Four Puerto Plata institutions have signed an agreement to back the campaign “Save the Parrotfish” as an innovative initiative to preserve the fish that is in danger of extinction and also is essential for the conservation of coral reefs.
The agreement is a continuation of the project “Understanding the ecology and social perceptions of fisheries that are commercially important for the development of education strategies and fulfillment of long term laws to back sustainable fishing between Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
The institutions that signed the agreement are: Instituto Oceanográfico James H. Ross, the Association of Hotels, Restaurants and Tourism Companies of the North (Ashonorte), the Institute for Social Ecological Research (ISER) and the Ministry of Environment office in Puerto Plata. The agreement was signed by Juan Francisco Payero Brisso, Tatty La Hoz, Allen Campos and the Ministry of Environment representative and will last through September 2018.
The entities will conduct a joint “Save the Parrotfish” campaign to discourage the consumption of this ecologically important fish. The campaign will first target students in the Puerto Plata area. Workshops will offer information about the link between parrotfish, lionfish and the health of coral reefs. A second phase of the campaign will focus on encouraging Puerto Plata restaurants to obey the law and not serve parrot fish for the next two years. The ban began in June 2017. Instead of parrotfish, the restaurants commit to promote dishes served with lion fish, an invasive species.
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El Dia
19 February 2018
