Project Report
| Feb 9, 2023
White River Fish Sanctuary - Update #9
By Reanne McKenzie | Sanctuary Manager
![Anniversary Save The Date]()
Anniversary Save The Date
The WRFS team spent 2022 collecting data. We did a marine assesment of the sanctuary to check our fish biomass, water quality and coral cover. We also performed a river water quality study to the nearby White River. This data helps us to understand the prioirty issues to inclde in our mamagement plans. The WRFS team is committed to restoration an dconservation of our local natural resources and the community.
And the good news is, our fish biomass has incresed by approximately 55% :)
The year 2023 has started off with excitement! On February 8th 2023, the WRFS team celebrated our 5 year establishment with a luncheon party with our community! We shared beautiful memories of the past five years, our success and our future goals. We hope to continue on this journey to restore Jamaica's marine enviornment. We also want to send the biggest thank you to those who send donations as these things keep us going. Photographs of the event will be shared on our social meida. Stay tuned.
Cheers to the future of the White River Fish Sanctuary!
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Oct 12, 2022
White River Fish Sanctuary - Update #8
By Reanne McKenzie | Sanctuary Manager
The WRFS is almost to our 5 year goal of planting 5000 Staghorn corals! The team has 653 more pieces to plant out. This may sound like alot, but we plan to achieve our goal by the end of 2022. The team is especially excited to reach this goal. Funds from he GlobalGiving platform are helping our team members to check our coral outplants bi-weekly to ensure that they are survivng and thriving. All good so far!
The WRFS had unfortunately been victim to theft this quarter. Our boat engine was stolen from the patrol boat one night. The community was devastated and angry, and we felt like it was a retaliation from one of our court cases. However, we understand the importance of our work and will not let such a terrible mishap ruin our good work. Funds from our GlobalGiving platform was a HUGE help in purchasing a new engine to continue our patrols within a few weeks. The work must continue and the team is now more motivated than ever to protect the sanctuary.
Our five year anniversary of operations is coming up on November 2nd 2022. Fiver years of hard work, dedication and support from everyone involved in making the WRFS a success. In light of our anniversary, the team is conducting a marine assessment to scientifically conculde whether there has been an increase in fish number and size since 2017 when the sanctuary started. The team feels positive that we have achieved everything we set out to do. Results will be shard by the end of year.
Thank you to everyone for the continued support!
Links:
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
Jun 16, 2022
White River Fish Sanctuary - Update #7
By Reanne McKenzie | Sanctuary Manager
![]()
Thanks to donations, we have been able to add more coral trees to our nurseries. Each tree holds 96 pieces of coral, and we have added 4 more trees, that is 384 more corals added to our coral nurseries. These new trees are growing both types of corals grown within the sanctuary - Staghorn and Elkhorn coral!
Because the WRFS has started making our own delineation buoys, which turned out to be a success; more of the funds will be allocated to making more of those buoys. This allows the team to make a more prominent boundary line out at sea, with buoys that are closer together
Funds this quarter were also allocated to a large Labour Day Clean up and beautification project. Community members and volunteers helped clean the river, beach, planted flowers as well as painted a wall with a message for beach visitors. The day ended with food and a football game amongst fishermen and youngsters.
![]()
![]()
Links:
![Share on Twitter]()
![Share on Facebook]()
