As part of its ongoing efforts to better manage Saint Lucia’s natural resources, the Department collaborated with sector agencies to conduct a mapping exercise of the Canaries/Anse La Raye and Soufriere Marine Management Areas.

The Soufriere Marine Management Association in the year 2000, was gazette as the local fisheries management agency designated to manage the Soufriere Marine Management Area. In order to improve their capacity, the Department of Fisheries and the Soufriere Marine Management Association have joined forces to map out the boundaries of the marine reserves, zones, and other areas within the Canaries Anse La Raye Marine Management Area and the Soufriere Marine Management Area.

According to Chief Fisheries Officer, Sarita Williams-Peter, the initiative is a critical component in ensuring the effective and efficient management of fisheries as the agencies will be better equipped to avoid and resolve conflict between resource users in the area while also protecting marine life.

“The department recognizes that over the years, what has happened is that there’s a lot of institutional memory loss in terms of the zones, there yacht mooring areas, recreational areas, marine reserves, and fishing priority areas, and all of these areas have particular types of rules and regulations governing what can happen in those areas. Very critical that people need to know where those boundaries are…

Delimit these areas properly with georeference points”

The mapping exercise was supported by Nature Conservancy, a global environmental nonprofit organization with the mission of conserving land and waters around the world. Nature Conservancy researcher, Steve Schill explains the importance of mapping exercises in enforcing the fishing laws.

“It’s very difficult to enforce a management area if you don’t know where the boundaries are. So, my job is to come here and help identify those boundaries and we’re using a transducer which we attach to the side of the boat, we’re trying to find that seventy-five meters.…

Trying to get very precise measurements so that can be given to the government and we have an official gazette as to where the official boundaries are””

The two-day Management Area mapping exercise began on Tuesday, October 12th, 2021, and concluded on Wednesday, October 13th, 2021.