I have always been told not to eat parrotfish (perrico) by my dive friends. I looked it up.
Here are 3 reasons why we should immediately stop the consumption of parrotfish.
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!
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.
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. |
