The United Nations has designated June 8th as World Oceans Day.
It is a call to action globally to raise awareness of the vital role that oceans play in the survival of mankind on planet Earth.
This year’s theme is “Strong Marine Protected Areas for Our Blue Planet” but what does that mean for a small island like Tobago?
Owner of Undersea Tobago, Derek Chung, believes World Oceans Day is important.
“We are an island nation, we are completely surrounded by the ocean. We should be extremely concerned by what happens and how we should treat our oceans. It sustains our climate balance, it provides a livelihood for many of us, and it is a food source for millions, if not billions of people worldwide.”
This year’s theme centres around measures to protect the health of the ocean and its finite resources.
Mr Chung believes there are several actions that can be taken in this regard, starting with addressing overfishing.
“I think it would be very good to see us implementing things like seasons for particular species of marine life, harvesting of specific species, of size limits, for catch limits, that sort of thing.”
From a tourism standpoint, Tobago is already examining how it governs the use of designated marine parks through legislation.
While Director of Marine Resources Barry Lovelace stated discussions with operators are ongoing, they are also considering the carrying capacity of areas like the Buccoo Reef Marine Park.
“To see how much pressure the system could actually take in terms of human presence, and from that information now, we then develop policies to stay within the carrying capacity.”
Mr Lovelace said that while it is important that reefs and other marine spaces sustain the economic livelihood of Tobagonians, it must be balanced with preservation.
“The impacts come from on land with wastewater, nutrient-rich waters flowing from the watershed into the marine space.”
Mr Lovelace said this pollutes the water and leads to diseases developing within corals and fish, eliminating species, and leaving coastlines vulnerable.
He added that the THA has a mandate to give more focus to mitigating problems like this while ensuring citizens can continue to benefit from the blue economy.