Fish sanctuaries are no-fishing zones reserved for the reproduction of fish populations. Currently, Jamaica has two officially declared fish sanctuaries namely: Bogue Islands Lagoon (to the western end of the island) and Bowden Inner Harbour (to the eastern end). These were declared in 1979 and 1986 respectively to tackle the decline in fish catches. The problem of depleting marine resources has, however, continued due to increased fishing pressure and land-based nonpoint-source pollution, among other stressors. The degradation of habitats makes it critical to establish more marine protection areas.

New Fish Sanctuaries to be declared
The establishment of new fish sanctuaries, in combination with other management tools, is forthcoming. Section 18 of the Fishing Industry Act of 1975 gives the Agriculture Minister the power to declare fish sanctuaries by Order. It is anticipated that by the end of 2009, eight (8) other fish sanctuaries will be declared. These will include:

Orange Bay at Negril in Westmoreland Bluefields Bay in Westmoreland Malcolm Bay, St. Elizabeth Salt Harbour in Clarendon parts of Galleon Harbour in Old Harbour, St. Catherine Three Bays Area in Old Harbour, St. Catherine Montego Bay in St. James Discovery Bay Lagoon in St. Ann

These sites were selected based on the following criteria:

Benefits of the sanctuaries
It is anticipated that these no-fishing zones will gradually increase fish populations. It has been scientifically proven that the establishment of fish sanctuaries can improve fish stocks by 3 to 21 times it original biomass. Furthermore, due to the ‘spill over’ effect, adjacent marine areas benefit as excess fish from the reserves will migrate into these areas where fishing is allowed.

As a conservation tool, the sanctuaries will maintain genetic diversity of marine species within Jamaica’s water – reducing the probability of extinction. The habitats provide the marine species the opportunity to reach full sexual maturity therefore increasing their egg producing/spawning potential and survival of the species overall.

Fish sanctuaries also offer socio-economic benefits, in terms of:

Management Arrangement
It is anticipated that the management of these sanctuaries will be a collaborative effort between government and local community organizations, particularly fisher organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). This partnership will be formalized by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Fisheries Division and the collaborating organization, which will outline the responsibilities of the synergic entities.

Under the MoU agreement, financial resources will be provided annually to Partner NGOs to assist in offsetting operational cost for the management of the fish sanctuaries. If no fishing cooperative is identified to manage the sanctuary, the Fisheries Division will assign two (2) fisheries wardens per fish sanctuary and finance the recurrent monitoring and enforcement expenses.

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