Stiffer Fines for Damaged Coral Reefs Coming

Operators of ships and other vessels may be hit with stiffer fines when they drop anchor and damage Barbados fragile coral reefs in the future.

It is estimated that individuals found guilty of two such infractions here have paid just $200 per square meter of coral, but officials of the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) have told an international conference in Washington the extremely low figure could be changed on conclusion of an ongoing study on the issue.

The news was delivered last week by CZMU official, Angelique Brathwaite, when Barbados reported to an International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) general meeting in Washington DC.

ICRI officials asked whether the Barbados representatives had examples of economic valuation of coral reefs being applied in practice for things such as coastal land use and determinations for compensation when required.

Brathwaite said the study being conducted would see the formulation of established methods to assess how much the damage to the coral was worth.

Barbados currently allocates about $65 000 for coral reef related activities, and the ICRI was told that the CZMU’s Marine Research Section was the department which paid special attention to national coral reef matters.