CHILL MAGAZINE

Researchers from the Cave Hill Campus are in the nascent stages of developing a first-of-its-kind, marine information system that holds the promise of transforming approaches to marine planning and marine resources management in the Caribbean.

The information system known as an integrated participatory transboundary marine space information system (MarSIS) is one of the most extensive of its kind is being deployed in the Grenadines, with the possibility of future application in the marine resources-rich Caribbean environment. The researchers, K.Baldwin, R. Mahon, H. Oxenford, A. Cooke, D. Gill and T. Staskiewicz, who have undertaken the project, have sought to develop brief profiles of the Grenadine marine resource user stakeholders to create the architecture of the system. According to them, embarking on a stakeholder assessment to develop these profiles meant engaging in an extensive assessment effort that included government, marine resource users (MRUs) and communities. The rationale behind the project is that in order to plan appropriate, equitable and transparent participation in the management of the marine resources of the Grenadines, it is essential to understanding Grenadine marine space-use.

According to the researchers who authored the study, “MarSIS will aid marine planning by highlighting areas for special management attention such as critical habitats, representative marine ecosystems, areas of high aesthetic value and cultural importance, areas important for livelihoods, fishing grounds and marine-based tourism and areas of highest human threat and space use conflict.”

The site where the MarSIS information system has been deployed – The Grenadines – has attracted the concern of various stakeholders about its sustainable future. The Grenadines, a transboundary island chain which lies on the Grenada Bank stretching some 120 km, rests between two sovereign nations, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, and Grenada. Three quarters of the Grenada Bank is shallower than 50m and supports the most extensive coral reefs and related habitats in the south-eastern Caribbean. Marine-based activities are the mainstay of the Grenadine economy in which fishing and tourism are the major sources of employment.

So far, the researchers have concluded from their findings that the majority of the Marine Resources Users (MRUs believe that increased marine management is needed within the Grenadines and that other marine resource stakeholders operating in the Grenadines, for example, tourists, Martinique charter yacht companies, fish trading vessels, must be included in further MarSIS research initiatives. Moreover, they have noted that the importance of marine resources to the livelihood of the people of the Grenadines must not be underestimated.

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