The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas is failing to “sustainably manage’ its natural resources, with current harvesting methods threatening to undermine a $1.2 million project to revive the Bahamian sponging industry,

The Inter-American Development Bank’s Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), in a report detailing the project and its potential impact, said Bahamian sponge fishermen were tearing sponges off the seabed, rather than allowing them to regenerate over a two-five year period by cutting them.

“The central problem is that the natural capital of the Bahamas is not being sustainably managed,” the MIF report, obtained by Tribune Business, said.

“Sponges are a key form of natural capital in the Bahamas, and play an important role in coastal ecosystems, especially in a time of climate change and ocean acidification. They also serve as sources of income for low-income populations who harvest and sell them.

“The sustainability of the sponge population in the Bahamas is currently threatened, as spongers frequently do not follow good practices, and hook or pull the sponge out of the seafloor. It is a common practice of sponge harvesting which threatens the future of the industry because it prevents regeneration of the sponges,” the report added.

“Sponges should be harvested by cutting, which leaves the base of the sponge to regrow, reaching harvestable size again in two to five years. A lack of sustainability in the sponge industry is the first problem, with important negative effects on biodiversity and ecosystem services. A sponge population collapse would also negatively impact the incomes of low-income sponge harvesters.”

The MIF project aims to counter this trend, and increase the incomes of Andros sponge fishermen, by working through the newly-formed Bahamas Commercial Spongers Association (BCSA) to drag the industry into higher margin, more profitable processing activities.

“The objective at the results level is to provide local spongers with a larger portion of revenues from sponging by utilising the Bahamas Commercial Spongers Association to consolidate sponge processing, and to link the spongers to markets and buyers,” the MIF report said.

“The project will also increase the area of seafloor in which sponges are being sustainably managed, supporting biodiversity.”

Another target is for the BCSA to develop partnerships with the tourism and fishing industries, the project document added.

“The project will help spongers receive more revenue per sponge harvested by shortening the time between harvest and sale, providing technical assistance to improve product quality, and consolidating processing for spongers and linking to market buyers,” the MIF report said.

“Spongers will be members of the BCSA and will benefit both from being paid a competitive price for the raw sponge, and from receiving a share of the revenue from the processing and direct commercialisation done by the BCSA.

“It is expected that through the project, spongers who work with the BCSA will increase their sales price from $0.60 to $0.80 per sponge, an increase of 33 per cent.”

The report added: “In addition, to maintain sales volumes, having researched the most profitable types of sponges, the project will train spongers on how to farm, harvest and process them properly and sustainably.

“The BCSA will earn revenues from member fees and/or from receiving a portion of revenues from sponges processed and exported. Increased harvesting, processing and export of sponges as a result of the project will contribute to the BCSA’s value-added for its members and to its sustainability.”

The MIF initiative, which will be executed through the BCSA and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation (BAIC), aims to balance increased incomes and profitability with making the sponge ecosystem more sustainable.

“Spongers see sponges as a commodity, as they only capture value from the sale of the raw product. Spongers do not know how to farm or harvest sponges properly,” the MIF report said.

“This project will increase the sustainability of sponges as a form of natural capital, and will also help spongers increase the price they receive by allowing them to process the sponges, cutting out the middle-man, and more directly access national and international markets.

“A revitalised sponging industry will help to increase incomes in Andros, contributing to the alleviation of poverty, and reducing incentives to migrate to Nassau. A revitalized sponge industry could also attract new entrants who currently support themselves by fishing (and sometimes overfishing), and would therefore also relieve the pressure on commercial fishing in the area.”