Detecting, counting and following the giants of the sea: a review of monitoring methods for aquatic megavertebrates in the Caribbean

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (7) ◽  
pp. 545
Author(s):  
D. N. Castelblanco-Martínez ◽  
M. P. Blanco-Parra ◽  
P. Charruau ◽  
B. Prezas ◽  
I. Zamora-Vilchis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Photo Identification ◽  
Important Region ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Marine Megafauna

Abstract The Caribbean is a mega-diverse and bio-geographically important region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands, and surrounding coastlines. Among the billions of aquatic species inhabiting this region, the mega-vertebrates stand out for their social, economic and ecologic relevance. However, the Caribbean has been threatened by climate change, poverty, pollution, environmental degradation and intense growth of the tourism industry, affecting megafauna species directly and indirectly. Population monitoring plays a critical role in an informed conservation process and helps guide management decisions at several scales. The aim of the present review was to critically examine the methods employed for monitoring marine megafauna in the Caribbean, so as to create a framework for future monitoring efforts. In total, 235 documents describing protocols for the monitoring of sirenians, cetaceans, elasmobranchs, sea turtles and crocodilians in the Caribbean region, were reviewed. The methods included community-based monitoring (interviews, citizen science and fisheries monitoring), aerial surveys (by manned and unmanned aerial vehicles), boat-based surveys (including manta tow, and side-scan sonars), land-based surveys, acoustic monitoring, underwater surveys, baited remote underwater video, mark–recapture, photo-identification and telemetry. Monitoring efforts invested on aquatic megafauna in the Caribbean have been highly different, with some species and/or groups being prioritised over others. The present critical review provides a country-based overview of the current and emerging methods for monitoring marine megafauna and a critical evaluation of their known advantages, disadvantages and biases.

scholarly journals Arribazones de Sargassum en la costa norte occidental de Cuba

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30
Author(s):  
G. Arencibia-Carballo ◽  
J.M. Irañeta Batallán ◽  
J. Morell ◽  
A.R. Moreira González
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Caribbean Sea ◽  
Geographic Area ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Tidal Zone ◽  
The North ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
The Impact

The pelagic macroalgae finches of the Sargassum genus in the Caribbean Sea currently represent a very natural problem due to their negative impact on the tourism industry, fishing industry, the environment and society in general. This work presents an above report of Sargassum that occurred on the north western coast of the Cuban archipelago in March 2019. The macroalgae species identified in the tidal zone were Sargassum fluitans and S. natans, and the specific geographic area where the impact of the upheaval occurred was from the west of Matan-zas bay to Mariel bay. The finches of these macroalgae were cataloged with a moderate magnitude compared to other reports in the Mexican Caribbean and in the Dominican Republic. This order of magnitude was cataloged based on its covered area of 169.3 km and its distribution along the coast in large patches, but very fragmented, despite the prevailing winds from the first quadrant (from north to east) during this period. Other events of this type reported in Cuba and the Caribbean region are taken up and discussed. Keywords: Caribbean Sea, Sargassum fluitans, Sargassum natans, Cuba.

scholarly journals Labor Education in the Caribbean: A Critical Evaluation of Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad

2016 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 186-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danny Roberts ◽  
Lauren Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Labor Movement ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Union Movement ◽  
Union Leadership ◽  
The Caribbean

The achievements of the labor movement in the Caribbean are generally historicized without highlighting the contribution of labor colleges to the function and survivability of trade unions. For more than fifty years, labor colleges have played a critical role in developing the knowledge and skill sets of union members who had an interest in labor studies. Many will attribute the heydays of the Caribbean labor movement in the mid-1900s to the intellectual thrust given to the trade union movement by labor colleges. During this period, trade unions relied heavily on labor colleges for intellectual support and advice primarily on matters that required in-depth academic investigation. Support from the labor colleges enhanced the reputation of the labor movement by shifting popular notions that the trade union movement consisted only of the poor and illiterate working class. The effects of these parallel training activities have been positive for both the leadership of the trade union movement and the overall impact they have had on labor-management relationships. There has been a noted change in the pattern of trade union leadership where “the first generation leaders, considered by many as demagogic and messianic, have given way increasingly to a younger and more formally educated second and third generation leadership”.

scholarly journals Inclusive Sustainable Development in the Caribbean Region: Social Capital and the Creation of Competitive Advantage in Tourism Networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-126
Author(s):  
Babu George
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Competitive Advantage ◽  
Sustainable Tourism ◽  
Cooperative Networks ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Caribbean Tourism

In the mainstream parlance, tourism is constructed as conspicuous consumption for the exclusively chosen few. Historically, the term “inclusive” in the tourism industry was exclusively used with all-inclusive tourism. All-inclusive tourism is often quite an unethical approach and is probably the antithesis of inclusive development. Likewise, traditional definitions of sustainable tourism, too, did not stress enough of inclusiveness. The focus of sustainable tourism has been to ensure the sustenance of nature and culture and inclusiveness was just one of the conditions that would support this. This paper attempts to blueprint the idea of inclusive, sustainable tourism – which brings inclusion to sustainable development. Inclusion in the cooperative governance framework activates social capital and thereby, tourism businesses can gain lasting competitive advantage. A special mention about the challenges being faced by the Caribbean tourism destinations is given during the discussion. Caribbean tourism is criticized for its powerful thrust for everything that is unsustainable. The “third way” is gaining traction, but it also excludes certain important voices and stakeholders. For the Caribbean region, ending the Sun-Sea-Sand-Sex model of tourism altogether, all of a sudden is not only impractical but also unsustainable. So, the solutions should reform it with more and more inclusivity and sustainability elements. There is still hope, with a new generation of entrepreneurs armed with a combination of idealism survival spirits. Tourism is now at the center of the inclusive economic development paradigm in the Caribbean, more than ever before. During the discussion, certain myths about inclusive, sustainable tourism are demolished, too: say, it is not who controls tourism but how it is controlled which determines inclusiveness and sustainability; also, there is evidence emerging which indicate that even large scale private enterprises could advance inclusiveness and sustainability provided these results in their competitive advantage and increased profitability; finally, inclusiveness does not necessarily mean sustainability or vice versa. Keywords: Inclusive Sustainable Tourism, Ethics, Social Responsibility, Culture, Competitive Advantage, Cooperative Networks, Policy Framework.

African Caribbean Residents of Edinburgh in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Williams
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
African Caribbean ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries

Scotland is gradually coming to terms with its involvement in slavery and colonialism as part of the British Empire. This article places the spotlight on the lives of African Caribbean people who were residents of Edinburgh during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. I discuss their varied experiences and contributions: from runaways and men fighting for their freedom in the Scottish courts to women working as servants in city households or marrying into Edinburgh high society. The nineteenth century saw activism among political radicals from abolitionists to anticolonialists; some of these figures studied and taught at Edinburgh University. Their stories reflect the Scottish capital’s many direct connections with the Caribbean region.

Wind Power Assessment In The Caribbean Region Of Colombia, Using Ten-Minute Wind Observations And Era5 Data

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Andrés Gil Ruiz ◽  
Julio Eduardo Cañón Barriga ◽  
J. Alejandro Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Wind Power ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
The Caribbean

Wider Caribbean Region—A Pivotal Time to Strengthen Regional Instruments For Biodiversity Conservation

2008 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 499-530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Lausche
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Sustainable Management ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Global Environment Facility ◽  
Large Marine Ecosystem ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Specially Protected Areas

AbstractThe countries of the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) are linked economically by their transboundary living marine resources. The region is facing a continued decline of these resources. Science is improving our understanding of the human contributions to this decline, but national policies and programmes have not kept pace with this understanding. The Caribbean Regional Seas Programme and its Cartagena Convention and Protocols provide the regional legal framework for protection and sustainable management of the WCR's living marine and coastal resources. This article focuses on the Cartagena Convention's Protocol for biodiversity conservation, the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), arguing that governments and organizations need to significantly increase participation in this regional treaty regime to effectively address transboundary environmental challenges. A new initiative, the Global Environment Facility-supported Caribbean Large Marine Ecosystem project, will help in this effort. International policy supports strengthened regional seas programmes. It is now imperative for all levels and sectors to assist governments in strengthening this important treaty regime for biodiversity conservation in the Wider Caribbean Region.

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