BY JULIA RAWLINS-BENTHAM | SEP 15, 2023 |
(FP)
Barbados’ sea egg season remains closed, and members of the public are being urged to refrain from placing orders or harvesting the sea eggs, which are still in their juvenile stage.
This plea has come from Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr. Shelly-Ann Cox, who underscored the importance of leaving the young sea urchins to repopulate before they are harvested. A failure to do so, she cautioned, would result in juvenile sea eggs being harvested, and a further depletion in the population.
Dr. Cox said she had received reports of several divers being contacted by people placing orders for sea eggs, following the circulation of an old video showing sea eggs on the Consett Bay jetty, which suggested that the season was open.
However, the Chief Fisheries Officer made it clear that the season remains closed as the number of sea eggs observed were not substantial, and were mainly juveniles.
An indefinite ban on the harvesting of sea eggs was passed in 2005, and requires a Cabinet decision for the season to be made open. Dr. Cox said that decision usually comes following a recommendation from the Fisheries Division, if a substantial number of sea eggs are discovered following an annual survey.
