Many of the Bahamas’ 371,000 residents rely on the country’s natural resources for their livelihood. Sport fishing is an important part of the tourism industry, as the Bahamas is a world-class, fly-fishing destination attracting anglers from across the globe. For-hire fishing contributes an estimated US $100 million to $500 million annually to the Bahamas’ economy. However, there are multiple threats to the fly-fishing industry, including climate change [sea-level rise, hurricanes] and limestone mining projects. Bahamian fly-fishing guides are now emerging as a voice for conservation of the Bahamas’ resources. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and the Bahamas Sportfishing Conservation Association (BSCA) see an opportunity for fishing guides to assume a leadership role in advancing sustainable fisheries and advocating for ecosystem conservation, while also building up locally owned guiding and lodging businesses.
For the last two years, EDF has partnered with the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute (BAMSI), who is responsible for developing and administering fishing licenses and a national guide certification program. Here lies the opportunity for C2P2 to work with BSCA and BAMSI in rural and underserved communities in the Bahamas by building out the capacity and reach of the national guide certification program and/or related opportunities.
C2P2 discussed the priority issues with the President of BAMSI on 25 August 2021 (Prescott Smith). Mr. Smith’s primary issue was the impact the mining of natural limestone will have on the freshwater lenses, and subsequent contamination of fresh water sources for citizens, natural resources, such as the pine wood forest, and eventually the entire ecosystem of both the island and fishing habitats. Mr. Smith also stated the mining interests hold considerable sway over the government, and parties outside the island would be effective in gaining attention to this issue. While the mining would not be stopped, changes in the methods of mining could greatly minimize the impact on the freshwater lenses. C2P2 and its partners would develop an impact statement showing how mining affects the total ecosystem, and partner with outside agencies to act as advocates for the issue with both the government and the mining interests.
C2P2 partnered with the American Geophysical Union’s Thriving Earth Exchange to solicit interest from their membership to develop the impact statement. On the 21st of September, 2021, TEX and C2P2 met with Mr. Smith to discuss how they can assist with the issue and explain how TEX works for Mr. Smith’s edification.
TEX developed a list of interested scientists to pen the impact statement and is waiting to follow up with Mr. Smith to discuss the interested members and allow him to choose whom he wishes to work with. C2P2 is working with EDF to determine who the best outside party would be to act as an outside advocate on behalf of BAMSI. C2P2 and TEX also discussed a trip to the island to see firsthand the issues and talk to additional community members. The follow up meeting was delayed due to issues Mr. Smith was dealing with, but the meeting was rescheduled for October 18th, 2021. The trip was planned for October 27th to November 2nd, 2021.
The trip was very successful, and highlighted the need for three additional projects:
1) Collaboration between the West Bank National Park and the Everglades National Park in the US to assist with the organization, structure and resources requirements for the West Bank National Park.
2) Collaboration with Agricultural schools and Science institutions in the US to support the advancement and improvement (form a planning and educations perspective) to support the Bahamas Agricultural Marine Scientific Institute (BAMSI).
3) Opportunities for Mr. Smith to externalize his message for the importance of preserving the natural resources of the Bahamas for Bahamians and the rest of the world.
On November 20-23, 2021, arraignments were made by C2P2 to have Mr. Smith interview with Nubian TV to discussion preservation of natural resources in the Bahamas. The interview was conducted on December 2nd, 2021, and was so successful, Nubian TV expanded it from a thirty-minute interview into a one hour special. The special aired December 12th, 2021, and received huge interest in the Bahamas. It was later broadcasted on local television stations.
On December 16th, 2021, C2P2 set up a zoom meeting with the Superintendent of Everglades National Park (Pedro Ramos) and Liz Brace, the organizer of the West Bank Park in the Bahamas. The meeting went very well. Mr. Ramos not only agreed to have Ms. Brace and her staff visit the Everglades to discuss organization, but also agreed to include the visit as a part of the 75th anniversary of the Everglades, to give publicity to the event for both parties, and to extend an invitation to Bahamians living in South Florida encouraging them to visit where he would publicly state the Bahamian natural resources belong to everyone. C2P2 asked if Dr. Hanna from BAMSI could visit and spend time with his 75 world class scientist and researchers supporting the Everglades restoration project, and he was happy to do so. A follow up meeting to plan the trip was scheduled for January 14th, 2022.
Mr. Smith’s interview on Nubian TV generated interest by minority businesses in the US; follow up meetings to discussion opportunities occurred the week of January 10th, 2022. A visit for those interested, to include a visit with the members of Parliament, is tentatively scheduled for the end of February 2022.