Welcome to the Roatan Marine Park’s
May newsletter,
As per usual, May has been a busy month
and has kept us running around with work, when not struck
down with malaria. Andrea and Lidia have had to pull
in extra shifts these past weeks while I’ve been
recovering from my bought of malaria I acquired at the
beginning of my holiday, perfect timing as usual. I’m
on the mend now and no better timing as this month is
planned to keep the 3 of us seriously occupied.
Plans for the coming month:
This month we have several government
officials coming to visit the Park to see how much we
have achieved with financing from only the local diving
community and micro grants. This hopefully will lead
into the formal recognition of our organization and
co-management of the region between West Bay and Sandy
Bay. Reef check will also be taking place over the 13th
and 14th, with many of the local dive shops sending
representatives to participate in the course. There
are still one or two places available if people wish
to attend. The course is free and will enable the participants
to take part in rapid reef assessments worldwide.
The Coral Reef Alliance Standards Workshop,
hosted by Rich Wilson, will be happening on the 20th,
21st and 22nd, and all dive shop owners having participated
in the self assessment tests are asked to attend. A
water monitoring program has also been established in
conjunction with Rhodes University and a grant has been
provided to enable the Park, in conjunction with RIMS,
to conduct regular monitoring of local waters.
Finally at the end of June, Dr Mark
Butler, the “Lobster Man”, will be visiting
and showing us how to construct lobster larvae recruitment
traps and how to successfully monitor their populations.
This project is intended to last 12 months and should
provide Dr Butler with information which will enable
him to predict distribution of juvenile lobster within
the Caribbean region.
Paper recycling:
We are starting a new program that involves
the making of banana paper and the recycling of already
used paper. We are targeting the local schools starting
with Corozal. We also hope to involve the parents of
the school children, this way they will see how easy
it is to make paper and will be empowered to start their
own small businesses. Our goal is to provide income
alternatives for parents, and to show students the importance
of recycling. We hope to obtain notebooks and notepads
as final products that can be sold in our new Green
Store. All profits will be shared with the schools,
the families and the Roatan Marine Park.
New members of staff:
With Greg’s departure mid May,
Andrea has slipped into his role with exceptional ease,
bringing a burst of energy to the office, with fresh
ideas and enthusiasm. She is relatively new to the island
and is still trying to get to know all those in the
local community, so if you see her around, say HI and
introduce yourself.
With the expansion of the office, it
was necessary to hire an additional member of staff
to be in charged of the shop. We hired a local girl
by the name of Tasha, and she has been given the responsibility
of the shop. From now on when you come to purchase bracelets
or t-shirts, she will be looking after your every need,
leaving us to plan, instigate and precede in future
projects.
We have had to say goodbye to one of
our boat captains due to complications and are currently
seeking a new member of staff to fill his position.
We are seeking a boat captain who possesses competent
knowledge of the local reefs and is capable of upholding
the law, even if it involves arresting a friend. All
suggestions and recommendations are welcome as we need
a full work force if we are to patrol effectively.
Green store:
The store is finally open and stock
is slowly permeating onto the shelves. New stock include
official Roatan Marine Park bags, in 2 designs, with
the intention that people will use them to carry their
vegetables, rather than the 5 plastic bags that the
truck workers enjoy handing out when buying a potato
and an onion, you can see I possess the culinary skills
of a Cordon Bleu chef. There are now patches with the
logo for the avid diver to sew on their dive bags, with
caps following shortly. Long life light bulbs are also
on sale at a very reasonable price, so do your bit in
lowering electricity consumption and switch over to
a better, more eco-friendly bulb.
Patrols:
We had a busy May running around trying
to arrest poachers, with the final tally amounting to
4 separate arrests, with 7 people sent to jail last
month. There were reports of people collecting lobster
and conch from both Kaifetos and around Sandy Bay during
the early hours and at dusk, so patrols were adjusted
accordingly in an attempt to trap these wrong doers.
While we did capture one group, we are still in the
process of snaring another slippery bunch that always
seems to just get away. As usual, if you see any dodgy
activities happening out there, don’t hesitate
in getting in contact with the office and the patrols
should be along shortly. Phone numbers provided below
with phones manned between 8am and 6pm.
General Assembly meeting:
The long awaited general assembly was
finally called on the 16th May, with topics including
new dive sites and boat etiquette discussed. There was
a good turnout, with representatives from nearly all
the dive shops operating within the Marine Park attending.
The basic outcome of the meeting was that Instructors
and Dive Masters need to be more flexible in regards
to intended dive locations, and that if a boat is already
on a site, they should respect those divers already
in the water and find an alternative site. Obviously
this is not always possible, i.e. wrecks and spooky
channel, and if this occurs, they should have the common
courtesy to wait 5 minutes to allow for distancing of
groups. It will be necessary for all Dive Shop owners
to inform all new Instructors and D.M.s regarding etiquette
if we are to keep peace within the Park.
A list of new sites was also presented
to the assembly, with the final tally of dive locations
between Key Hole and the Odyssey totaling 43, plenty
for all. New anchoring are planned for Flower’s
Bay, ready for when the weather changes, but its all
about having a boat that can get myself, dive gear and
the cement round there.
Recycling program:
After the anticlimactic spectacle that
was the Semana Santa recycling program, we have taken
it into our own hands to continue the quest of ridding
Roatan of all the plastic bottles. Recycling receptacles
have been placed at dive shops around West End and at
the AKR playing field in conjunction with the SOL foundation,
so if you see any blue bins with the Marine Park logo,
recycling flyer and size restriction lids, place your
clear plastic bottles and cans in them. The bottles
are then handed to a collector in Coxen Hole who ships
them off the island for his own profit.
Fisheries laws:
DEGEPESCA, the organization in charge
of Honduras’s fisheries, has declared that the
sale of conch, both meat and shells, within the Bay
Islands is illegal and we have been given the task of
informing restaurants that representatives from the
fisheries department will be visiting restaurants and
confiscating illegal meat.
There will also be a crack down on businesses
selling undersized lobster, with all specimens less
than 5.5 inches found in fridges or freezers to be removed.
Repeat offenders will be fined and threatened with closure.
These decisions have been made by the Honduran Government
and have no origin from the Marine Park, but we feel
that it is our duty to inform local businesses of these
new laws to prevent conflict.
Education for local Schools:
The schools education program has been
running smoothly and Lidia, along with the help of volunteers,
has now visited all the schools within the Marine Park
area. These schools include those in West End, Mud Hole,
Sandy Bay and Corozal, in addition she has spoken at
schools in Coxen Hole, French Harbor and Oak Ridge.
In order to drum up enthusiasm with
the kids regarding the reefs, several of the school
groups have been taken on glass bottom boat tours. Thanks
goes out to Kevin for transportation, Mario from West
Bay for the Glass Bottom Boat tour and finally the Glass
Bottom boat operating out of Half Moon Bay. The students
have also been participating in the collecting of plastic
bottles, with the intention of recycling bins to be
placed at every school in the near future.
SOL foundation:
Last Sunday, 11 kids from the SOL Foundation
visited Half Moon Bay to take part in a snorkel tour
and subsequent clean up hosted by the Marine Park. One
of the children noted that he had been to the office
before, recalling when he was apprehended while collecting
conch. He stated that the visit on Sunday was a far
more enjoyable experience than his prior encounter with
Park officials.
Lidia gave 2 presentations to the kids
throughout the morning, talking about the reefs and
what the Roatan Marine Park does for the island and
how they can get involved. The children gained first
hand knowledge of the reefs and its inhabitants on a
volunteer led snorkel trip. As a result of Sunday’s
success, the Park has now formed a partnership with
SOL Foundation and kids will be visiting the park every
week. We are happy to host the kids and hope to continue
to inspire them in becoming the next generation of reef
protectors.
South Side Chapter:
The South Side Marine Park group is
gradually expanding, with Reef House down on the East
Side of the island joining in the festivities. Dive
shops that are officially with the S.S.C. comprise of
Dock Side Dive Center, Reef House, and Subway, with
operations running out of Coco View. They have just
purchased 20 additional mooring buoys to complement
the 10 they already have, with the intention that all
dive sites on both the North and South shores will be
marked with official RMP dive buoys.
As the months go by, the Park has been
accumulating funds with the long term goal of being
able to provide a boat to patrol the region. Dissemination
of information is imperative if the patrols are to be
successful, with the local communities informed of the
Rules and Regulations imposed by the Honduran government.
Hope you have enjoyed reading the update
and big thanks goes out to all our members and supporters
who have been there through thick and thin.
If anyone has any questions drop by any time, email
us at roatanmarinepark@yahoo.com
or give us a call at 3349-4138, 445-4206, 445-4208.
Respect the Reef.
Nick, Lidia, and Andrea
For additional information about WWF
and all of the amazing things that they are doing worldwide
for all of us, visit http://www.wwf.org
Check out the Coral Reef Alliance and
discover how they are helping Protected Areas worldwide
at http://www.coralreefalliance.org
Discover how Project AWARE is "Conserving
underwater environments through education, advocacy
and action" at http://www.projectaware.org
If you want to know more about fish
you see in the park, visit www.fishbase.org, which has
an index of almost 30,000 species of fish.
If you want to know more about the reefs,
go to www.reefbase.org which contains global information
regarding coral reefs.
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