JHTA wants Jamaicans to stop eating parrot fish to save reefs

THE JAMAICA Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) is urging Jamaicans to stop eating parrot fish, arguing that an abstention would help in saving the environment and prevent flooding.

Parrot fish are noted to play an important role in contributing to building the reef ecosystem, even though they eat coral. This is because they clean algae overgrowth off coral colonies, which allows the algae that live inside the coral to get more sunlight and make more food through photosynthesis.

Reefs are known to provide a natural barrier to shorelines.

Robert Russell, the JHTA president, made that call while speaking on a panel looking at sustainable tourism practices for tomorrow at the just-concluded Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business Expo.

“Some initiatives might be very simple, such as stop eating parrot fish, because they save the reef,” said Russell.

His plea for Jamaicans to stop eating parrot fish comes approximately one month after a cold front brought sea swells of 15 to 20 feet crashing into the island’s coastline between February 6 and 7.

That weather system, Russell told attendees at the MBCCI business Expo, destroyed his waterfront restaurant business and severely battered Margaritaville and other shoreline properties in Montego Bay, St James, and Negril, Westmoreland.

“Unfortunately, one of my properties at Pier One sustained major damage because of the recent storm (cold front). When you look at those properties that were protected by reefs, they didn’t have the type of damage,” the JHTA president noted.

SHORELINE EXPOSED

According to Russell, who is also managing director of Deja Resort, poor management and the increased desire for parrot fish have left the shoreline exposed, with no protection from the coral reef.

“Overfishing, dumping of sewage and killing parrot fish, all of these things are damaging the reef,” the hotelier noted.

He warned that, based on the vulnerability of the country’s shoreline in the face of climate change, the city’s survival from adverse climate incidents is threatened.

“There are going to be more climate incidents and, if we don’t protect our environment, we won’t survive,” Russell insisted.

Like Pier One and Margaritaville, Harmony Beach Park reported that it had to spend approximately $30 million to repair damage done to that facility because of the recent weather activity that affected shoreline properties in Montego Bay and Negril.