On September 18, 2018, members of the Bahamas Protected project team submitted a Marine Protection Plan to the Government for expanding marine protected areas in the country in an effort to protect future jobs, safeguard the environment, and help protect food sources for The Bahamas.

According to information from the team, the plan will help the Government fulfill its pledge to protect 20 percent of the country’s seabed by 2020.

One of the major issues that Marine Protection Plan helps solve is the decline in our marine resources from a variety of negative impacts including climate change and poaching.

Fishers and others from around the country have been seeing declining fish stocks and noticing that they are catching less than before, and this plan aims to increase fish numbers throughout the country.

The team revealed that 7,355 people had signed a petition in support of marine protected areas, and those signatures were submitted along with the Marine Protection Plan. 

Pictured (from left) are as follows: Karen Panton, Executive Director of Bahamas Protected Areas Fund; Lakeshia Anderson, Director of Parks Bahamas National Trust (BNT); Casuarina McKinney-Lambert, Executive Director of Bahamas Reef Environment Educational Foundation (BREEF); Minister of the Environment and Housing the Hon. Romauld Ferreira; Lynn Gape, BNT Deputy Executive Director; Mrs. Patricia Minnis, Office of the Spouse; Janet Johnson, BNT President; Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources the Hon. Michael Pintard; Shenique Albury-Smith, Bahamas Director at The Nature Conservancy; Opposition Leader the Hon. Philip Davis; Eleanor Philips, Director at The Nature Conservancy, and Eric Carey BNT Executive Director. (Photo / Eric Rose)