Significant changes are being planned for the island’s coastline, Minister of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy Kirk Humphrey said.
Speaking during Sunday’s church service at the St. James Anglican Church, in recognition of Blue Fest – Telling Our Story, Humphrey said given the drastic changes being seen in the island’s waters, with natural habitats for fish being destroyed, reefs being affected and marine occupations being impacted because of rising sea temperature levels, adaptation projects in order to steam the grave effects being seen are unavoidable.
“The world is changing, and so the way we must offer to manage this space is now different. That is why we are having these conversations about adapting, that is why we are having the conversations about stability.
“So that when we see people doing things along the ocean, when see persons either trying to reinforce the reef, or reinforce the beaches, some of the work will cause some disturbances in the beginning, and it looks very scary … but if we don’t do these things now, the reality is that we are going to continuously expose more and more people, so there are changes that are coming.”
Humphrey stressed, however, that the sea space around the island still remains a viable option for jobs and recreational activities for Barbadians, but a serious look at sustainability projects for the oceans must not only be from Government’s point of view, but all locals have a right and a responsibility to get involved in all discussions going forward on the issue.
“The ocean that we manage in Barbados is 424 times the size of our land space, so that gives us 424 times the opportunity to be able to do something innovative in that ocean space.
“We found now that the ocean that used to cater to us does not have the same amount of fish, we found that the coral reef is not as healthy as it used to be. Many of the fish are now at their maximum thermal capacity, and by that I mean that the waters are as warm as would allow them to live,” he said. (SB)
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