WARDENS at the Oracabessa Bay Fish Sanctuary in St Mary say they are seeing a drastic decline in property theft, and significant increases in the size and quantity of their catch.

This, since the marine protected area was established in February 2010, even though officials say they don’t expect any measurable gains for at least another five years.

“Since we started working, we don’t have much problem here on the beach any more. Like even boat engines, dem use to thief them whole heap, but nuh so much again,” explained Pauline Dixon, a warden and fisherwoman at the sanctuary.

“Yes, it’s true, we don’t really see any looters on the beach since the sanctuary in place still. We can leave things like (fishing) lines and them things in the boat and come back come see it. More people on the beach patrolling now,” added Carlton Brown, fisherman, who is also a warden at the facility.

Brown added that before the establishment of the protected area, he, along with other fishermen, caught an estimated average of 200 pounds of fish weekly, but now, they are catching over 300 pounds.

The team of six male and female wardens, all of whom fish the waters off the South coast, patrol the massive reserved area encompassing several miles of seafront, by boat, 24 hours per day. The area acts as a safe reproductive zone for varying species of endemic fish. The sanctuary’s boundaries are marked by the wardens using bottles and floats which have been anchored to the floor of the sea. Apart from these markers, the sanctuary appears to be an ordinary section of the coastline — with mangroves and seagrass beds in some sections — as there are no man-made structures.

According to senior fisheries officer in the Ministry of Agriculture, Junior Squire, the mangroves, seagrass beds and coral reefs work in unity to provide the perfect nursery for juvenile fish.

The wardens work in pairs on three shifts, ensuring that no illegal fishing, blasting or pollution are being carried out in the area and that sea creatures that are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, such as turtles, manatees, crocodiles, live corals and a few sea birds, are not caught. The act prohibits them from being killed or harassed in any way, and makes it illegal to have any parts of these animal dead or alive in one’s possession.

Fish species also thrive when they are allowed to grow undisturbed as is the case in the sanctuaries at Oracabessa Bay and at sanctuaries across the country.

“Because we can’t fish in that area, them can grow bigger and breed more so we have more fish to catch, and them bigger too,” said Hugh Fannell, a warden who has been fishing these waters for 35 years.

“Right now, we can feed fish from wi hands,” he added, pointing to the dock on the beach.

He explained that prior to the sanctuary being created, one would find several fishermen perched here trying to catch fish from the depleted stock. Now that they are not allowed to fish there, schools of fish swarm the end of the pier and can feed undisturbed.

In keeping with regulations from the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, several changes have been made to local fishing practices. Fishermen now use one and a half inch mesh to make fishpots/traps, whereas, in previous years one and a quarter mesh was standard. The larger gauge mesh allows the smaller fishes to swim out of the pots, giving them a chance to reach maturity. Squire explained that the required size of the mesh will continue to increase in the future, especially in another five years or so when the full effect of the sanctuaries will become more apparent.

He also explained that spear-fishing at night has also been banned in order to regulate, to some extent, the amount of fishing being done, again to shore up the fish population.

“The global marine resources are declining and in Jamaica it is no different. In regulating, we attempt to address the problem and allow the natural processes to occur, allowing fishes to become mega spawn,” Squire added.

The wardens pointed out that aside from the reduction in theft, so far, they have had a high compliance rate among fisherfolk regarding the altering of equipment to ensure they give endemic fish species every chance to thrive.

They are permitted to continue pursuing their livelihoods by fishing further out at sea, outside the reserved area.

Brown applauded the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture to replenish the fish population and called for more sanctuaries to be established across the island.

The Oracabessa Bay Fish Sanctuary is one of twelve such sanctuaries set up by that ministry.

The first two sanctuaries were set up at Bogue Island Lagoon, Montego Bay, in 1979 and Bowen Inner Harbour, St Thomas, in 1986. Between 2009 and 2010, ten additional sanctuaries were established in Orange Bay, Westmoreland; Bluefields Bay, also in Westmoreland; Malcolm Bay, St Elizabeth; Salt Harbour in Clarendon; Galleon Harbour and the Three Bays area, both in St Catherine; Montego Bay, St James; Discovery Bay Lagoon, St Ann; Boscobel and Oracabessa Bay in St Mary.

According to head of the Fisheries Division in the Ministry of Agriculture, Commander Richard Russell, the introduction of the fish sanctuaries were considered a workable answer to the chronic problem of overfishing in Jamaica.