Reef expert to present cruise impact on marine life
(CNS): Renowned marine scientist and coral reef expert Dr Tom Goreau will be visiting the Cayman Islands this month to join the line-up of speakers at next week’s Cruise Port Referendum Cayman (CPR) rally to help voters understand the threats associated with the development of cruise berthing facilities on marine environments. Goreau is the president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance and chief scientist at Blue Regeneration.
He has spent 65 years diving on coral reefs around the world and has first-hand experience of the impacts of dredging for ports across the region.
With just seven weeks to go before local voters are asked whether or not they want the next government to build an unspecified cruise facility here, the marine scientist will shed light on the true impact of a cruise port project on Cayman’s marine ecosystems, coastal resilience, and long-term sustainability.
Goreau has written over 150 scientific papers and pioneered groundbreaking research on coral reef restoration, climate stabilisation and ecosystem regeneration.
“With decades of experience advising UN agencies, governments, and conservation groups worldwide, his insights will provide critical environmental data to help voters make informed decisions about Cayman’s future,” a release from CPR said.
The CPR rally will be the only one planned before Election Day, when the three referendum questions will be put to the people of the Cayman Islands. They are:
- Should the Cayman Islands develop cruise berthing infrastructure?
- Do you support the introduction of a National Lottery in the Islands?
- Do you support the decriminalisation of the consumption and possession of small amounts of cannabis?
CPR, the non-profit that is campaigning for voters to say ‘no’ to berthing facilities, is urging everyone to come out to learn what risks such a project would pose.
The event will take place at Constitution Hall in George Town on the evening of Tuesday, 18 March, at 6:00pm. In addition to Goreau, there will be a number of local speakers. Regional economist Marla Dukharan will be talking about the economics of the cruise industry and questioning what it’s really worth.
- Fascinated 145%
- Happy 8430%
- Sad 166%
- Angry 16258%
- Bored 21%
- Afraid 31%
Category: Business, Marine Environment, Science & Nature, Tourism
I’m hoping for an “Only Fans” themed one.
where is the humane society in all of this? a port and mega cruise ships will kill the coral and marine species that depend oh the coral. I am sure that it is not a pleasant death. is the humane society only interested in feral cats that eat endangered species?
Not sure I see the relevance here?
Environmentalists are entitled to worry about damage to reefs and sea life.
But let’s have people worry more about damage to the quality of life and lack of infrastructure, in dealing with thousands invading our streets and beaches.
Cruise ship companies make the money not the ports of call, unless you are a very impoverished country which we are not. We do not need to destroy our marine and terrestrial environments to be a rest stop for cruise passengers.
The next Cayman Islands government needs to change it’s relationship and approach with the liners, by first rejecting the FCCA control narrative from the intermediary lobby bully, and second, by regulating access only to those liners/sub-brands that are fully-aligned with the Cayman Islands tourism product placement. In shunning the indifferent mass tourist liners, it reopens a closed door to the higher-end, high-spend cruise clients that we might want on our shores: Amandira at Sea, Silversea, Explora, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons, Seabourn, Viking, Atlas Ocean Voyages, Crystal, Scenic Luxury, and Oceania. On a case-by-case, aligning theme cruises, might also be considered, ie. The Jazz Cruise, Botti at Sea, etc. If less is more, and we mean it, gently close the open gate, and install a mutual experience vetting procedure.
Those companies plus regent seven seas will bring an upmarket clientele , who in their smaller numbers, will spend more in one month, than the entire Carnival trailer park masses put together , will spend in a year.
Roads will not be so crowded, higglers and drug dealers will lose their customers, and Cayman will regain some dignity as an exclusive destination.
Exactly- and we haven’t even tapped the emerging Arab market.
A mutual vetting process. How delightfully naive. Yes, I’m sure the multibillion-dollar cruise conglomerates, renowned for their deep moral integrity and unwavering commitment to environmental preservation, will eagerly submit themselves to a scrupulous review process by our ever-competent government officials.
I can see it now: a somber panel of government regulators, clad in starched white linen, nodding thoughtfully as the CEO of Explora Journeys delivers an impassioned PowerPoint presentation on their latest eco-friendly buffet waste disposal initiatives. Meanwhile, outside the meeting hall, a fleet of diesel-belching behemoths continues to dump human effluence into the Caribbean with all the grace of a malfunctioning septic tank.
She lets the silence stretch, then takes another languid sip of her drink.
Tell me, when the mutual vetting process inevitably swings in the opposite direction, and the cruise lines begin auditing us, how do we think that will go? Will they politely inquire as to whether our leadership possesses basic fiscal discipline? Will they conduct a qualitative assessment of political integrity? Perhaps a literacy test? No, no—I have it! They’ll be checking to see whether our regulators can successfully navigate a set of stairs without incident.
Imagine,the sheer horror of it. A government official, forced to justify themselves to an external body. A corporate external body. One with actual financial leverage. How utterly devastating.
I do love a good comedy. Do keep me informed of how this mutual arrangement unfolds. I suspect it will be a masterclass in unintended side effects/consequences.
Frankly, nobody in Cayman should care how the adversary feels. This is not America, and those bad actors shouldn’t hold any leverage at all over Cayman’s self determination. If Cayman’s next regime wants to set some minimum qualitative port authority reservation parameters they absolutely can, and should. It would be a giant leap forward for both visitors and residents, aligning with the ethos of quality over quantity. Mass cruise tourism leaving forever, would be met with a chorus of hallelujahs from both residents and priority stayover guests.