Many residents find direct and indirect livelihood opportunities in the ocean, but it is necessary to protect it for the sake of children and the country’s future, said Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) director Leo Brewster.
This island’s maritime boundaries are more than 400 times larger than its landmass, hence the need to plan this space, which is a practical way to create and establish uses and interactions between its users, he said.
Such actions will also balance the demand for development with the need to protect the environment and achieve social and economic outcomes in open and predetermined ways, Brewster assured.
Sea spatial planning is a public process of analyzing and mapping the spatial and temporal distribution of human activities in that area for detailed ecological, economic and social purposes through a political process, he said.
The CZMU Director commented that a video series entitled MSP and You: Shaping Barbados’ Ocean Future is bringing together diverse users to participate and share their ideas on the most viable means of protecting these waters and managing them successfully.
This nation of nearly 300,000 people is the wealthiest and most developed in the Eastern Caribbean, with one of the highest per capita incomes in America. In the last two years, it has seen an increase in its fisheries production and related activities.
The sector’s nine major local industries are currently open to the public and include offshore reef, low-slope, offshore pelagic, large pelagic, flying, sea urchin, turtle, lobster and shellfish.
Fisheries production is estimated to have exceeded 2,500 tons in 2002, making Prime Minister Mia Amor’s decision to create a ministry for maritime affairs and blue economy and her commitment to ambitious marine conservation wise as wise.
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