At least 50 residents filled a room at the Frederick Lutheran Church Tuesday evening for a public meeting with Department of the Interior officials and others on how best to manage and conserve federally owned submerged lands surrounding the Virgin Islands.
As part of the Clinton Administration's Coral Reef Initiative, Interior is seeking input on management plans for federal waters in the Virgin Islands, Guam and other areas. Tuesday's meeting sought to familiarize the public with maps identifying these submerged lands. The presentation began with a description of the extensive mapping of lands conveyed to the federal government through the 1974 Territorial Submerged Land Act.
According to Mark Squillace, special assistant to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, the federal lands consist of less than 5 percent of submerged lands within a three-nautical-mile radius of the territories. This includes areas off the southern shores of St. Thomas and St. John and around Buck Island near St. Criox.
Ginger Garrison, a scientist with Interior's Biological Resources Division, went on to speak about marine habitats threatened in the Virgin Islands. "Due to hurricanes and human activity, coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves are in decline and under chronic stress," she said. Because of damage to these habitats, today there are fewer groupers, snappers, queen conchs and lobsters.
Her statement was echoed by several local fishermen in attendance who said they had witnessed a sharp decline in the quantity and size of their catches over the years. But fishermen were foremost among those most vehemently opposed to any conservation plan that would further limit their ability to make a living from commercial fishing. Of particular concern were fishing grounds off the south shore of St. John.
Concerned that the local fishing industry would be unfairly targeted, Senator Adlah 'Foncie' Donastorg asked the Department of the Interior to work with fisherman to come up with a well-balanced plan.
Squillace assured the audience, "We are not targeting anyone." He stressed, "How we decide to protect these areas is very much an open question, which is the reason we want to have these types of exchanges with the community."
Many pointed out that pollution created by poor land use practices poses a much more serious threat to our natural marine resources than commercial fishing. Local fisherman David Berry told panelists, "You want to save the fish, then stop sending trash to Benner Bay," the bay near the Bovoni landfill.
A representative of the League of Women Voters urged fishermen to consider aquaculture as an alternative industry until the reefs have a chance to recuperate. Richard Nemeth of the University of the Virgin Islands asked panelists in their planning to take into consideration the spawning habits of various fishes. He explained that because some species of fish spawn in large groups, sometimes traveling a great distance to do so, it can be extremely dangerous to large areas of fish populations if their spawning grounds are not protected.
Many other residents addressed concerns. Senate candidate Gaylord Sprauve said, "I am troubled by the feeling of being displaced, and worried that over time we (Virgin Islanders) are losing the opportunity to do things that we always did." He asked for a balance between the needs of those who live on the island and the regulators.
Most agreed that any fair management plan would have to consider the user groups of the areas involved and be a collaborative effort between all parties. Many also agreed that action must be taken now before more precious natural resources are lost.
