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Kee Farms (Nicholas Kee & Team) | Jamaica
Solution
Reducing Overfishing Through the Establishment of a Seaweed Mariculture Network and Training in Fishing Communities
Team members: Chelsi-Rae Buckley, Dean Morris, Matthew-Pierre Rogers, Shauna-Gaye Pusey, Geasean Johnson, Aprille Ferguson
Jamaica has the most overfished waters in the English-speaking Caribbean. Over the past four decades, the nation's fisherfolk, the majority of whom are artisanal fishers, have been fishing lower and lower down the food chain. Currently, grazers such as parrotfish—which clean and maintain coral reefs—are being overfished. Nicolas’s project aims to teach a fishing community in Discovery Bay, St. Ann, Jamaica to grow seaweeds as an alternative means of income to ease the pressure on parrotfish stocks. This allows the whole fishing community to become involved in establishing an alternative source of income where their existing skills can be channeled to earn a livelihood and allow coral reefs to recover. In turn, the coral reefs enhance surrounding biodiversity. Through environmental education, fishing communities will learn skills that allow them to reduce their impact on coral reefs and improve water quality. In doing so, the community is empowered with skills that allow them to sustain their livelihoods and marine biodiversity in the long term.