JAMAICA, Oracabessa Bay Fish Sanctuary - June 2011
Establishing a furnished field office and providing equipment for the enforcement of the 150 acre sanctuary.
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The Oracabessa Bay Fish Sanctuary is a collaborative project between the St. Mary Fisherman’s Cooperative and the Oracabessa Foundation. Realizing their fish stocks were rapidly declining, the Fisherman’s Cooperative reached out to the Foundation to help reverse this decline and build back the biodiversity within the Bay. Oracabessa Bay is an important breeding area with plentiful mangroves and estuarine areas providing nursery habitat which are perfect for stocking a bay with fish - provided they are given a bit of breathing room to grow and reproduce. Since early 2008, the Cooperative and the Foundation have worked side by side to move the sanctuary from concept to reality. The sanctuary is now operational. There are currently six wardens - all local fishermen - who work in rotation to provide coverage. Seacology is funding a building to serve as the headquarters for sanctuary operations and administration. The building will be similar to the Seacology-funded field office and barracks at Jamaica’s Portland Bight Protected Area, in that it will be constructed from modified shipping containers. The building will serve as a focal point for sanctuary operations and administration, and provide storage for field and scientific equipment essential to operations at the fish sanctuary.
