The Tribune

By PACO NUNEZ

Tribune News Editor

ACTIVISTS seeking the implementation of a promised environmental sanctuary in northern Bimini are taking their case to Minister of Housing and Environment Ken Dorsett.

They were advised to do so, they claim, after waiting months for word on the progress on the issue – despite meeting with the island’s MP and Minister of Tourism, Obie Wilchcombe, in June.

Grant Johnson, vice chairman of the Bimini Tourism Advisory Board, sent Mr Dorsett a letter on behalf of the board and the Bimini Marine Protected Area Campaign, in which he noted that since the June meeting they have been trying to obtain the necessary measures to finalise and fully implement the North Bimini Marine Reserve, which was declared in January 2009.

“After five months of attempted follow-up correspondence, we have just received notice to now direct our inquiries to the Ministry of the Environment,” he wrote.

“As you probably know, Bimini was named the highest-priority site in all of the Bahamas for a Marine Protected Area (MPA) back in the year 2000, and the MPA was finally declared in December of 2008 (which we were made aware of in a town meeting in Alice Town in January of 2009.)

“In the years that have followed, we have been desperately trying to obtain the final details and approvals towards implementing and enforcing our reserve.”

In March 2012, Mr Grant said, a letter was sent to former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham asking him to formalise the reserve before the May general election.

He said there was no reply. An updated letter was sent to newly elected Prime Minister Perry Christie in June.

This letter was signed by numerous Biminites and concerned international observers, including bonefishing legend Ansil Saunders, renowned artist and conservationist Guy Harvey, the Chief Councillor of Bimini, locals, historians, scientists and pastors, and representatives of all hotels and resorts on the island, but one.

Mr Grant said: “The people of Bimini have been waiting 12 long years for our Marine Protected Area to be realised, and with this letter we are hereby asking you, with the utmost respect, to please treat this issue with the urgency and respect it so rightly deserves.”

According to the group’s mission statement, they seek the final establishment and public declaration of rules, regulations, and official boundaries for the North Bimini Marine Reserve, and fully support allowing Bimini’s distinguished bonefishing guides to conduct their charters within the MPA.

“Our desire,” Mr Grant said, “is to have the MPA serve as a “no take” refuge for marine life that will help replenish conch, lobster, and fish populations around Bimini and the wider Bahamas.

“The MPA will also serve as publicly accessible reserve, where locals and guests can enjoy non-extractive activities surrounded by the pristine beauty of Bimini.”

In declaring the final boundaries, the group has requested a slight expansion of the southern boundary of the MPA to include an area that has been proven one of Bimini’s most valuable lobster nurseries.

“The scientific justification for this expansion was sent out earlier, and can be resent if you have not seen it,” the letter advised Mr Dorsett.

“If these expanded boundaries are approved, the North Bimini Marine Reserve would encompass an area that is about 32 sq miles, which is still less than half the size of the newly implemented Southern Berry Islands Marine Reserve. So even though this would be a relatively small MPA, we are confident that it would have enormous benefits to the ecological and economic future of Bimini,” Mr Grant said.

He noted that several national and international publications covered the declaration of the reserve in 2009, including National Geographic TRAVELER Magazine and the Washington Post.

Mr Grant added: “As we explained to Mr Wilchcombe during our meeting in June, Bimini’s MPA can be sufficiently self-policed here on the island using existing co-ordination between the Bimini police and the numerous bonefishing guides, ecotourism operators, SharkLab (BBFS) researchers, and the abundance of other concerned Biminites and visitors.

“Of course it would be beneficial to have an official Fisheries Enforcement Officer full time on the island, but until that is available to us we already have an enforcement network in place.”

He said funds for proper signs, management, and other necessities can also be largely accounted for with existing, or previously proposed initiatives.

“The Nature Conservancy has already provided us with six large marker buoys to mark the MPA boundaries; we are simply waiting for the final word from our representatives in Nassau,” he said.

When the group’s efforts to seek an update in September were published in The Tribune, a number of readers responded to the story.

One Bimini homeowner said: “Thank you for reporting on this important campaign for Bimini! The leaders in Nassau have to protect the interests of the people that voted them into power, not just those select few foreigners who see this island as nothing more than real estate.”

Resident Kristine Stump said: “The Bimini MPA is a fantastically positive step for Bimini’s future – for ecotourism, for fisheries, for ecosystem function and for reputation.”