Three-week Summer research cruise coming
The Sustainable Grenadines Project will launch its summer research cruise through the Grenadines with a Press Conference to be held at the St Vincent Fisheries Division Complex in Kingstown this coming Monday August 17, 2009 at 9 a.m.{{more}}
The cruise will be officially launched by Montgomery Daniel, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The Press Conference will also be addressed by Phillip Jackson, Science and Technology Coordinator; and leader of the cruise expedition, Kimberly Baldwin, a PhD researcher with the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill.
This three-week research cruise will identify and document critical marine-life habitats such as reefs, seagrasses, and mangroves through SCUBA diving and the use of a live-action drop camera that can descend to 250 ft. Data gathered through these methods will be combined to create a first-of-its-kind 3-D underwater map of the Grenada Bank. Local knowledge will not be left out as members of the communities will be asked to identify areas important for conservation and the livelihoods of the Grenadine people through a series of on-land consultations when the cruise stops in Bequia, Mustique, Canouan, Mayreau, Union Island, Petit Martinique and Carriacou.
This cruise expedition falls within Baldwinâs PhD research project. The Marine Resource and Space-use Information System (MarSIS) project brings will aid planning and management in the Grenadines marine environment in order to preserve it for future generations. Furthermore this research and development of the MarSIS will lay the foundation for the designation of the island chain as a World Heritage Site.