The Story of Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary
In an effort to restock some of the most overfished reefs in the world, a cooperative of fishermen has joined forces with the Oracabessa Foundation to create a fish sanctuary in St. Mary, Jamaica. As one sanctuary manager describes it: "The sanctuary is basically a no-fishing zone, the concept being that the fish are going to get so plentiful inside the sanctuary that they're going to need space and spill over onto the adjacent reefs, where the fishermen are allowed to take them." It appears to be working. Over the past two years, fish populations have increased significantly, bringing the added economic benefit of ecotourism to the area.
There are 14 marine protected areas around Jamaica and the Oracabessa Fish Sanctuary is considered one of the most successful. This is due to the grassroots approach that has the local community managing and operating the sanctuary, with partnership support coming from government and private sector. However, funding is still a major challenge and anyone looking to support this work can do so at:
www.OracabessaFoundation.org
This film was shot on location with a Canon 7D and a GoPro3+ Black edition.