1 April,
2019

On
Tuesday, 26 March, the Cabinet of the Cayman Islands approved the
most significant expansion and enhancement to Cayman’s existing
marine parks system since the areas were established in 1986.

“This
expansion will serve to protect our local marine stocks, as well as
the crucially important coral reef network surrounding our Islands
for generations to come,” said Environment Minster, the Hon. Dwayne
Seymour. “I am proud of this government, the work of my Ministry
and the Department of Environment and all those who’ve helped us to
finally make this project a reality.”

The
change will significantly enhance the protection afforded to marine
life within the various zones between the shore and 150 foot water
depth – sometimes referred to as “the drop off”. The “no
take” areas for marine life – now called marine reserves – will
now be substantially increased on all three islands as a result.

His
Royal Highness, Prince Charles of Wales noted on Thursday 28th
March, during a visit to Pedro St. James on Grand Cayman, that the
health of our oceans is absolutely vital for our shared survival. The
Prince noted that it was heartening to hear the Minister of
Environment announce the expansion of the Cayman Islands marine
protected areas, which are of such crucial importance.

A
major focus of the marine parks system expansion, in line with
international best practice recommendations for marine protected
areas, is the increase of “no take” zones - areas where
individuals can no longer take marine life for any reason. These “no
take” zones, including marine parks/reserves, environmental zones
and wildlife interaction zones will increase from a national average
of approximately 14% to 48%.

“These
enhanced marine parks areas came about as the result of years-long
research by the Department of Environment and Darwin Initiative
partners, Bangor University, followed by discussions between
successive governments, the Department of Environment, the National
Conservation Council (NCC), non-governmental organisations, other
local stakeholders – including fishermen – and the general
public,” said DoE Director Gina Ebanks-Petrie. “We’ve been
working toward these changes for going on 10 years. I’m so happy
the government was able to make this a reality for our people.”

“It’s
a modern science-based marine conservation plan developed by
Caymanians, for Caymanians, our local residents and our visitors,”
said DoE Marine Research Officer Dr. Croy McCoy. “Should these
proposals for enhanced marine reserves not have been implemented, we
ran the risk of further coral reef degradation and, eventually,
ecosystem collapse. With the increasing demands of our rising
population on coral reefs, the quality of local marine resource
management is pivotal to our economic success. This new network of
marine reserves puts our country in a position to continue the high
living standards we all enjoy”.

The
marine parks expansion will also increase “no diving” areas,
particularly on Little Cayman and Cayman Brac, where none now exist.
A minimal increase to these particular areas on Grand Cayman is also
called for under the enhanced marine protected areas.

“It
was agreed that some increase in the no dive zones was needed to
continue to safeguard our dive tourism and the marine life that
tourism product depends on,” said DoE Deputy Director Tim Austin.

The
specific areas governed under the enhanced marine parks system, once
legally established, will be clearly marked with signs and range
markers on land, as well as marker buoys in the water and displayed
on the Department of Environment’s (DoE) phone app, SiREN. Thanks
to this technology, any boaters with a mobile device will be able to
check their location to see if they are within a marine reserve, line
fishing only zone, environmental zone and the like. (This information
is available for the current marine parks system, including detailed
maps, on the app now, or on the DoE’s website at www.doe.ky.)

There
is some additional work that must be completed, both legally and from
a public education standpoint, before the enhanced marine parks
system is put into effect. New marine parks regulations must now
undergo legal drafting review. They will then be made public in the
Government Gazette, turning Cabinet’s approved plans into legally
enforceable regulations. Maps and brochures will be prepared and the
DoE and NCC will update the public via all available channels
regarding the changes when they come into force.

Increased monitoring and enforcement is also planned to ensure this enhancement is effective, as the DoE has recently hired four new officers - two officers on Grand Cayman, one on Cayman Brac and one who will be made a conservation warden in Cayman Brac.

NOTES

ENVIRONMENTAL ZONE

• No taking of
  any marine life, alive or dead with no exceptions
  
• No in-water
  activities
  
• Speed limit of
  5 m.p.h. or less
  
• No anchoring or
  tying to mangroves.
  

MARINE
RESERVE ZONE

• No taking of
  any marine life alive or dead, including and extending from the
  shoreline to a depth of 150ft unless otherwise demarcated, except:
  
• catch-and-release
  fishing of select species
  tarpon
  (Megalops atlanticus)
  bonefish
  (Albula vulpes)
  permit
  (Trachinotus falcatus)
  
  
• taking fry and
  sprat with a fry or cast net is permitted so long as (1) a cast net
  only is used while standing on the shore and (2) no more than 2.5
  gallons per person per day of fry or sprats, inclusive of bycatch,
  are taken
  
• licenced
  lionfish cullers are permitted to kill and remove lionfish with
  approved methods
  
• No anchoring -
  use of fixed moorings only, except:
  
• boats of 60ft
  or less may anchor in sand, so long as no grappling hook is used,
  and neither the anchor nor the rope or chain will impact coral;
  
• anchoring
  permitted in designated Port anchorage areas—contact Port Security
  VHF Channel 16;
  
• anchoring
  prohibitions suspended during emergencies and by permission of Port
  Director;
  
• Bloody Bay,
  Little Cayman - no tourist boat shall enter the protected area
  without authorisation of the National Conservation Council and at a
  time, or in circumstances, where such entry is not permitted by the
  conditions of such a permit.
  

WILDLIFE
INTERACTION ZONE

• No taking of
  any marine life, alive or dead
  
• No removing any
  marine life from the water
  
• No selling fish
  food from a boat
  
• No anchoring in
  water shallower than three feet or so that the anchor or boat is
  within 20 feet of any reef structure
  
• No feeding any
  marine life with food of any kind or of an amount or in a manner
  other than permitted
  
• Fish feeding is
  prohibited anywhere in Cayman waters outside a Wildlife Interaction
  Zone unless specially permitted
  
• No wearing any
  footwear in water shallower than four feet (which does not prohibit
  wearing of flippers while snorkelling in water deeper than four
  feet)
  
• No tourist boat
  shall enter the zone without authorisation of the National
  Conservation Council and at a time, or in circumstances, where such
  entry is not permitted by the conditions of such authorisation.
  

LINE
FISHING ZONE

• No take of
  any marine life, alive or dead, from shore to 150ft depth, except in
  the below instances:
  
  Line
  fishing is permitted;
  taking fry
  and sprat with a fry or cast net is permitted so long as (1) a cast
  net only is used while standing on the shore and (2) no more than
  2.5 gallons per person per day of fry or sprats, inclusive of
  bycatch, are taken;
  licenced
  Lionfish cullers are permitted to kill and remove lionfish with
  approved methods
  
  
• Anchoring
  permitted;
  
  Anchor,
  chain or line must not touch coral.
  
  

NO DIVING ZONE

• No SCUBA diving
  without permission
  

Spawning
Aggregation (SPAG) ZONE

• No fishing, no
  diving, no anchoring, In effect from December through April,
  inclusive, between the 50ft and 200ft depth contours, inclusive.
  

SHORE
LINE FISHING ZONE

• Fishing from
  shore only is these areas.
  

PORT
ANCHORAGE AREA

• These are
  enforced by the Port Authority, Cayman Islands but are listed on the
  Marine Parks map for clarity and use reference.
  
  

PORT
CONTROL ZONE

• These are
  enforced by the Port Authority, Cayman Islands but are listed on the
  Marine Parks map for clarity and use reference.
  
  

END

Guy Harvey of Guy Harvey Enterprises and Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation commented upon receiving the news, "This represents a giant step forward after a huge amount of work by the DoE , The Nature Conservancy, University of Bangor and by the previous Minister of the Environment Hon. Wayne Panton."