Guardians of the Sea: How White River Fish Sanctuary is Reviving Jamaica’s Marine Life

Guardians of the Sea: How White River Fish Sanctuary is Reviving Jamaica’s Marine Life

It doesn’t take an expert to know that Jamaica’s marine environment is facing serious threats—but it certainly helps when it comes to protecting these areas.

In Ocho Rios, Jamaica, The White River Fish Sanctuary is ensuring that marine life can endure—and thrive—for generations to come.

Jamaica has some of the most overfished waters on the planet, and fish stocks are shown to have declined significantly. For this reason, Jamaica has a unique model for protected areas—sanctuaries like White River are located in areas where fishing is prohibited. Coral restoration sites are chosen based on the history of the area, present-day threats, and the species that are known to live or have lived in those areas.

The White River Fish Sanctuary is a designated ‘Special Fishery Conservation Area’ off Ocho Rios on Jamaica’s north coast. It extends 2.25 miles and covers 150 hectares or 372 acres of coral reefs and seagrass meadows. One of 18 protected areas in Jamaica, White River is working to save the reefs and bring back the fish for the benefit of all: fishers, tourists, local communities, local businesses, and ultimately, the Caribbean Sea.

Protecting Marine Health

White River’s work is vital—studies show that coral coverage has decreased 85 percent since 1975, bringing the overall coral coverage to only an estimated 10 percent of what would be considered “healthy levels” for marine life. 

This issue is twofold: for one, the dual threats of declining fish stocks and decreasing coral coverage have caused a vicious cycle of less healthy coral, leading to fewer fish and even less coral. For another, local fishers are reportedly finding it increasingly difficult to earn a sustainable living. Total catch has decreased over 600 percent since 1950, meaning it would take fishers seven times the effort (and seven times the cost) to catch the same amount of fish as before. These negative cycles have devastating social and economic impacts, and the hardships push many families below the poverty line.

“People say activists act from love, and [we] do, but there’s also an anger—about the damage being done to our animals, our environment,” — Felix, the Marine and Coral Consultant at White River

Restoration for the Future

Felix explained that fish sanctuaries are proving to be a powerful and effective tool in reversing the decline in marine health—and White River is at the forefront of this effort. Their important work has led to a major increase in fish biomass. In the last five years, White River has established two thriving coral nurseries and planted 5,000 pieces of Staghorn coral. Once one of the most common coral types in the Caribbean, Staghorn was affected by disease in the 1980s, and its numbers suffered greatly. This critical work ensures that these species have a chance to survive and thrive.

Unfortunately, these coral nurseries are dying at a staggering rate. Since late 2023, Staghorn coral and Elkhorn coral, two key reef building corals, have been all but wiped out across the Caribbean due to a massive bleaching event.  White River are currently on a mission to evaluate and map the few remaining coral nurseries—which will require swimming the entire coastal reef areas around Jamaica.

“What encourages me to keep going is that there is some survivorship. It’s not restoration at scale that we’re doing here—we’re trying to keep these species alive,” Felix continued.

Belinda Collier-Morrow, Co-chair of the White River Fish Sanctuary and Chairman of the White River Marine Association, emphasized that protection is not the end goal of the Sanctuary’s work.

“Protection is plaster on the wound. Our work has three prongs: Protect, Restore, and Engage. What’s really important are the restoration and engagement aspects because they allow the work to continue.” — Belinda Collier-Morrow

Engaging the Community

Local, community-based partnership actions are critical to achieve sustainable results that have both local and regional benefits. The White River Fish Sanctuary is a mix of stakeholders from the fishing community, local businesses, the tourism sector, and the scientific research community.

Engagement is a key pillar of the Sanctuary’s work. As the protectors of this area, they understand that the work starts from the ground level—or, in their case, the water level. They work to train and empower the local fishers as wardens, simultaneously educating them and giving them the tools they need to raise awareness among others in their community. This grassroots approach aims to foster a culture of stewardship, ensuring sustained local support and ownership.

This method has already shown an impressive impact—word of mouth is a powerful avenue for change. Noel, a White River warden and President of the White River Fishermen Association, was at first apprehensive about attending meetings at the Sanctuary. A friend of his who was already a warden was the key to convincing him. He attended one meeting and shared that he was inspired by the wealth of knowledge being shared—one meeting quickly turned into three, and he has been an avid supporter of the Sanctuary ever since.

A Team Approach

The goal of the Sanctuary’s engagement strategy is to have the wardens continue the process with other fishers, extending their reach and knowledge among community members, organizations, and external groups. For the fishers, this is not just a worthy cause for environmentalism but for protecting and restoring their livelihoods. This method of engagement has extended beyond those who rely on fishing for work, empowering other community members to get involved with raising awareness and participating in sponsored coastal clean-up events.

One method of raising awareness includes a wider team approach—Swim for the Sanctuary, a cooperative initiative with the Jamaica Inn Foundation, has become a widely loved annual event, bringing hundreds of swimmers to the waters in support of White River’s important work. The open-water swimming event not only builds on the community’s existing love for the waters, but also gives White River an important platform to talk about their work—and physically point to the area they work to protect. This year’s event is scheduled for November 2, 2024.

“We get to talk about how important this is for the tourist industry, but also, it’s a way to get Jamaicans swimming—a lot of Jamaicans don’t swim, and we should be swimming,” Belinda shared. “We have wonderful water; we’re surrounded here. We’ve had people come to us after the event to say they’re glad they went out because they were frightened of going out in the deep sea. A huge part of Swim for the Sanctuary is to bring more swimming to the local area.”

It’s an immersive strategy that simultaneously raises awareness and builds appreciation for the waters and the marine species that live within them. Belinda and White River envision that the success of this event will only continue to grow.

“We see this moving forward not just for the Jamaicans but also, we’re looking to get more international swimmers here and get on to the international calendar for a swim event,” she said.

Belinda also shared that the ultimate benefit of the Sanctuary’s work thus far extends past the restoration of the coral and fish species—it’s the commitment they’ve seen in the local fishing community to attend the meetings, grow their knowledge, and share their learning with others.

“It’s very much a community effort,” she said. “It’s a powerful partnership between the Sanctuary and the fishing community.”

As for the at-risk marine life, the White River community sees a bright future ahead. Using methods established in Jamaica, they can grow and nurture out-planted coral in a five-phase Coral Restoration Program. In addition to sharing new restoration methods and techniques with other experts in the field, White River is working to bring a more resilient marine future to shore.

“We’re buying time for nature on the frontline, but we can’t do it without everyone’s support. Wherever you are, you can have an impact,” said Felix.