DEMOGRAPHICS AND SOCIOECONOMIC
FEATURES
Demographics
The
coastal zone within and adjacent to the Marine Park has shown
the most extensive development on the island in the past decade.
It possesses the majority of tourist accommodations, dive
operations, and more recently private residential housing
to accommodate an influx of foreigners moving to the island
permanently.
Following the
"Island Dream", many Honduran families are also
moving to the island, creating the work force that keeps the
economy growing.
Socioeconomic
Features
The
first industries to be established on the island stemmed from
the growing world-wide fishing industry. High yields in commercial
fishing put Roatán on the spot, creating a huge number
of jobs and an impressive infrastructure oriented towards
the export of shrimp, lobster and fish.
Currently,
as a result of collapsing fish stocks, Roatán's economy
has become remarkably undiversified, with tourism being the
mainstay of the island economy.
Since
both subsistence fishing and agriculture are essentially small
scale activities, the major negative impacts on the marine
ecosystem are a direct and indirect result of tourism/residential
based coastal development.
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