Showing posts with label turtles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label turtles. Show all posts

Monday, August 11, 2014

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

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Dear Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, you must take simple action to save our reefs!


netted parrotfish by the thousands taken from the reefs
In the past five days 1400 people have signed a petition to the Prime Minister of Antigua & Barbuda. The petition has been organized by The Antigua Conservation Society and asks for the PM's help in getting the 2004 Fisheries Act signed by the Fisheries Minister who for one reason or another has not done so for years. While the Act sits languishing on his desk, the marine eco systems of Antigua and Barbuda have suffered tremendously. We are still working with legislation from the early 80s. This 2004 Fisheries Act was carefully drawn up after consultations and input with the major stakeholders including but not limited to The Fishermen's Cooperative, The Sports Fishing Association, and The Environmental Awareness Group.
There are way too many areas of our coastal environment that are being neglected simply because there are no laws that can help them. The Chief Fisheries Officer is quoted time and time again as saying that her hands are tied until the regulations are signed. The person who need to sign it told me and others who were meeting him one day when he was Junior Minister of Tourism that he can't swim and has no interest at all going out on the water on any boat. This doesn't mean he isn't capable of understanding the issues here, but I can't help feel that he doesn't. Article after article is published like this one today featured in The Daily Observer: St. John’s Antigua- Having almost ravaged the fishing stock off Antigua, Barbuda-based marine biologist John Mussington says fishermen are now looking to employ their harmful practices on the sister isle. Their primary target: the parrot fish, which Mussington revealed, fishers are going at great lengths to capture. “That particular category of fishermen they cleaned out all the reefs in Antigua.” “The guys, not Antiguans, come and they set their gill nets and camp out on the shores over here. They target the parrot fish alone and there have been reports that they are using bleach to hunt them,” the marine biologist said. According to Mussington, when the foreign fishermen catch fish that is not the parrot fish, they dispose of them on the beaches of Barbuda. The fishermen try their best to avoid local fishers, Mussington told OBSERVER Media, plying their harmful trade when local fishermen have retired for the day. He said several attempts including calling the Coast Guard for assistance have been employed to try to stop the fish invasion off Barbuda. “People in Barbuda have tried to confiscate the nets, but it’s a losing battle. They apparently have official blessings for what they are going.” The problem has persisted for about two years, but Mussington disclosed that efforts to use bad fishing practices off the island have intensified in recent months. “Just yesterday, I received a report from a fisherman who is frustrated over here,” Mussington said adding that several reports have been made to the police. The concerns by the marine biologist comes on the heels of a Fisheries Division study which found that urgent action is needed to save the parrot fish from the gill-netting and spare fishing practices. In response to the anxiety over the local fisheries stock, the Antigua Conservation Association commissioned an online petition to force government to sign off on fisheries regulations that would aid in the protection of the marine eco-systems. Despite articles like these being written, despite desperate calls from The Fishermens Cooperative, which is the biggest association of fishermen, despite calls from all the Environmental Groups, his own Chief Fisheries Officer, and many others, Hilson Babtiste still doesn't sign it. 8000 lbs of parrotfish, almost as many reef snappers and reef groupers are being exported through the Fisheries Department to the French islands. Remember that parrotfish are the key species keeping our reefs healthy by cleaning the coral damaging algae with each fish producing about 180 lbs of sand a year. Healthy parrotfish populations mean healthy reefs and plenty of sand production. Also with healthy reefs there is less wave action and currents getting to our shores and causing beach erosion. More on parrotfish by clicking this link. As you have just read the Daily Observer article, you can see that The Fisheries Ministry knows that the parrotfish are in trouble, but for some reason they still are permitting them to be decimated through the use of huge gill nets which fishermen put along the east coast of our shores just outside the reef. We are at a tipping point, a tipping point that the cod fishermen of the North Atlantic went beyond and destroyed their own industry and way of live. Many species here including parrotfish are in danger of being wiped out due to the lack of fisheries management and stronger regulations. The 2004 Fisheries Act needs to be signed. You can help. You have spent longer reading this blog than it takes to sign the petition. The Prime Minister of our nation will see your signature and will see your comment if you leave one. Please take a moment to sign it, and as important as signing it is sharing it with your email and facebook contacts. There are a few key points which come to mind that make the new fisheries act way better than the old outdated one. The new regulations will change quite a few things which include: Stricter measures for conservation of key species: Lobster – now introduces regulations against removing "tar spot" …something that is now practiced because of EU requirements that lobsters with tar shouldn’t be shipped but for which there is no regulation under the current Fisheries regs. Also introduces closed season for lobster Conch – introduces closed season and stronger penalties for fishermen who harvest undersized conch. Turtles – hawksbills and leatherbacks would be fully protected. Greens may be allowed for capture (if an open season is declared) but with a maximum size limit as opposed to minimum size limit (as per WIDECAST recommendation) Also specifically prohibits harassment of nesting females and take of hatchlings and allows for declaration of protected turtle nesting beaches. Permitting requirements for other species that are not currently managed. e.g. Whelks, cockle and urchins.. Fishers would also need to request permits to harvest certain species. So it is not automatic that once you are a fisher you can harvest anything. It's quite possible that there could be permits for parrotfish (chub fish). Now regulates fishing inland (in ponds and dams). Better controls over gear Nets – the old act only sets regulations on seines…nothing for gill nets. With the new regs there are size restrictions on mesh, prohibition of multi-panel nets and restriction on soak time. The use of any gear not specifically regulated under the Act would need the permission of the CFO. Sets controls for sport fishing The most significant change with the new regulations is that we move to license fishers…not just the boats. And it sets requirements that anyone who wishes to be licensed must undergo some sort of training (to include sessions on conservation). In doing this the regulations also allows for licenses of fishers who break the laws to be suspended from fishing (penalties get progressively higher for repeat offenses). It also allows the Chief Fisheries Officer to refuse a license if there are grounds. New entrants to the fishery would be subject to a probationary period. This will hopefully allow us to catch under the net the people who swim out or use jet skis etc. Other things are: -providing way stiffer penalties for people who break the law as right now the penalties are not worth pursuing in the legal system. -giving the fisheries department more control of fisheries issues instead of having most of the control sitting in the hands of the minister. We have to get this thing signed by the Fisheries Minister as it's the first step on a road to a better marine environment and a better shot at having our fishing industry managed in a sustainable way so that generations of fishers to come may find something to fish for. Please sign the petition to Hon. Baldwin Spencer:

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Whales, Dolphins, and lets not forget Turtles too!

In my last blog I highlighted the whale and dolphin watching that is going on at the moment and mentioned that our boats have been seeing more than usual this year. Yesterday our two Xtreme boats doing the Circumnav (round the island) tour saw a pod of whales off Nelson's Dockyard. They approached them in between the tour stop at Green Island and their tour of Nelson's Dockyard. The whales didn't stick around for long and sounded showing their tails before the very deep dive. The water out there is several thousand feet deep. Anyway, the tours did their historical tour of Dockyard and then went to snorkel at Pillars of Hercules. After Xtreme's snorkeling session they returned to the area the whales were spotted and luckily they met them again on the surface. Captain JD shot the iphone image of one of them that is the featured image above. Once again we had delighted guests on board who got more than they expected on our round the island "Xtreme Circumnav Tour". IMAG1247Our Eco Tour on the other hand didn't see any whales for the week, but has been seeing dolphins fairly regularly. Both boats see turtles almost daily, and yesterday on the North side the weather was clearer and the Eco Tour saw quite a few hawksbill turtles between their tour stops. The nesting season for hawksbills is between May and November and generally people in Antigua regard nesting season as the summer months. However between the three species of marine sea turtles we have nesting on our shores (green, hawksbill, and leatherback), the entire year can have turtles coming up to lay eggs. The legislation protecting nesting turtles really only speaks of a few months in the summer, but Leatherback turtles nest from Feb to May. Leatherbacks are the most interesting turtles in my opinion and largest, and of the three nesting here, they are the rarest in our waters. The Antigua Sea Turtle Project, run by my wife and the EAG, has been getting reports of nesting leatherbacks for the past few weeks. Very early on Wednesday morning a massive momma leatherback came up to lay on Jabbawock Beach which is just down the road from me. If you follow my other older blog, then you will have read the huge problem that Jabbawock and many other beaches around Antigua face when it comes to street lights. The squished turtle shown in the image on the left is a member of the Hawksbill Turtle, an endangered species, taken on Jabbawock's main road the morning after the nest with about 150 little turtles hatched out. Using photos like this one and blogs like this one (click here) we have gotten the media involved (click here) and generally gotten the public to understand the situation. Still the lights are on and in about 60 days the endangered leatherback turtles will hatch out and will be drawn instinctively to the brightest thing. Usually the water lapping on the shore with the reflection of stars, but on Jabbawock the Chinese gift of street lights will lure them away from their natural environment and on to the main road. The Antigua Sea Turtle Project and the EAG has met with the public utility company several times and the lights remain on. It's a simple fix and solutions including different frequency bulbs, lower poles, using deflectors, and just plain switching them off. I hope I can blog here one day that our government has taken their head out of the sand to correct this problem. This image is of a leatherback turtle we found in the bottom of a hatched nest after doing an excavation. Usually one or two little ones get left behind in the bottom of a hatched nest and if you get there early enough the next day, you can help them get to the water. We have found that it's best to let them go at night though which is when the birds don't see them in the shallow bright waters. For more info on the amazing leartherback turtle check this link.
antiguanice

Friday, February 24, 2012

“A Great Day in Antigua”

 This is our latest review on tripadvisor
and we are all liking this one. Thanks!!!

Ernie M
Cleveland, Ohio
Reviewer
5 reviews
4 helpful votes
5 of 5 stars Reviewed February 21, 2012 NEW
We took the Eco-Tour as an independent tour during our cruise on Serenade Of The Seas. Booking online was easy and you get a discount for doing so. We met at the pre-arranged pick-up spot very near the cruise dock , about a five minute walk, at 9AM. We met Captain JD and his crew Nichola and Natalie who would be our guides for the day. After 2 quick stops to pickup passengers from resorts along the way we headed to the North Sound area of Antigua. We had a stop near Long Island where Nickie told us about the island and the on going turtle project there, then we cruised through the mangroves looking for and seeing a turtle and some starfish. Next up was the highlight of the tour , a stop at Hell's Gate. This is a coral formation that only the Eco-Tour goes to. There we were given choices of going over to Hell's Gate and climbing through the cave and up to the top, just sitting in the natural jacuzzi, snorkeling/swimming in the area, or just hanging out onboard. A very good lunch was served with BBQ chicken, pasta and green salads,plantains and a choice of drinks, water, soda, and fruit juices. After lunch it was off to Bird Island for a little hike up to the top, or a swim at the beach. Last up for the day's activities was the longer snorkel at a nearby reef. At this time of year the North Swells can make snorkeling a challenge , so Natalie took the less experienced and kept them nearer to the boat while Nickie took the more experienced out farther. You could see where the coral is starting to recover from the bad storms over the years and reef fish are becoming more plentiful. It was then time to head back to the dock and the Rum Punch and Banana Bread was served on the ride back.
To address some issues brought up in other reviews - We never felt crowded and everyone had a place to sit if they wanted. This is not a "Booze Cruise" or a snorkeling only excursion so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere. This is one of the most unique tours offered on any of the islands that we have cruised to and we look forward to going on the other excursions offered by Adventure Antigua when we return to Antigua.
Visited January 2012