Agreement to Regulate Fishing and Restore Reefs in Punta Cana

Agreement to Regulate Fishing and Restore Reefs in Punta Cana
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 9/25/2011

The Puntacana Group,  through its Punta Cana Ecological Foundation, Cap Cana, Fishing Lodge and the Dominican Fishing and Aquiculture Council (CODOPESCA in Spanish) have signed an agreement to train and organize fishermen on the East Coast of the Dominican Republic and to create work alternatives to fishing integrated with sustainable tourism.

The project will begin with a program of monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing in the region.

The objective of the agreement is to implement a Fishery Conservation Plan through an agreement for the co-management of fishing resources along the shoreline, in particular in areas near the Puntacana and Cap Cana, in association with people involved in fishing industry in the area.

The project will begin with a program of monitoring, control and surveillance of fishing in the region.

There will be research support and development in addition to backing for graduate and post graduate studies on issues related to fishing and the coastal areas. They will also facilitate the use of interns and technical visits from university graduates and/or graduates from other related institutions.

Likewise, the undertaking of joint activities such as gathering and analyzing biological-fishing and/or aquiculture of interest in the decision-making process are contemplated for plans of action among the signatories of the agreement as well as the design of methodological locales for the organization of the fishing industry in the Dominican Republic, in particularly along the coast of Punta Cana.

The Dominican Republic is the fastest growing tourism destination in the Caribbean in large part due to its beautiful coastal ecosystems.

In 2004, the need to protect the marine environment propelled the Puntacana Group,through its Puntacana Ecological Foundation, to create the Alliance for Economically Sustainable Fishing Areas (PESCA in Spanish), a long-term collaboration project that seeks to balance continued development and growth, sustainability and the health and welfare of coastal areas and coral reefs as well as the needs of the local shareholders.

PESCA projects include: reestablishing costal systems and coral reefs, sustainable administration of the fishing industry, conservation of endangered species, monitoring water quality, development of alternative labor options for local fishermen.

The Dominican Republic is the fastest growing tourism destination in the Caribbean in large part due to its beautiful coastal ecosystems. Punta Cana, without a doubt, is the most popular tourism destination in the country with the largest coral reef barriers in the DR and with extremely fertile waters for the production of coral fish and deep sea marine animals.

Ironically, although the local tourism industry depends on these unique natural resources to attract tourists from around the world, certain practices in the region threaten to destroy these same delicate ecosystems that attract people to the area.

The Alliance for Economically Sustainable Fishing Areas (PESCA) recognizes the urgency with which these programs must be implemented for sustainable and effective coastal management and hopes they will be a model for the whole region to protect these precious natural resources.

PESCA is an exceptional coalition, public as well as private, represented by government agencies (CODOPESCA: the Dominican Fishing and Aquiculture Council, and the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources), private companies (Puntacana Group, Fishing Lodge, Club Med, Cap Cana and the Association of Hotels of Altagracia Province) and local shareholders (The Association of Fishermen of Juanillo).

PESCA also has international partners who provide technical and scientific knowledge including Reef Check, the School of Marine and Atmospheric Science of the University of Miami, Counterpart International and the Institute of Fishing Companies of the Caribbean and the Gulf. With this joint effort, PESCA has the leadership ability, technical capacity and dedication to successfully evaluate and implement administration programs for the benefit of coastal areas.