Welcome to the Roatan Marine Park’s
August newsletter,
Welcome to the Roatan Marine Park August newsletter,
The past few weeks have seen the island in somewhat
of a panic with first Dean and then Felix threatening
both our lives and our livelihoods here on Roatan. Luckily
both hurricanes missed the island but with this being
the beginning of the season, who knows what the next
few months will bring. The hurricane alarms gave many
of us the opportunity to practice our emergency response.
The process of beaching the boats to protect them from
waves and surge has become a simple routine task for
the park staff. Hopefully, the islands will be spared
a direct hit from a Category 5, as that would spell
disaster for our communities and marine habitats. Other
than the hurricane scares, work has been normal as usual
with the patrols going out daily and the office being
busy as always.
Office staff:
The past few weeks has seen the Marine Park office undergo
some serious changes in regards to staffing. While I
was visiting home, Greg came back to Roatan to help
run the office and implement some new ideas with the
assistance of Lidia and Andrea.
With the imminent departure of both the girls at the
beginning of September, we placed an advert on Coral
List, a communication network for biologists, and received
applications from all over the world. After much deliberation,
we are pleased to announce that we have chosen our two
new managers. The first is charming man from England
named James Foley. He has just completed his Masters
in Tropical Coastal Management at Newcastle University.
Our other new employee is Grazzia Matamoros, a charismatic
Honduran national who recently finished her Bachelors
Degree in biology in Tegucigalpa. We would like to welcome
the two of them to the team and look forward to introducing
them to all of our supporters. We would also like to
send our best wishes to Greg and Andrea and hope they
enjoy England, where both will be furthering their education.
We are happy to say that Greg intends to return in 18
months and use his new knowledge to help the Bay Islands.
Lidia has also left the island but will still work for
the Marine Park as our government liaison and lobbyist
in Tegucigalpa.
Patrols:
We recently replaced one of our boat captains and have
now employed a former boat captain of BICA by the name
of David. He seems very keen and energetic and will
be a good addition to the patrol staff. We want to congratulate
Rudy for becoming a father after his partner gave birth
to a son last month.
In regards to arrests, August was a quiet month with
no captures or imprisonments within the park. The boats
were in working order throughout most of the month and
patrols have been going out at all hours in an attempt
to foil the plans of the more cunning night time reef
marauders.
After much discussion with the board and Police, it
has been decided that the Park will employ two full
time Municipal Police. This will enable two of the national
police we previously hired to be able to work with our
South Side Chapter.
South Side Chapter:
For many months the Marine Park has been communicating
with resorts and dive shops located on the east side
of the island in regards to the protection of the shores
outside the current Park boundaries. Our plans finally
come to a head and a meeting between ourselves and representatives
from the East end of the island was held on the 7th
of September. It was a great turn out and we have high
hopes in extending our conservation efforts to engulf
the whole of Roatan.
Lobster Project:
After the second month of sampling going so smoothly
and retrieving approximately 20 juvenile lobsters, the
project hit an obstacle by the name of Felix. With the
possible threat of an 18 foot storm surge, it was decided
that the traps should be removed. In all the hurried
rush, one pair of traps was left out so we should still
be able to collect some data for the upcoming month.
We will be displaying the juvenile lobster in the shop
for several days after the next collection on the 19th
of this month, so if you haven’t seen these mini-lobsters,
drop by that week.
Beach Clean up day:
The Ocean Conservancy is organizing an International
Coastal Cleanup on the 15th of this month, a world wide
event that is the largest and most successful event
of it kind. As Saturday is a national holiday, it has
been decided that Monday the 17th would be more suitable.
We have sent information regarding the locations allocated
for cleaning to the dive shops but if you are a member
of the general public and wish to join in, feel free
to drop by the office. After the clean up there will
be a benefit at the Galley in West End with a barbeque
and drinks, with all proceeds going to help fund the
Marine Park. Your participation in the clean-up and
subsequent patronage at the benefit will be greatly
appreciated.
Recycling project:
The plastic bottle recycling project has now been running
for 3 months in West End. The project has been a pilot
study and has shown that it is possible for Roatan to
rid itself of the countless plastic bottles strewn throughout
the island. An island wide project to rid the island
of plastic bottles has been planned with the cooperation
of the Cerveceria Hondurena. It will be a slow and laborious
task, but the benefits will be endless.
Water taxi Alliance:
Greg had a meeting on the 30th of August with the water
taxi drivers with the purpose of improving services
and forming a cooperative to generate standards that
all drivers must follow. After meeting with Gary from
West End Divers, the Park is in the process of attempting
to coordinate further meetings with all taxi drivers
and developing a solution to current issues.
Fishermen’s Alliance:
The Fishermen’s Alliance hosted a meeting on August
28th in order to discuss rules and regulations for the
organization. Around 20 fishermen attended the meeting
where size and catch limits were established, as well
as other items including pricing and safety. The Alliance
has been gathering momentum in recent months and we
expect that more and more fishermen from the local community
will join the group in the near future. The next meeting
is to be held on September 11th at 7pm at Coconut Tree
restaurant.
Memberships:
With the imminent slow season bearing down on Roatan,
the Marine Park is constantly looking for more members
to help fund the costs. With basic monthly overheads
running at approximately $5,500, these following months
will be a relatively daunting prospect as normal funds
from bracelet and tag sales are no longer present. We
thank all those shops that do support the Park in both
selling user fees and being members but have a goal
that all dive shops operating in the Marine Park become
official members. If interested please contact the office
for further details.
Hope you all have a great month and that we have a
great turn-out at the clean-up and the BBQ that will
follow.
Hope you all have a great month and that we have a
great turn-out at the clean-up and the BBQ that will
follow.
If anyone has any questions drop by any time, email
us at roatanmarinepark@yahoo.com or give us a call at
349-4138, 445-4206, 445-4208.
Respect the Reef.
Nick, Greg, Andrea, and Lidia.
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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