. Ensuring that all citizens—not just wealthy elites or tourists—can access these areas strengthens social cohesion and inclusivity.

1. Promoting Mental and Physical Well-Being: Public beach access provides opportunities for physical activity, mental relaxation, and community interaction. In the face of rising stressors from climate change, these spaces act as natural sanctuaries, fostering resilience in local populations.

2. Cultural Continuity: Historical sites tell the stories of a community's past, anchoring its identity in an ever-changing world. For SIDS, where oral traditions and cultural practices are often tied to specific locations, preserving access ensures that these traditions can be passed down to future generations.

3. Education and Awareness: Beaches and historical sites can be integrated into educational programs to raise awareness about climate change, sustainability, and cultural heritage. By connecting people, especially youth, to these resources, governments can nurture a more environmentally conscious and culturally literate citizenry.

Economic Implications of Protected Access

From an economic perspective, protecting access to beaches and historical sites is equally critical. Tourism is often the backbone of SIDS economies, contributing significantly to GDP and employment. However, tourism growth must be managed sustainably to prevent overexploitation and ensure that its benefits are equitably shared.

1. Sustainable Tourism Development: Publicly accessible and well-maintained beaches and historical sites attract tourists while ensuring that local communities also benefit. Governments can implement policies such as user fees for tourists, reinvesting these funds into conservation efforts and infrastructure development.

2. Local Livelihoods: Many small-scale businesses, such as fishermen, artisans, and local tour operators, rely on the accessibility of beaches and historical landmarks. Protecting these spaces secures livelihoods and empowers local economies.

3. Resilience Against Climate Risks: Investing in climate-resilient infrastructure around these sites—such as seawalls, vegetation buffers, and elevated walkways—not only protects them from climate impacts but also enhances their value as assets for both locals and tourists. Such measures demonstrate how climate adaptation and economic development can go hand in hand.

Climate Mitigation Through Conservation

Beach ecosystems, particularly mangroves and seagrasses, act as vital carbon sinks, absorbing and storing large amounts of carbon dioxide. By protecting beaches and coastal ecosystems from privatization and overdevelopment, governments contribute to global climate mitigation efforts. Moreover, maintaining natural coastlines reduces the need for costly artificial defenses against erosion and flooding, which often have higher carbon footprints.

Historical sites also play a role in climate mitigation through adaptive reuse and preservation. Restoring old structures rather than constructing new ones minimizes resource consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, cultural landscapes—such as traditional agricultural terraces in some SIDS—often embody sustainable practices that can be revived to address modern challenges.

Policy Recommendations for Protecting Access

To ensure that future generations in SIDS can continue to enjoy and benefit from beaches and historical sites, governments must adopt a multi-pronged approach:

1. Legal Protections: Enact legislation that designates beaches and historical sites as public goods, ensuring open access while regulating their use to prevent degradation.

2. Climate-Resilient Planning: Incorporate climate risk assessments into the management of these sites, prioritizing investments in natural infrastructure and adaptive conservation strategies.

3. Community Involvement: Engage local communities in decision-making processes to ensure that policies reflect their needs and cultural values. Community-based management can foster a sense of ownership and responsibility.

4. Education and Outreach: Launch programs to educate citizens and tourists about the importance of these assets and their role in sustainability and climate resilience.

5. Sustainable Financing: Develop innovative financing mechanisms, such as green bonds and international partnerships, to fund the protection and maintenance of these sites.

Conclusion: A Legacy for Future Generations

The challenges posed by climate change demand forward-thinking policies that prioritize long-term sustainability over short-term gains. Protecting access to beaches and historical sites in SIDS is not just about preserving scenic or cultural landmarks—it is about safeguarding livelihoods, fostering social cohesion, and building resilience in the face of climate uncertainty.

For future generations, the ability to walk along a pristine beach or stand in awe before a centuries-old monument will serve as a reminder of their heritage and a testament to the wisdom of their ancestors. By acting today to protect these invaluable resources, governments in SIDS can create a legacy of sustainable development and climate resilience, ensuring that these treasures endure for centuries to come.

www.adventureantigua.com

Open up the island? Respected doctors disagree on what to do.

On my personal Facebook page I have been speaking about coronavirus and its potential impact in Antigua and Barbuda for 6 weeks now, and I have had thousands of people viewing these videos sharing, and commenting on them. For the most part I have had positive feedback, but there have been many who have taken offense to the things that I've been discussing. It is such a difficult thing to get to right when it comes to a small third world country like Antigua and Barbuda, and below I share two letters posted today from respected doctors here in Antigua. As you will read, this ethical dilemma isn't so simple even for people who are at the top of the healthcare pinnacle. 

Medical Musings by Dr. George Roberts

Covid and the Caribbean

As predicted, we have not had the dreaded surge of COVID-19 in Antigua. Nor do I think it is likely to come for now. We are now on a 12hr curfew. . What is the desired result?

A considerable amount of time, effort, and money has been expended to acquire materials and equipment in preparation for the surge. Money will now need to be found to replace the loss of income from tourism, our primary money earner. Don’t get me wrong. It was essential to be prepared. The decision makers could not gamble with people’s lives. We now, however, face a Herculean task to keep our economies afloat and our people fed over the next year.

Most of the Caribbean COVID cases have been traced to imports. These cases do not seem to have blossomed into widespread infections and body bags as has been the case in London and other places. Why is this? There are a number of possible reasons.

It is almost certain that the closed borders, contact tracing, social isolation and other public health strategies have helped to control the spread of the virus

Local conditions including time of year, geography, population density, living conditions may well be adversely affecting virus longevity and contagiousness, and maybe even the severity of the resulting infections.

For those who are calling for more testing I ask for whom and for what? There are two types of tests. Antigen tests are relevant in the early stages of the infection and may indicate active infection. Antibody tests check to see if the patient has had infection in the past and hopefully may indicate at least partial immunity.

So do we do antigen testing for everyone even without symptoms? Seems like a waste of scarce resources to me. Most cases will recover without symptoms and testing them will not significantly affect their treatment. So this test should rightly be reserved for those who are symptomatic and who have high exposure (like health professionals).

The antibody test will indicate prior infection and possibly immunity. It will take a lot of resources (which the government professes not to have) to do widespread testing to find out what we know already. Yes, we know already. Here’s how.

Data suggests that COVID severely affects 5% of those infected. We have had a closed community for some time now. In this time Antigua has had less than 10 cases requiring hospitalization. If we calculate this as being 5% of cases, this works out to being a total of 200 persons. Our population is 100,000. Even if we posit that the infection may have a lower percentage of severe cases because of aforementioned factors, there would still be a significant difference in the numbers. And the picture is similar in other Caribbean territories.

So we are predominantly COVID virgins. If someone enters the community with the active virus we can have an infection surge. If we travel to New York or some other place where it is endemic, we may be susceptible to infection if exposed. The whole idea of the isolation measures was to flatten the curve so that medical services would not be overwhelmed. We were too efficient, helped, as I continually assert, by our local conditions, and so the disease incidence seems for now to be far within the capabilities of the local health services. Following from this, a progressive relaxation of the restrictions, while continuously monitoring the disease prevalence, would seem appropriate. This seems basically to be the strategy of the powers that be.

The alternatives would be to continue the lockdown for the next year or so until a cure or vaccine is found, an economically unpalatable option, or to open the borders, putting the majority of the population at infection risk.

I firmly believe that the course of COVID infection in our community will not be as lethal as in the USA and Europe, but we cannot become complacent. More of us will contract the virus, and some may die, no matter what is done. It is important that we all recognize this. That is the nature of the beast.

So I generally agree with and support the measures being taken. A cautious relaxation of curfews, through strict hygiene and physical distancing practices will need to be maintained especially for the elderly and ill. This needs to be combined with ever vigilant monitoring for the menacing second wave. The biggest challenge will be when and how to open the borders. It is difficult to see how to avoid mandatory testing and/or quarantine for all travelers until the vaccine or cure is found.

I think that this is an ideal opportunity to practice real Caribbean cooperation. If we can come to a point of mutual COVID comfort where we all have the pest under control, we could have a mutual COVID ‘immigration’ status where clearance into one country will be acceptable for the others in the region. A type of Caribbean COVID oasis. This would facilitate intraregional travel, tourism and trade, and be the basis for the regional import substitution which many are now realizing is essential for our security.

So stay safe and separate. I look forward to gradual easing of restrictions, especially beach access. I will address that specifically shortly.

Dr Joey John clearly has a different set of spectacles. Here's his response:

First of all I’m not clear about who predicted we would not see a surge and what SCIENTIFIC basis would have been used to predict this. Further it is my belief which is supported by data elsewhere that our avoidance of the surge SO FAR is due to the fact that:

1) we were several weeks behind the curves of NY, UK etc

2) closure of our airports and seaports occurred in a timely manner preventing significant importation of the virus

3) govt’s and individual’s lockdown/ isolation measures effectively served to mitigate against further spread. 

Even with these measures and only testing less than 100 individuals, 25%

of those tested were positive. And still with these very favorable factors outlined, we’ve still had at least 3 Covid deaths and 2 still on ventilators. This to me gives a chilling preview of what would have happened had the above factors not been in play. 

Just last week in Antigua a community nurse tested positive. If indeed our island has been effectively closed all our recent new positives arefrom community spread. The nurse’s contacts were not tracked down and tested. Remember we are doing almost a negligible amount of testing and so vastly understating the

prevalence. 

To simply presume our experience will be significantly different than our North American neighbors is dangerous and flies in the face of the data:

1) Let’s first of all look at Dominican Republic. As of yesterday they have had 5,543 test positive for Covid with 24 deaths and large numbers on ventilators. It is also widely believed that their fatalities are significantly understated. And if you look at their curve they are still on the early upswing. Hardly encouraging that we will escape a dire fate based on geographics, climate etc. 

2) Let’s look at the US. The experience there is not uniform with some areas experiencing near collapse of their health care systems all the way to the other end of the spectrum where some areas are relatively unphased. All the data and reporting seem to indicate that the areas that have done well were those that implemented strict shutdown/ isolation policies early on. More rural areas as expected fared better but don’t for a second confuse our small population with a lack of density. Many of our villages have high density conditions. 

I would strongly caution against opening up the country without using real data to guide a further phased opening. This data can only be derived from widespread testing the cost of which pales in comparison compared to getting it wrong. 

In any case from a global standpoint until a vaccine appears on the scene which is at least a year away it appears that testing (not just one off but on a recurrent basis) is going to be the norm. 

Let’s heed the head of PAHO Dr Etienne’s warnings that the region is set to see its surge in 3-6 weeks a warning sounded about 2 weeks ago. And let’s stay safe and ensure we remain safe by moving forward with cautious steps founded in data, science and precedent. This can only be done by accumulating real data by ramping up testing.

Joseph John MD FACS

For me, just like the doctors quoted above it's all about the economy and health and both are reliant upon each other. I've done endless Facebook live videos on this topic and have had thousands of people viewing them. This blog isn't about reiterating my opinions but rather on sharing to contrasting opinions from health professionals and businessmen here in Antigua. 

More and more invasive species doing damage

Halophila Stipulacea is the newest invasive species making a mess of our marine habitats and Antigua and Barbuda could be a favorite new home for it.
Just over a year ago we started seeing this grass floating all around the island especially in protected bays and harbours. I even saw it far offshore in the Atlantic while freediving. It was quite a surprise to see it suspended in the water column thirty miles offshore.
From http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304377013001289 "Native to the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean, H. stipulacea spread to the Mediterranean Sea in the late 1800s and became established in the eastern Caribbean in 2002. The species has dispersed north and south of its first sighting in Grenada and now spans a latitudinal distance of 6° (>700 km), most likely facilitated by a combination of commercial and recreational boat traffic."
So what?
Well, this grass notoriously spreads very quickly often displacing other native seagrass beds. Our country's seagrass beds are incredibly important providing food and habitat for a huge variety of marine animals. In fact, there are some islands without much seagrass bed type habitats that wouldn't see certain creatures at all if it were not for large seagrass beds from islands like Antigua and Barbuda. Some species of sea turtles would be severely effected if our native seagrass habitats were overrun.
Last year my company, Adventure Antigua took part in an in-water sea turtle study with our Antigua Sea Turtle Project. We surveyed the Carlisle Bay area for several days and never noticed any beds of halophila stipulacea, but yesterday Roddy Grimes-Graeme and I saw large beds in quite a few areas there. The photos attached show one spot where it seemed to be mixed with and displacing turtle grass.
I have no idea how we can deal with this but just shows another reason why we have to be careful to protect marine habitats and their species. Habitats and related species that are already under threat or pressure from human activity are easily damaged by invasives. I'm sure we'll hear more and more about this situation over the next few years. We here in Antigua and Barbuda need to understand that it's not just reefs and mangrove habitats that need protection. Seagrass beds are incredible hot spots for biodiversity (read more) and equally important in the fight against climate change (read more).

Ten hours after blogging this today my son kicked his ball into the water of jolly harbour marina by accident. I grabbed a raft and found the weed shown on the white background right next to the ball. It's everywhere!

Mitigating Climate Change in Antigua and Barbuda

While out on our boat tours I love to tell the story about how the artifacts of an Amerindian settlement disappeared one day back in September 1995. This archaeological settlement along Barbuda's south coast had been there since the earliest inhabitants lived there 1500 years ago, and in one day all evidence of that site washed away in the monster of a storm called Luis. The purpose of the story is to explain to my guests just how strong that hurricane was and to give an idea about how climate is changing. There are various climate change factors which contributed to the damage Antigua and Barbuda received in Hurricane Luis and each year we are finding out more about this thing we call Climate Change. Stronger than normal hurricanes are not the only thing we need to worry about with this new reality. 

According to scientists, the measurable signs of climate change are varied. Sea level rises which account for 6.7 inches over the past 100 years and the rate over the past ten years being nearly double that of a hundred years before are probably the biggest concern for small island states. Global temperatures rising is another symptom of climate change, and since 1880 the ten hottest years as measured by NASA occurred over the past 12 years. Coupled with the air temperature is also a global sea temperature rise. Another symptom is shrinking of the Greenland and Antarctic Ice sheets. NASA satellite imagery show a significant decline in ice coverage for these areas since 2002. The same is happening in the Arctic as well according to NASA's satellite imagery. The world's glaciers are also retreating at alarming rates. Ocean acidification is another measurable factor of climate change which is increasing and having a huge impact on all creatures using calcium carbonate like for example, the world's corals. This summer there were several studies showing oceanic current changes and highly ususual changes in Atlantic water temperatures. The US Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that the oceans have a interconnected collection of water currents which they describe as the Global Conveyor belt. They say that there is scientific evidence that with higher rainfall amounts in the North Atlantic and the melting of the sea ice and glaciers, there will be a much higher influx of fresh water into the sea which ultimately would lead to less cold salty (denser) water sinking. Normally this cold dense salty water sinks and flows south forming the main starting point of the Conveyer Belt's "streams". Scientists are extremely worried that this could have drastic and very immediate implications for the world's weather which is intricately linked to oceanic circulation. All in all the evidence is now becoming irrefutable and whatever you may think is the cause, the effect has major implications for us here in little Antigua and Barbuda. I have seen the changes happening and the most noticeable has been to do with the corals and those species, systems and industries that rely on healthy coral reefs. 

My team takes guests by boat on sightseeing and snorkeling excursions around our island's coastline. We have been doing it as a business each week since 1999 and for fun for much longer than that. My brothers and cousins grew up often spending more time on boats and on the sea than we did on land and the changes we have seen have been dramatic. The reefs which were vast fertile forests of corals are now ruins which look like messy piles of stones and rocks with scattered bits of soft corals and the rare piece of hard coral. It's difficult to explain to people what it looked like before the big die offs in the 90s, and it's probably better that they didn't know what it was like. It was a real magical wonderland and now there are only a few places on the planet that look like what it did all those years ago. Intricately linked with Climate Change and the health of coral reefs is fishing and in our case unmanaged fishing. Herbivore species of fish like parrot fish (chub), surgeon fish (doctor fish) and others help keep reefs healthy by feeding on algae which grows on dead corals while producing huge amount of sand in the process. Corals need sunlight to survive and when algae covers reefs they quickly perish. Climate change factors like stronger hurricanes, coral bleaching, ocean acidification as well as other stressors for corals are mitigated when there is a healthy population of herbivore fish preventing algae from taking over the live corals left on the reefs. Unfortunately, some of the species most often targeted by inshore fishers are these same reef cleaning species. There are some islands nearby that have Marine Protected Areas teaming with fish and have coral reefs which appear more healthy than our own. The main difference is that these particular areas are carefully managed with enforced fishing regulations. Sadly for a number of reasons our MPA sites are not yet carefully managed. Our government's Fisheries Department has fought hard to protect these species in recent times with new regulations and even closed seasons for parrotfish, but with only a tiny budget to do the actual work on the water, they have had a difficult task. When we guide guests through our reefs we often get comments about the scarcity of fish seen and as hard as it is to hear their comments we know that it's true. A few years back I took some of my team to the Tobago Cays which is a MPA in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. As we pulled up to an anchorage we were met by wardens who gave us a warm welcome and provided us with info about the park. We were asked to pay a small fee and were encouraged to enjoy snorkeling. My team were blown away with how beautiful the reef was and especially with the large numbers of fish, lobster, turtles and conch we saw. Corals seemed healthy compared to anything we had back home and it was a joy to be there. That lesson of what a well managed Marine Protected Area could look like stuck with my team and the example is seen over and over around the world where special areas are well looked after. Climate Change is a reality we can't avoid but looking after our reefs significantly lowers the impact of climate change on them and by extension on us all.

www.adventureantigua.com 

Fish Aggregating Devices in Antigua and Barbuda - a can of worms.

Since 2006/7 I have been fishing on and writing about Fish Aggregating Devices or FADs here in Antigua. What is a FAD? If "fish aggregating device" doesn't explain it well enough, then just imagine a FAD as an artificial reef anchored out or in some instances floating in deep water where a massive food chain is attracted artificially for the purpose of exploitation. I suppose "exploitation" isn't a nice word for some and they would rather hear something else like FADs attract fish so that fishers can catch more fish. That too!

Anyway, at the end of the day a FAD aggregates fish which means it brings together fish that would have normally been spread out across a larger section of open ocean. FAD fishing in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) has been primarlily done by fishers from the islands of Guadeloupe, La Désirade and from Saint-Barthélemy (St. Barts). In the French islands they call them DCPs. Do a youtube search for "Pêche sur DCP" and have a look at some of the vids. Some of them could very well be in our warters!

We don't know how many of their FADs are in our waters or how many fishers from these islands fish in our exclusive economic zone (EEZ) each week. Suffice to say that the very small number of our local fishers who fish offshore see many foreign FADs and their fishermen each week. Click here for an old blog post about illegal FAD fishing. In many cases the foreign fishers attempt to chase our local fishers away from these FADs. I wrote about that here back in 2011 when it happened to me. I know many local fishers who have been threatened. Some have had their equipment destroyed by these foreign fishers. I remember a boat called MiniBite reported that during an Antigua Sport Fishing Event a Guadeloupe boat deliberately ran over their lines cutting all. This past weekend a friend called Stevie was threatened by foreign fishers when he approached one of their FADs just 20 miles from shore. Fishing on FADs when you know what you are doing, gives you a better chance of catching certain fish like several species of tuna, marlin, mahi mahi, rainbow runner and even wahoo. Conservative estimates suggest that there are hundreds of thousands of pounds of these species being caught by foreign fishers within our EEZ each year. It very well may be over a million pounds a year depending on which local commercial fisher you speak with. I am convinced it's over a million pounds of fish a year. In those islands where fish sells for more than it does here, the dollar amount is probably close to twenty million EC dollars a year. And that number is probably growing while the amount of the same species being caught in the traditional fishing grounds by long time local fishers diminishes every year. After speaking with some of the French fishers about their FADs in our waters they argue that they are permitted to fish where they are because the waters are not Antigua and Barbuda "Territorial Waters". They are correct that most of their FADs are not within our Territorial Waters but they are wrong thinking that they are legal to fish there because they seem not to understand what the Exclusive Economic Zone is. For a good definition of all these things click on this link (especially if you are a fisherman from one of our neighboring islands). 
Most commercial fishers blame FADs for the decline in stocks on the "edge" (continental drop off) and offshore banks (sea mounts) saying that historical migratory routes are being changed by all the offshore FADs which are being set as close as 5 miles off our shelf and as far as 70 miles off shore. Of course, FADs may be being set further but our local fishers are not venturing that far off yet. Recently I visited a FAD anchored in 15,000 feet of water. The amount of rope needed for that would probably be three times that!

"If You Can Beat Them, Then You Join Them!" This has been the attitude of more and more local fishers who have given up on our government's ability to understand or to deal with the problem of foreign FADs within Antigua and Barbuda Exclusive Economic Zone. Some local fishers spend huge amounts of money and time searching for, finding and then fishing on these foreign FADs whenever the owners are not around and some have invested tens of thousands of dollars into building and setting their own FADS. Recently over the past few years the Government of Antigua and Barbuda has received resources from Japan to set FADs of their own. Instead of fixing existing FAD problems within our EEZ, this move by Japan and our government could be creating more problems associated with FADs. As is usually the case with underfunded government departments that are run without effective and well informed leadership (think Ministerial level here), policy and management decisions have made a mess of an already disorganized situation. Why do I say this? Let me explain. A few years ago thanks to the sustained efforts by some of us, new fisheries regulations were passed taking stagnating Fisheries management out of the 1980s. All fishers had to register properly for the first time with the government Fisheries office and get licenses. The commercially licensed fishers all had to provide various contact details and other info including the type of fishing that they were engaged in. I only fished pelagic species of fish and mentioned that I fished FADs. Anyway, many others did the same. Recently when our government got the FAD making bits and pieces from Japan, a small number of fishers were contacted to ask them for help in constructing and setting these FADs. I only know about this because I am friends with several of them. I don't know how many government FADs were set or what was the extent of the Japanese FAD funding received here in Antigua and Barbuda because there seems to be tight secrecy about this funding and the FADs. Only certain fishers were invited to help make the FADS and only certain fishers were given the positions of these Government FADs. When I asked my friends why this was they tell me that it was felt that only people who helped make and set them should be permitted to fish them. When I pointed out that it was strange that only certain Antigua and Barbuda commercially registered fishers (many who are non nationals) were told about the opportunity to help build and set these FADs, I was told that they felt that the people invited were viewed as FAD fishermen by Fisheries.
There have been several meetings at the Government Fisheries base where catering was prepared and discussion on FAD policy took place. Again, only certain Fishers were contacted about these meetings despite Fisheries having contact info for all of the commercially registered fishers who registered as fishing for the species found on FADs.
Since these FADs were set off shore, they have been spotted and fished by other commercial fishers. In fact, one very calm day I found three of them while out looking for mahi mahi south of Antigua. I have been told that certain fishers who helped construct these Japenese sponsored, Antigua and Barbuda owned FADs are furious that other locally licensed fishers are now fishing on them. It appears that the FAD conflict is now not just between foreign fishers and our local fishers but now between local fishers too. This is madness and is caused by poor decision making, policy and planning at the Government level. At the end of the day our nation should be attempting to alleviate the pressure put on our inshore fishery and environments by encouraging fishers to fish off shore for pelagic species which can be fished more sustainably. Fishers displaced by no fishing zones within Marine Protected Areas such as NEMMA and the Cades Reef and Cades Bay Marine Reserve as well as the growing number of inshore fishers who simply can't catch enough to feed themselves, should be educated about pelagic fishing and be encouraged to fish FADs if we are indeed going to be setting them.
But there are many other problems arising. One of the worst problems about FAD fishing is that it is felt that with the huge number of FADs being set in the Atlantic 20 to 70 miles from our shore, the fish are simply not coming to the traditional fishing grounds. I mentioned this but to be specific the area known as South Bank was once teaming with four or five different species of tuna and mahi mahi (dolphin fish). These days you are lucky to see any. The same species are being caught less than ten miles away on FADs. Similar stories from long time fishermen are told all around the island. Recently FADs set by the government close to an area called "The Bubbies" are catching large wahoo. This is unusual for FADs and the many charter fishers that have traditionally fished the area have noticed a dramatic decline in their wahoo catch recently. The small blackfin tuna that congregated around that area have vanished. Blackfin are the main prey of the big pelagic species typically caught on FADs like Blue Marlin, Yellowfin tuna and Albacore. They congregate around FADs in large schools. Sometimes you arrive at a FAD only because you see a massive flock of birds feeding around Blackfin tuna which are tearing up the water while feasting on smaller prey. This was a sight seen at many spots around our twin island's continental shelf until recently. Pelagic species now have an artificial "shelf" made up of a ring of secretly placed FADs right around our islands. The foreign French fishers are making the most of it while we do nothing about it. Instead of using foreign Japanese fisheries grants (given to us in exchange for our whaling/fisheries vote on the international stage) to do something about the monstrous problem of foreign FADs in our waters, our government is building FADs of thier own and setting them between our shelf and the foreign FADs much further offshore. Even if you don't fish, I am sure you can imagine which FADs will be more effective at aggregating mahi mahi, tuna and other species that are migrating through the region. The ones way offshore or the ones closer?
Notice I haven't mentioned any sustainability issues. Greenpeace and other international marine conservation organizations are categorically against FADs mainly because of by-catch issues associated with large scale commercial fishing on FADs. So far we only know of small scale fishing by independent operators, but with total lack of concern, enforcement or management of fishing offshore there is a possibility of large commercial operations fishing FADS within our 200 mile EEZ. These large commercial FAD fishers use nets around FADs to scoop up everything that aggregates there while searching for one or two particular species. The rest is discarded dead as by-catch. Imagine what this would do to our fishery.

Blue species are targeted while the white species are discarded as by-catch.

This Video shows a bit more about Western Pacific Fads and one organization's controversial goal of banning FADs globally. Without thinking much about it I can agree with a ban on net fishing around FADs as clearly it's a bad idea. 

The implications of turning our backs on a problem that exists are very serious for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. We need to be able to feed ourselves in the future. Food security is essential and while history repeats itself over and over the lessons are often ignored. This problem of illegal FAd fishing has decimated fish stocks of many underfunded and under organized third world nations. I have always felt that Japanese aid is horrifically immoral and this latest funding for FADs continues on their policy of throwing money at us without caring about our long term sustainability. They should be using their free cash gifts to fund studies which would help us understand our fisheries strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats. It is abundantly clear that they don't care and the sad part is that despite this being clear, we take the money that ultimately hurts us.

Since writing the section above, i have spoken with the Fisheries officer who's in charge of FAD construction and deployment here in Antigua and Barbuda.
I think he was unaware of some of the concerns that many commercial fishers have with FAD fishing. He says that the Japanese funding for FADs is a regional thing and that the reason he only decided to use a small number of fishers with the initial FAD program was that he felt it would be better to get the program started with a smaller group than with a larger one. I pointed out that the process of deciding who to invite clearly was unusual. Some of the fishers were not even nationalized! He agreed with my sentiment that a more inclusive approach was needed and that policy needed to be directed by a larger group than the small group of commercial fishers currently involved in the FAD program. In certain areas FAD fishing is heavily regulated to ensure food security and sustainable fishing. Take for example Hawaii where I am informed that the only FADs that are permitted are government set FADs. There are a finite number of FADs set and these FADs are carefully monitored. Any other FADs set are deemed illegal. A growing number of places don't permit FAD fishing at certain times of the year and some don't permit FAD fishing at all. These nations recognize the danger of FADs if fished without proper management. We here don't have the capability or interest in controlling FAD fishing which has been going on here mostly illegally for a decade already.
The government of Antigua and Barbuda spends very little of its budget on their Fisheries division, and seems to let the small department get steered or influenced by Japanese policy in many respects. The status quo seems to be centered more on catching more, rather than on the often touted concept of "sustainable use". Japan spends millions of dollars on Antigua and Barbuda fisheries so that they get their whaling/fisheries vote sorted out but none of that seems to be spent on figuring out how to fish sustainably. Antigua and Barbuda's fishers on the whole, are poor people who could be doing much better if the resources they targeted were managed more sensibly or in a sustainable manner. Policy and planning are crucial and I think Japan will ultimately benefit from their manipulation of our Government's Fisheries body. Very little proper study is done to see what species can and should be targeted and very little is spent on educating local fishers on sustainable practices. This FAD situation needs to be looked at, not just by Japanese influenced Government technicians or a small self serving group of fishers but by people and groups looking out for the country of Antigua and Barbuda and it's future.

Lionfish hunt 16 November 2014

Hi there. Next Sunday the 16th November, Mamora Bay Divers and Adventure Antigua will be hosting another Lionfish Hunt. As usual teams of up to 6 people will compete to catch the most lionfish. Scuba or snorkel equipment is permitted and pole spears or Hawaiian slings can be used to catch the fish. If you would like to use a spear gun you must have a license from Fisheries but the same license is not required for the slings and pole spears in this particular event. The winning boat with the most fish will win $3000. There will be cash prizes for 2nd and 3rd also. This week we will be looking for more prizes for other categories too. Your teams can fish from boats or from shore. For more info and also to register your team please call Linda at Mamora Bay Divers on +1 268-764-4905.
Aquasports in st John's still has slings available. Fish caught in the event will be served once again outside Skulduggery on the Antigua Yacht Club Marina dock. It's going to be another super fun day on the water and a nice family lime after. Take part and know you're doing good for our reefs. Please share this on Facebook or with your contacts on whatsapp. If you'd like to help in some way please contact Linda. Thanks much. Eli

Are beaches really important to A&B?

Tourism and specifically coastal beach tourism is responsible for over 60% of Antigua and Barbuda's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and it often seems that as a nation we are careless or complacent with what the industry relies upon. Wonderful beaches are what has built this economy and are what we as citizens boast about whenever we travel. That being said, our beaches have seen shocking degradation over the past few decades, and it appears to me that they are deteriorating at much more rapid rate than they are being replenished. In fact, that's fairly obvious to anyone who's being paying attention.
As is the case with so many crucially important things in life, "attention" is the thing lacking and unfortunately while beaches are getting smaller and smaller Antigua and Barbuda as a nation isn't taking notice.
I suppose before we can deal with the problem or even before we can identify a problem, we need to understand what a beach is, how it came to be and most importantly, how it is sustained in it's natural environment.
When we speak about beaches, we are speaking about bays, coves or shorelines that have a sandy buffer between the sea and the land. Sand is made up of different materials depending on where in the world you find it. In many areas in North America the sand is made up of silica or silicon dioxide which essentially comes from eroded quartz rock. Here in Antigua and Barbuda and most of the Caribbean the sand has a different makeup. Primarily sand here is made up of eroded or crushed up corals and shells which really are made from calcium carbonate. This is why islands like Barbuda that have more reefs usually have more beaches and islands like Redonda that have no off shore or barrier reefs have no sandy beaches. So if you think about it, there is an essential and direct correlation between a healthy reef system and a healthy beach system. Of course we are speaking about how these things naturally occur. For example, one could build some stone groynes to make a cove over on Redonda and barge in mined sand from Barbuda to fill it with. Presto! You have a nice sandy beach on an island that never had one. That is done around the Caribbean and quite a bit on Long Island (Jumby Bay).
I guess we could spend plenty of time speaking about what healthy reefs look like and to be honest, most people don't remember or have never seen a healthy reef. Reefs in the Caribbean haven't been "healthy" since the late 1980s. Since then scientists have reported unprecedented degradation and die offs. For the purpose of this little article I will quickly and basically explain about how healthy reefs produce sand. A reef is made up of millions and millions of organisms and the main coral structures are made from calcium carbonate. These structures, when alive, are often challenged by different types of algae (a type of moss) that attempt to grow on them. If algae is permitted to grow over the coral stuctures then the life sustaining sunlight is blocked from the coral polyps. Polyps are living organisms which often produce the limestone structures we call corals. They need light to survive and when algae manages to grow over them, they perish. For millions of years polyps have had the upper hand thanks to a symbiotic relationship with herbivore grazers like parrotfish (chub fish), surgeon fish and other marine species including urchins. Those critically important parrotfish feed on the algae keeping the reef alive, but the magic is what happens as a result. When parrotfish chew algae from a section of coral they usually bite of bits of dead coral. Most of the time they ingest it and pass it through their systems as they digest the algae. What comes out is magical "white gold" or sand. Some of the most important poo in the world in fact! That poo as I mentioned contains the sand which is  essentially responsible for about 60% of our GDP. I know that is kinda far fetched for most people who are probably laughing and shaking their heads right now, but do some reading on what parrotfish do. According to scientists, one adult parrotfish can produce 90 kilos of sand a year while keeping the reefs clean from algae. A healthy reef is covered in parrotfish and other algae eating animals which for millions of years not only sustained the reefs but produced millions of tonnes of sand. Take them away from the reef and anyone can deduce what happens next. However, you would have needed to be paying attention to have noticed all these crucially important relationships. We here in Antigua and Barbuda were not paying attention. In fact, the biggest seafood export out of Antigua and Barbuda over the past five years has been parrotfish. It has probably been our biggest export. Thousands of pounds a week of netted parrotfish were brought ashore to be sold both here and shipped abroad to our French neighbors. Pause and think about that for a moment. We rely on healthy beaches which rely on healthy reefs which rely on healthy populations of parrotfish and other herbivore species, but we are wiping the reefs clean of the parrotfish.
I remember being on a radio show with Chief Environmental Officer, Dianne Black Lane a few years ago and she remarking that the most important wild life form we have in our country is the parrotfish and one that needed to be protected more than any other. Sadly, the Environment Division she heads has no more legislative powers than the parrotfish themselves.
Coupled with out of control reef fishing, the reefs have also had to face several incredibly strong hurricanes in the 1990s. Scientists showed that reefs hit by hurricanes within carefully managed marine parks were able to "bounce back" to a point where healthy coral regrowth occurred. Of course, reefs that had poor management and where heavy fishing still took place struggled to stay alive, and in example after example the corals died out completely.
This brings me to another key factor that helps keep beaches healthy. Of course, we've already spoken about how the sand is created and how that process keeps reefs healthy, but by extension, healthy reefs often form an essential barrier or buffer from the Atlantic Ocean's waves and surges. We have seen areas of reef that boats couldn't navigate through because of depth issues become so degraded that they are now safely navigable. Kettle Bottom Shoal on Antigua's north coast is a great example of that. With the reef now deeper than it was back in the 80s we are seeing more surge and more wave action getting to beaches like Dutchmans Bay and Jabbawock. Climate Change effects like rising sea levels are not helping either! With more wave action there is often more erosion on beaches. Unfortunately these beaches are not being sustained with new fresh sand like they have been historically because of the depletion of parrotfish and other herbivore fish.
That isn't the end of the story because as if beaches didn't have enough to worry about, they have their biggest assault on the land side. Beach sand has been used when making concrete for generations and with more and more homes being built from concrete and fewer from wood, it appears to me that there is more and more removal of sand from beaches. There are few beaches in Antigua that are safe from sand mining and those that have easy access from the road are more susceptible to the problem. There is a common misconception that it is perfectly legal to remove a bucket or two from the beach. I am not sure how this terribly damaging concept came about, but many popular beaches have buckets of sand removed daily from them. I started a mobile kitesurfing school on Jabbawock beach in 2001 and we have seen this first hand since then. Thousands and thousands of bucket loads are taken from this beach and the same happens around the island. Often times there is more taken than a bucket or two at a time removed. If you take a slow walk along Jabbawock Beach you will see the trenches and holes where sand is scraped up into containers almost daily. It is beyond me how people think this wont have a negative affect on the beach.... our most important asset.
Yesterday I received calls about a misguided citizen who decided that he would do what he described as a community service down at Jabbawock beach. The beach has been receiving plenty of Atlantic sargasso seaweed recently and as an excavator owner he took it upon himself to ignore the massive sign about nesting sea turtles, about not driving on the beach or removing sand. He had two of his massive excavators go on to the beach and clear the live shoreline vegetation up to twenty meters from the high water mark up and down a 300 meter secton of beach. The scaevola, green button mangrove, sea grape, grasses and other vegetation not only provide crucial nesting cover for critically endangered sea turtles and other coastal marine species including migratory birds, but they also help prevent erosion by holding sand together in their root systems and foliage. In many countries it is illegal to touch coastal vegetation with stiff fines for even walking on sand dune vegetation. Yesterday all of this was destroyed and leveled on the South end of Jabbawock. The excavators operated under the cover of darkness and clumsily cleared small trees and habitat up and down the beach. They stopped in the morning. Several concerned citizens including myself contacted the various authorities in an attempt to make sure the excavators were moved from the beach and that work would be stopped. I was interviewed by Observer Radio about the situation before lunch explaining what was going down and further explaining that the 1980s environmental legislation isn't strong enough to deal with situations like this. The Environmental Management Bill, drafted by government technicians after help from international consultants and consultations with stakeholders, has been finished and has been sitting on various ministers desks for years and years. The government's inaction to get this bill signed into law is indirectly causing huge environmental damage daily on this little twin island state. One can only ponder why they have not gotten in passed into law. Anyway, despite this interview and all the calls to the relevant authorities, the man doing the excavation work called into a local radio talk show to explain himself. According to him he was "cleaning the seaweed" from the shore where he and many other swim. At 2 pm he continued to say he was returning to the beach to do more work. By the time we got back to the beach, he was at it again tearing up wonderfully healthy beach vegetation and leveling the beach by removing the dunes.
How could all of the various government agencies including the police know of the situation and not do anything to stop further destruction. It really showed just how flawed our system is and how little we actually care for the health of our beaches. We here in Antigua and Barbuda seem to have our heads in the sand figuratively while literally the sand vanishes daily. Apart from paying more attention to our most important natural resource, we need the Environmental Managment Bill signed into law immediately before it's just too late.

Eli Fuller
President of Antigua Conservation Society
Managing director of Adenture Antigua

Fresh cow's milk in Antigua!

For the first time in decades the Hall family at Smith's Estate are producing milk on their farm. Adrian Hall, grandson of the late, Sir Robert Hall Sr has come back from the UK with his family with a renewed passion for farming. With a incredible wealth of knowledge and skills he's slowly breathing new life back into the farm. It's very exciting to hear some of the things he and his family are planning to accomplish on this farm.
These days getting fresh non gmo food is so difficult, and there seems to be more more interest in farmers market produce. We can now add fresh milk to the list. What's even better is that this milk is from 100% grass fed cows and it doesn't get better than that for you.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=130

If you're worried about all the stuff that the big companies put in milk these days then you should try a bottle of pure cow's milk from Adrian. He just milked today and has bottles ready to go.
I've had some and it was good!
Text him on 7203595 for more info.

AT LONG FORGOTTEN SHORES Written by: Nian Blanchard

From one of Adventure Antigua's team who now lives abroad.

AT LONG FORGOTTEN SHORES
Written by: Nian Blanchard

There is a place I long to be; at long forgotten shores

Where seagulls cry from up on high above a vista raw

Moody sea and gentle land in union forever more

before man came and marked his lanes upon their sacred floor

I come at night with moonlight bright to sit and ponder lore

A single soul in search of whole at long forgotten shores

They speak to me in wordless yarn of tales long ignored

Caressing winds humming sweet as waves lap in score

An ochestra of sites and sounds advance and wane before

A single soul in search of whole at long forgotten shores

Lunar streaks illuminate an ocean canvas sprawled

And shine upon the sandy tracks where turtles once explored

To leave behind for future time a generation more

Each a single soul in search of whole at long forgotten shores

With the utmost respect, the Sir Viv commercial doesn't do it for me.

Here is the new Tourism commercial that has just been released to promote the island's sports tourism sector in an industry which is getting more competitive all the time according to this article in Caribbean Journal.
I kinda get what they were trying to do but I'm a 41 year old Antiguan who's never seen Sir Viv play cricket. I know about him and to me his incredible feats are accomplishments I learned about from essentially historical accounts. He's one of our greatest sportsmen for sure, but many here and across the Caribbean don't really relate and for sure hardly any potential visitors from the US have ever heard of him. The golf angle is totally weird and I feel that it's seriously time we market tourism and especially the segment many here are overly obsessed with, Sport Tourism, using younger more dynamic characters. If we are going to use a "star" to market our tourism or sport tourism, then I think we need a rethink. Antigua's America's Cup winner, Shannon Falcone or Antigua's international Kitesurfing sensation, Andre Phillip would be a thousand times more appealing showing off Antigua in my opinion. I mean, think about sailing and how many come to Antigua because of it? Imagine how much trickle down happens in this economy because of sailing. Compare that to golf or even cricket. We really need to examine these sectors carefully and do some very good market research in the future if we want to be competitive. I mean if we had direct flights from India then I would say lets push this all the way, but for now our markets are not all cricket hotspots. Our successful competitors who were cutting cane a few year ago have done the research.
It's time to think outside the box!

John Gonçalves or "Bushy" to those who knew him.

Yesterday we attended a service for John Gonçalves who we all knew as Bushy here in Antigua. My father gave the eulogy in the Holy Family Catholic Church and spoke about a Facebook piece I wrote for Bushy. Many people after the service asked where they could see it. Some of them are not on Facebook so I decided to repost it here on my old blog site. Please share it with friends who couldn't make it to Antigua.
There's always so much more that we can say about great men who've passed on but here's what I wrote last week on Facebook:

They say a person's formative years are generally those between puberty and adulthood and I think there couldn't be a better way to describe that time in my own life. Who we are really has so much to do with what goes on during that time. Who we spend time with, the experiences we have, the places we live in and around all help "form" the man or woman we become. I was lucky enough to have spent time with Bushy during my formative years and there's no doubt I'm a better person for it. My dad got a used sport fishing boat when I was about 13 and almost every Sunday he went fishing. His first mate was John Gonsalves who we all knew & know as Bushy. Instead of learning how to be a good grown up in church on Sunday, I got my lessons out at sea with a different group of guys. I don't think I've met many people with as much integrity, honesty and empathy as Bushy had. He was as loyal a friend as anyone could find too and very generous with whatever he had. The thing that most will remember him for was his sense of humour. Today on Facebook so many people described him as a character, and for sure he was that too. When I first went fishing with them I'd get sea sick and despite that I eagerly looked forward to each session. We ended up calling our fishing sessions "church". The ritual was something I'll always remember. Leaving at dark with Bushy still a bit tipsy from the night before and smelling of extra strong cologne, getting outside the reef into the usually rough Atlantic, the horrible smells of engine fumes, cigarettes and ballyhoo, interrupted by bushy cooking his special and delicious corned beef in fresh bread for breakfast, bushy hauling in big tuna, Wahoo, dolphin fish and kings, then my his amazing bacalao for lunch. Throughout the day he'd play tricks on anyone who was on the boat. He was one of the funniest guys I've ever met. But more than just a wild funny prank playing character, Bushy was a solid human being. He was careful to make sure he gave me good advice about life and how to live it respectfully. He was so kind to all of my family and especially to my grandmothers. My mom's mom loved Bushy and he would always give her gifts like mangoes and delicious avocados whenever she was in Antigua. During the week he ran the Bolands service station which has a small shop and post office. In fact, he was a postmaster. He also made rum there which hopefully will continue to be made. He was criticized by some people for his weekend drinking and I remember him telling me so many times that he didn't care about what people said because he lived his life to the fullest without bothering anyone. He would love to say that there's only one thing a person has to after they are born and that's die. He preached out there at our "church" that because death was the only sure bet in this short life you better enjoy the time you're given. "As long as you're not hurting anyone, you better enjoy it". It is a lesson that so many fail to learn to their detriment. He was a special person and so many people were touched by him in various ways. When my son was born two years ago Bushy eagerly asked for updates, encouraging me to bring him down for an introduction. When my son was old enough Bushy would send various fresh fruit for him. A year ago we all went out boating for my son's first birthday. It was a beautiful sunday out and the last time we were boating together. Bushy loved Skye and sent the best mangos for him whenever he could get them. One of my son's first sentences was "Bushy mango good!"Today Antigua lost a legend and an unsung hero. He will be missed by many. The world needs more people like Bushy but I don't think we'll find another.

Why I'm being slandered by two tourism powerhouses.

I am writing this blog post to give my side of a story which I had hoped wouldn't have gotten this far. There are some people who are actively trying to damage my reputation and I have to set the record straight. It's going to be a long one so please don't bother unless you have heard something about my recent trip to Cartagena. 

Several weeks ago I purchased a ticket to attend the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association annual convention in Cartagena, Colombia. The entrance fees, airline tickets and apartment cost me over US$3500, but I felt that this trip was important enough to justify the high expenses. Since 1999 I have been operating my company Adventure Antigua which is an excursion company taking guests by boat around our country. We have four boats taking visitors and local guests on a variety of different and exciting excursions to areas off the beaten track. I employ 19 men and women and also hire subcontractors to do things like catering, transportation and maintenance. I pay my taxes on time too! Since 1999 I have promoted my company and my country on the Internet and have built Adventure Antigua around our reputation on the internet and here on the island. Through my website, I started taking cruise ship passengers independently on my tours in the year 2000 and each year the number of cruise passengers that we take out has grown steadily.

Excursion operators like myself that take guests from ships independently through the use of our own websites or through independent travel agents, are not held in very high esteem by cruise ship executives or their local agents. The main reason for this is that the ships and their local agents profit extremely well from having exclusive contracts with excursion operators where cruise passengers are booked on board the ships to go on their contracted excursions. Usually these are referred to as "ship excursions". 

It has often bothered me that I am not part of the cruise association here locally while taking many cruise ship passengers on my excursions. Having no say in an industry that I somewhat rely upon seems like bad business to me. Many excursion companies have started long after my company and have contracts with ships and attend the annual Florida Caribbean Cruise Association conventions. This year I made the decision to attend one of these FCCA meetings to get a better understanding of how the entire system works and also to decide for myself if it was good for my company to be contracted directly by ship lines. As it happened I was also persuaded earlier in the year to join forces with the Barbuda Council in an effort to attract ships to the shores of our financially troubled sister island. I am spokesperson for a company called Denco which is contracted to represent the Barbuda Council on all cruise ship dealings. I'll talk more specifically about that on another blog post.

Anyway, when you pay your US$900 to attend this convention you are given a clear itinerary of the different talks and seminars that will be given, and also a list of special "one on one meetings" with pertinent cruise executives. 

Six weeks before my departure I wrote a letter to Patrick Ryan of Brysons shipping, the main cruise ship agent here in Antigua asking for a meeting to discuss our Barbuda plans. I never got a reply.
I didn't write to Nathan Dundas, the chairman of the Antigua Cruise Tourism Association, and one of Brysons top executives because I knew he wouldn't reply to me. You see, in 2003 I was chairman of the Antigua Barbuda Excursion Alliance, and I caused great embarrassment to Mr Dundas by exposing what appeared to be a fraud he was orchestrating. It was a very sticky situation where all the boat excursion operators were notified via an announcement in The Daily Observer of a meeting at the ministry of tourism the following day where there would be a discussion on licensing of captains. The next day about thirty excursion operators met at the ministry and were briefed by the then Junior Minister of Tourism, Hilson Baptist. He told us that Mr Dundas, who was standing next to him, was the main agent for the cruise lines that visited Antigua and that he had been contacted by these lines on a very serious matter. According to the Minister, the cruise lines had told Dundas that if the excursion operators didn't have licenses for their captains by the end of the year that they would stop coming to Antigua. He told us that Mr Dundas has located a new company in English Harbour that would be providing the training and testing for these licenses. He then introduced Mr Dundas who pretty much said the same thing. 

The day before someone had notified me that this was going to transpire and I had made a few calls. I was told that Mr Dundas was a major shareholder of this new company which would be handling the licenses. Anyway, when Dundas finished telling us about the costs of instruction and time our captains would need to be off work, it was time for questions. I got to ask the first one. "Mr Dundas, I understand that you are a shareholder in this new wonderful company. Could you tell us if this information is correct?"

For a second, the room was silent and then he spat out a reply that essentially ended that days meeting in chaos. "THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS". He practically screamed those words at me. The meeting ended with even the minister shaking his head and walking off. I haven't had much dealings with Dundas since then apart from appearing on a tourism panel talk on Observer Radio.

On my first day in Cartagena, I met Dundas in the hall of the main hotel and said hello explaining that I was there with the Barbuda Council. As expected his coldness and disinterest wasn't hidden. For the next two days he and Colin James, Chief Executive Officer at The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority, made every effort to avoid me and my Barbuda associates. There were no questions about how our meetings were going or anything for that matter. I saw them at the Antigua Trade Show booth and asked Colin how things were going. I also asked how the dredging plans for the harbour were coming along. They coldly explained that 3D Construction would be getting started on St John's harbour soon. I was slightly surprised and asked if 3D was bringing in another dredge. They didn't think so, and asked why. I just said that I had watched the little dredge this summer doing a job in Jolly Harbour and would be surprised if they were going to be using the same one in Deep Water Harbour which sounded like a much bigger job. 

The next morning, Tuesday, I had several meetings with top level cruise executives about Barbuda and about my company Adventure Antigua. In the afternoon a special seminar on "Itinerary Planning For the Future. What You Need to Know" was scheduled and as this seemed very important to our plans, I was there early with the other Barbuda continent. The room had seating for about 65-70 but well over 100 turned up early. More and more seats were brought in to accommodate as many as would fit in the room. No other people from Antigua were at this very important seminar.

Four top cruise ship executives gave presentations on how their particular company decided upon a particular itinerary and upon particular ports. This photo shows one of the sides which was shown and refereed to throughout the presentations.

It was very interesting hearing about what made a destination so valuable, and one thing echoed by each presenter really caught my attention. The first to talk about it was, Joanne Salzedo, an executive from Norwegian Cruise Lines and specifically it had to do with lines making painful decisions to stop visiting a destination if and when particular problems went unaddressed for too long. She described ports which had everything going for them with wonderful and profitable excursions, beautiful beaches or other natural landscapes and fantastic ports, and described that sometimes she would make recommendations to her CEO that they stop visiting a port like this because of a problem which hadn't been corrected.

Imagine that! A cruise line happy with a destination but dropping it because of one issue that remained unresolved year after year. Sounds like Antigua could be in danger right? Could this explain some of the cruise ship arrival decline?

After they had all given their presentations there was a question and answer session and many people asked questions of the panel. The Minister of Tourism from Grenada and also The Minster of Tourism from Dominica asked questions. The Tourism Minister of Grenada asked questions, Excursion operators asked questions, port managers asked questions, agents did as well. Each time someone asked a question they introduced themselves and mentioned where they were from and what company they were involved with. I was intrigued and worried with what they had said about dropping ports and decided to ask a question. I introduced myself and said I was from Antigua. I said that I came to this convention to see if I could negotiate excursion contacts after working as an independent excursion operator for 13 years. I said that after graduating from university, I worked in the duty free shopping center at the cruise port and heard about certain problems the ships and their guests faced. When I started my company years later, those problems still persisted and today those same issues were still there. Joanne nodded her head in agreement. I said that considering what they had mentioned a short while earlier about dropping ports that didn't fix problems I wanted to know if they ever considered another tactic that could help ports like ours solve their long standing issues. I said that despite obviously telling our island's cruise representatives about these issues they remained fixed. I asked them if they thought that it would help if they were interviewed by our local media so that people back home could actually hear from the horses mouth what the ships loved and what problems they experienced. I said that possibly coming from them a greater impact could be made back home. The CEO of one of the lines answered by saying something very simple. He said, "Mr. Fuller, our job is the ship and your job is the island". That was good enough for me and I didn't need any further explanation. It was that clear. There are more and more ports coming online each year and more and more money being spent on existing ports. The cruise lines have more choice and making a decision to stop visiting a port isn't as difficult as some would want to believe.

After the seminar finished there was the Trade Show Grand Opening next door. Many different ports had wonderful exhibits and it was a great opportunity to see what other islands were doing to be competitive. As it was winding down one of my Barbuda colleagues and I decided to leave. At that point we saw Nathan Dundas (from Brysons Shipping and The Antigua Cruise Tourism Association) and Colin James, Chief Executive Officer at The Antigua and Barbuda Tourism Authority looking more cold than usual. We said hello as we walked past, and Colin said he needed to speak with me about something. 

Remember Colin James is a government worker who's paid by our tax dollars. Anyway, he says to me that someone told "them" that there was a person from Antigua in a seminar saying that they (He and Nathan) had no credibility back home in Antigua. I immediately said that I was the only person at this seminar from Antigua that had asked questions and so obviously they were speaking about me. I did say that the person misrepresented me and that he, Colin, should have been there to have heard exactly what I said. I told him that I didn't say that they had no credibility in Antigua. He was clearly upset and told me that I shouldn't have mentioned "Antigua". He suggested that I was damaging Antigua's reputation. I reiterated that he should have been there and that he's got this all wrong thanks to bad info that was brought to him. He was clearly upset, and I told him that he shouldn't be so sensitive to what people say. I also asked why he was getting so upset at the things I did say since I was trying to find a solution to chronic problems that threatened our cruise tourism industry. I asked him if it was a state secret that we had issues at our port? I asked him if the ships were in the dark about taxi issues or dredging problems? 

Nathan then jumps in saying that I simply shouldn't have spoken about Antigua. I reminded them that each person asking question was asked to say where they were from. He angrily snapped back at me saying that I shouldn't have asked any questions. Here we were,  ambassadors of Antigua and Barbuda inside the Cartagena Convention Center clearly having a argument. There were executives there from all the major cruise lines as well as 600+ other industry folk from the Caribbean and around the world walking by us. I was astonished at this coordinated attack from Nathan and Colin, not so much that it was happening but that they chose to have a confrontation in front of all these people. The message that sent was awful and I was very cognizant of that. Remember I have been representing Antigua and Barbuda internationally in sporting events since I was 12 years old, and I know how to carry myself abroad. It was incredibly disappointing to me to be involved in this conflict. I said to Nathan that he had received incorrect information and that he should have been there. This enraged him even more and he shouted at me saying that he'd been in this industry for "twenty seven years" and that he didn't need to attend every little seminar that was offered. (The Ministers of our neighboring islands felt that the seminar was important enough to attend though.) He exclaimed that he had taken Antigua's cruise arrivals from nothing all the way above 700 ships. He yelled at me asking what had I ever done for Antigua? "You're not even an authorized tour operator"!! He screamed. I was so dumfounded that I didn't know how to reply. I asked him what he was speaking about and told him to settle down. He then told me to just get away from there. Again I was surprised and asked him if we wanted to "run" me from this place. "YES! I want to run you!! Nathan Dundas said it several times. "I want to run you. That's exactly what I want." I lost a little of my composure at that point and quietly asked him where he planned to run me. I asked him if he wanted to run me to Guyana. That was a very rude thing for me to have said because of course, he's originally from Guyana, and I said it to upset him. If you're reading this Nathan, I apologize for that. The next thing I told you was that you were a joker. I am not sorry for that!!

In fact, I didn't get a chance to tell the same to Collin James, but because of what transpired during that exchange and overall at the FCCA Conference, I have to say that I think he is also incredibly unprofessional. It's one thing for Nathan Dundas to be unprofessional because he's just an independent business man (despite getting his entrance fee and possibly other expenses provided by the Ministry of Tourism), but Colin James works for the people of Antigua and Barbuda. I am astonished that in this day we have someone like him working for our tax dollars and behaving in the way he did.

I had a chance to sit down for a private lunch with The Minister of Tourism from Dominica the next day, and he was also astonished to hear about what had transpired. He had heard clearly my question during the seminar and thought that there was nothing at all wrong with what I had asked. In fact, I was approached by quite a few other people over the next few days who heard my question and thought it was a good one which provoked a very good and telling answer from the lines. They were also surprised to hear that I had had received harsh criticism from my fellow Antiguan delegates.   

Within no time, the word was being spread to Antiguans at the conference in Cartagena and to people back in Antigua that Eli Fuller was "slandering Antigua", "airing our dirty laundry",  and "damaging our country's name". Weeks later people on the street here in Antigua are telling my friends that I was hurting Antigua's reputation at the FCCA conference in Colombia. Gentlemen outside of the RBBT bank were overheard saying this nonsense just yesterday.

Exclaiming in public at an FCCA conference that I am an unauthorized tour operator and then telling people far and wide that I was damaging Antigua's reputation at the conference is hurtful and damages my reputation. I have spent all of my adult life promoting Antigua and Barbuda. I don't need any pat on my back for the work I do to promote this country but I also don't need to have people slandering me. I don't think there is a person alive that has put more positive Antigua content on the web. Try running through a list of the results after a google search for Eli Fuller Antigua or even better have a look though some of the content I have put online over the years.

Here are a few of my online accounts:

https://twitter.com/antigua

http://www.flickr.com/photos/antiguan/

http://antiguaisland.blogspot.com/

http://instagram.com/antiguan
 
I own and help moderate www.antiguaforums.com on behalf of The Ministry of Tourism, because our Tourism Ministry couldn't afford to have their own message board and relied on an old unmoderated forum that internet trolls had taken over. Thankfully we had that one which was tarnishing our country's name taken down. I have been one of only a handful of people actually in Antigua actively writing on the official Ministry of Tourism message boards since 1999. 

I also am active on Tripadvisor's local message board posting in the old days as 365 and more recently as antiguaadventures

I have been one of the only local contributors on the main cruise forum Cruise Critic since 2004. You need to register to see the things I have written on there to help promote Antigua and also to help with damage control. I posted under the name "Antiguan" which you can search for. 

I have provided photography for many international and local tourism related magazines. 

I have also written countless articles about Antigua and Barbuda for international publications in an effort to promote this beautiful and unique destination. 

I also have been featured and interviewed in countless articles about Antigua and also in many pieces for international TV always with the sole purpose of promoting our country as a unique destination.

For these guys to be telling people that I was tarnishing our country's image is asinine and speaks volumes to their characters and professionalism. Neither of them heard me speak and got second hand info from someone who didn't represent what I said correctly. I will continue to promote Antigua and possibly will start taking a more active roll in Antigua and Barbuda's cruise tourim's future. 

www.adventureantigua.com
+1 268 725 7263