Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Caribbean Development Trends

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Agribusiness
    • Antigua and Barbuda
    • Barbados
    • BehaviorChange
    • Belize
    • Bermuda
    • biodiversity
    • Blockchain
    • Caribbean
    • Caribbean Culture and Media
    • Climate Change
    • Creative Economy
    • Crime Prevention and Citizen Security
    • Data and Knowledge
    • De-risking
    • Dominica
    • Dutch
    • Early Childhood Development
    • Economic Growth
    • Education Policy
    • energy
    • entrepreneurship
    • Environmental and Climate Change
    • Events
    • Extractives
    • Finance
    • Fiscal Rules
    • gender
    • Governance and Regulatory Policy Reforms
    • Grenada
    • Guyana
    • Haiti
    • Health
    • Health Policy
    • Hurricane
    • Hurricane Irma
    • infrastructure
    • Innovation and change
    • Intellectual Property
    • IWD
    • Jamaica
    • JumpCaribbean
    • Labor
    • Labour Markets
    • MOOC
    • Music
    • Natural Disasters
    • Nurturing Institutions
    • OECS
    • Podcast
    • Poverty
    • Private Sector and Entrepreneurship
    • Saint Kitts and Nevis
    • Saint Lucia
    • Saint Vincent and Grenadines
    • skills
    • Sports for Development
    • Suriname
    • Technology
    • The Bahamas
    • The Blue Economy
    • Transportation
    • Tourism
    • Trinidad and Tobago
    • Uncategorized
    • VAWG
    • Webinar
    • women
    • Women for Change
    • youth
  • Country Offices
    • Bahamas
    • Barbados
    • Guyana
    • Jamaica
    • Suriname
    • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Press Releases
    • Bahamas
    • Barbados
    • Guyana
    • Jamaica
    • Suriname
    • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Authors

3 Reasons why you should stop eating Parrotfish

July 11, 2016 by Rachel Boyce Leave a Comment


Image source: Wikicommons

After living in Jamaica for five years, every time I visit for work, I try to squeeze in whatever time I have to say hello to friends.

On my last visit, I was very fortunate to have meetings on both sides of the weekend allowing me to spend my off days in a familiar place with familiar people. My friends and I decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity and head east to Hellshire, a popular Jamaican hang out spot along the coast, known for its fresh fish and other seafood done to order. To my great surprise, or rather disappointment, my friends all requested “parrotfish”, without remorse.

To many consumers, parrotfish is a saccharine delight, which in Jamaica is usually prepared whole and either fried, steamed or brown stewed. To ichthyologists, parrotfish are colorful and insatiable herbivores that spend around 90% of their day eating algae off of coral reefs. To environmentalists, parrotfish are sand machines, turning the coral they eat into … you guessed it: sand!

What I found was that my friends, who form part of the consumer group described above, did not intend to infuriate environmentalists. They simply did not understand the impact of their “delights” on the environment and the importance of preserving this species. This blog is what I tried to convey in my discussion with them.

Here are 3 reasons why we should immediately stop the consumption of parrotfish.

  1. The first one was already mentioned. Parrotfish “discharge” up to 100 kg of white sand a year for every year of their lives. Larger parrotfish are like sand factories, producing upwards of a tonne of sand per year. The University of Exeter found that parrotfish produced more than 85% of the new sand-grade sediment on the reefs in the Maldives. When we consider the impact over thousands of years, imagine the amount of beautiful white sand parrotfish can produce if they were allowed to live and not consumed. This is very important in avoiding beach erosion. Worms, sponges, and oysters also produce Pacific Ocean sand, but no animal is as proficient as the parrotfish. This also becomes irrelevant when we consider that Jamaica is not in the Pacific!
  2. Parrotfish are also essential to the survival of coral as they act as ‘natural cleaners’ of parasites that grow on it. Without the help of the parrotfish, the coral would simply die. According to a 2012 study, the loss of parrotfish disturbs the delicate balance of coral ecosystems and allows algae, on which they feed, to smother the reefs. The study also found that Caribbean corals have declined by more than 50 percent since the 1970s and may disappear in the next 20 years as a direct result of the loss of parrotfish and sea urchins — the area’s two main grazers — and not primarily as a result of climate change, as is widely believed. The study further shows that some of the healthiest Caribbean coral reefs are those in areas where governments “have restricted or banned fishing practices that harm parrotfish, such as fish traps and spearfishing”. These include the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda and Bonaire.
  3. Last but not least, let us consider the economy. A 2015 study noted that the direct contribution of travel and tourism to GDP in Jamaica was JMD128.3bn (8.1% of total GDP) in 2014, and was forecast to rise by 4.7% in 2015, and to rise by 4.6% pa, from 2015-2025 to JMD211.2bn (11.6% of total GDP) in 2025. Another study describes the importance of coral reefs to the people and economy of Jamaica. It shows what most of us already know: Coral reefs help to build and protect Jamaica’s beautiful white sand beaches, which attract tourists from around the world. Reefs provide critical habitat for Jamaica’s artisanal and industrial fisheries and also protect Jamaica’s coastline — including coastal communities and tourist hotels — from the destructive force of tropical storms. In other words, eating parrotfish has a direct impact on the economy. Tourists travel to Jamaica for much more than reggae music and delirious, irie ‘rastas’; the diaspora takes care of that! They travel for the sand and the sea. Tourism depends on the beaches, and the beaches depend on the coral, all made possible by this voracious species. By consuming parrotfish we rob the beaches of their sand, and in turn, harm the economy.

Source: Ramon Zamora

Caribbean reefs generate more than US$3 billion annually from tourism and fisheries. For years, there have been discussions on taking strong action for ocean conservation, not just for saving parrotfish, but also for establishing marine reserves. While it has been proven that restrictions and other bans on parrotfish capture have helped protect the environment, we cannot just patiently wait for the laws to change.  When our habitat is affected, we are affected, and when the economy faces challenges, the effects will certainly be upon us and future generations. Just like my friends – after a better understanding of the issue – vowed never to have parrotfish again, I hope that you too decide to forego parrotfish in the future. Red snapper, maybe?

Source: Rachel Boyce

The Agrimonitor initiative has also decided to do its part and expand its scope to include the monitoring of policies that regulate and support the fisheries sector. The first worldwide application of the Producer Support Estimate methodology to fisheries is about to be implemented and the first country to be analyzed could not come from anywhere else than the Caribbean. Stay tuned for news from The Bahamas in the upcoming months!


Filed Under: Climate Change & Environment, Economy & Investment, Innovation and change, Jamaica Tagged With: Caribbean development, Fishing industry, Jamaica, sustainability, Sustainable consumption

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Caribbean Dev Trends

We provide unique and timely insights on the Caribbean and its political, social, and economic development. At the IDB, we strive to improve lives in the Caribbean by creating vibrant and resilient economies where people are safe, productive and happy.

Similar posts

  • How we can save Caribbean Coral Reefs and why we should
  • Grenada: The Hottest Place to Escape the Cold
  • Defining a Clear Tourism Brand
  • Brexit Effects after All? : The Case of Jamaica
  • Tourism – A Post Card from the Caribbean

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Copyright © 2025 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube