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Action PA8 : Participate in local events
Action CC9 : Ensure the enhancement and dissemination of scientific and technical studies carried out on the RNN
The AGRNSM participated in the first Anguilla Bank fisheries conference, organized on December 12, 2023, at Anse Marcel under the auspices of the prefecture. This international event brought together fishermen and leaders from Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Saint Barthélemy, and Anguilla, as well as scientists, managers of natural areas, and representatives from the islands of Saba, Saint Eustatius, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua, Barbuda, and Guadeloupe. The aim was to discuss the necessity of a common and cross-border management of shared fish stocks between islands with different regulations. Each territory had the opportunity to speak and present its own initiatives, both in terms of species conservation and techniques governing fishing, the sale of merchandise, and the import and export of fishery products. The FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) installed in territorial waters, and thus in foreign waters for some, were a thorny issue on which, by general consensus, it will be necessary to work. The subject calls for better collaboration between fishing professionals, regulatory adaptations, and appropriate control means for sustainable and profitable exploitation of the resource for everyone. The AGRNSM presented the results of the Life BIODIV’OM and studies conducted with financial support from the European Union, the Ministry in charge of the environment, and the French Biodiversity Office (OFB). The study of the colonization of the shallow coastal seabeds of Saint Martin by reef fish post-larvae, as well as that of the fish populations established around the island, particularly the goliath groupers and Nassau groupers, helped to open the debate on the shared management of fish stocks between the islands. The dispersion of these post-larvae by the currents in the Caribbean and the migrations that some species can make during their lives show that there are no borders and that concerted management is essential. The grouper, a migratory fish, a regulator belonging to the top of the food chain, with a long life expectancy and also capable of changing sex depending on its age, is the perfect example.
The management association of the Saint Martin nature reserve, GIP One Shark SXM, the Territorial Environment Agency of Saint Barthélemy, and the Sint Maarten Nature Foundation each held a stand intended to inform the public. The AGRNSM presented its projects, among which the Biohut – artificial habitat for aquatic fauna – its application faune-sbsm.org, and invited the most curious to a dive on the most beautiful diving sites of the island, thanks to 360° virtual reality masks. Many participants came to learn about the actions carried out, including the prefect and the president of the Collectivity of Saint Martin.
