White River Fish Sanctuary

22/09/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/GwmJDXRyUHJ9MtQX/?mibextid=WC7FNe

The Jamaica Inn Foundation is dedicated to supporting our local community by helping with youth education, wellbeing, and preserving our marine environment 🌊🐠🐚

Explore our website to learn more: https://www.jamaicainn.com/jamaica-inn-foundation/

23/12/2020

🎶We fish you a merry Christmas. We fish you a mery Christmas. We fish you a mery Christmas and a flappy new year! 🎶 🎄✨This year Christmas is going to the fish! Global giving offers gift cards for your loved ones as a way to give to their (or soon to be their) favourite fish sanctuary and coral nursary (https://www.globalgiving.org/gifts/).

Or, if you would like to give directly to the WRFS, visit our global giving page here: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-jamaican-fishermen-to-restore-coral-reefs/

And with a donation we will send you a certificate of recognition for your generous support. And next time you come to Ja pay us a visit! 🐟🐠🦐🐙🦪🏊🌅⛱️🛶

Give the gift of giving on GlobalGiving.

27/05/2020

This is a video from the previous year, but we want to share as this is such an amazing experience. These turtles are tiny but they are so strong. They will have climbed up approximately 2 feet and now have to make their way across the beach, hoping to avoid crabs, birds or other prey. Females should be back to lay in about 12 years.
We should have our first hatching toward the end of June! With the covid-19 lockdown, the beaches are darker and quieter than usual, so we expect lots of nests.
🐢

Thanks to Jamaica Inn for sponsoring the turtle protection project

18/03/2020

Dear friends and family of WRFS! We want to congratulate all of you for taking the initiative to support our operations this month and in the past. We are proud to announce that we have reached our 5000 dollar goal with still eight days left to go in the Accelerator program! This means more support for our operations to empower fishermen to protect marine-life, restore coral reefs and ENGAGE the wider community.

Our weekly Monday meetings promotes environmental stewardship and provides an open space to share ideas, concerns and solutions regarding the environment. We also host a Ocean Literacy programme where community members can sharpen their numeracy and literacy skills while gaining widespread environmental knowledge.
Recently our wardens and other WR fishermen were able to participate in a Team Jamaica training, which gave a better understanding of hygiene, customer service, Jamaica's geography and much more.

We have also started a community-based project investigating sources of pollution into the White River and better practices as a community to reduce the environmental impact. We'd also like to take this time to thank our volunteers for their commitment to the cause!

In order for us to continue the necessary community engagement, it would be amazing if YOU could help us get to our NEW goal of $7500 dollars! https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-jamaican-fishermen-to-restore-coral-reefs/

Today is Accelerator Day on Global Giving! Which means that for every monthly recurring donor, Global Giving will match the initial monthly donation! Please consider this option: If you are planning to donate, breaking down the donation into monthly donations for at least 4 months, to help us increase the amount of money raised during this Accelerator Day. For ex: If you are thinking of donating 40 dollars, please consider becoming a monthly donor of 10 dollars.

We said good bye to 3 volunteers nick stevens and jeffrey chang from peace corps and Jordon Oelke. Thanks for all your time and effort.

Most importantly, we wish everyone good health and wellbeing during this time, and good luck in their income generation while the tourism industry temporary shuts down. WRFS will be looking to support the White River community as they deal with the difficult economic circumstances unfolding.

WRFS Team

At the White River Fish Sanctuary (the WRFS) we recognize that our best chance of renewing lost fish populations and coral reefs is to partner with those persons most connected to the Sea. By partnering with local fishermen in protecting 150 acres of the marine area in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the WRFS h...

14/03/2020

CORAL RESTORATION UPDATE!: Today we are highlighting the RESTORE aspect of our three-part motto:

WRFS has implemented a second nursery with approx. 1200 pieces of coral (Elkhorn and Staghorn). The nursery is in the eastern section of the sanctuary near ‘shipwreck’ and so a visit to this nursery for any diver or snorkeler is also a chance to see a sunken ship. In this nursery, we looked for deeper water (approx. 30 ft) to avoid nurseries being destroyed from high wave energy. We incorporated a mix of line and tree nurseries similar to nursery 1. A first for us is a bamboo nursery put out three weeks ago to test out a green solution to our plastic tree nurseries.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, there was a disruption in our restoration, including our coral outplant cycle. A lengthy three week storm in January dismantled many of our tree nurseries at nursery 1 near Hermosa Cove. More significantly, our restoration efforts were hit hard by a bleaching event back in November – corals expel the algae living within them which they depend on for food due to high stress levels (YES CORALS CAN GET STRESSED OUT TOO!) caused by rising ocean temperatures.

Some corals survived and have recovered and new algae have re-entered their tissues. We are betting on the resiliency of the surviving corals to adapt to warmer temperatures and pass their traits onto the corals we grow from them. Mourings will also shortly be placed nearby our nurseries and outplant sites to encourage boats to tie themselves rather than anchor and potentially damage the reef.

The corals have now reached a mature enough stage where we will out plant them onto the reef. In identifying ideal out plant sights, we seek to reduce the competition that the out plants would face on the reefs such as corallivorous snails, fireworms, algae and damsel fish (who ‘farm’ coral by nibbling on a piece of coral to create a space where algae will grow from which they eat). There is now an accompanying monitoring protocol for our outplants (done every 6 weeks) to track growth rate, health and overall contribution to the reef area.

Remember if you have not already to show your support for the WRFS and our efforts to include the White River community in our coral restoration projects by donating to our Global Giving page:
https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-jamaican-fishermen-to-restore-coral-reefs/.

We expecially appreciate it if you interact with the sanctuary often, benefits from our work, or would just like to became a monthly donor to give us continual support. We are now 90 % of the way to our $5000 goal and could use your support in reaching it. Donate today! .

-WRFS Team

11/03/2020

SANCTUARY UPDATE:

WRFS has been busy for the past few months working hard to Protect, Restore & Engage to achieve our target of 500% fish increase (size and numbers) in 5 years. We are hi-lighting the Protect aspect of our motto:

The wardens whom are all fishermen are crucial to the protection of the 'no take zone'. Their continual training affords the sanctuary better protection as they become more proficiently and confident. We meet with the marine police weekly. Strengthening our partnership with the Marine police has sent a positive message to would-be perpetrators.

Boats anchoring on or near the reef can be most destructive. We have added 4 mooring with another 3 for bigger boats to be deployed.

All this is only possible through your support, whether through donations, volunteering, sharing our story, or offering expertise and wide spread media coverage. It is greatly appreciated. Thank you, the White River Fish Sanctuary team.

https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/empower-jamaican-fishermen-to-restore-coral-reefs/

Hand go pocket come (Jamaican proverb) = encouragement strengthens labor

At the White River Fish Sanctuary (the WRFS) we recognize that our best chance of renewing lost fish populations and coral reefs is to partner with those persons most connected to the Sea. By partnering with local fishermen in protecting 150 acres of the marine area in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, the WRFS h...

17/09/2019

Onwards and upwards! White River Fish Sanctuary takes centre stage in how coral reefs in Jamaica can be healed. Click on the link for the full story.

OCHO RIOS, Jamaica (AP) — Everton Simpson squints at the Caribbean from his motorboat, scanning the dazzling bands of color for hints of what lies beneath. Emerald green indicates sandy bottoms....

07/07/2019

A magical moment with one of our sanctuary residents.....

02/04/2019

Thank you for sharing your experience Emma Caroline Lewis. We are all very pleased to learn of the wonderful impact your visit had.

Sometimes life throws you into a learning curve. You have to reassess your attitudes and beliefs. I have stepped onto so many of these curves recently that I am feeling physically and mentally exhausted.

13/02/2019

WE NEED YOU! Our sincere thanks to diver Diane for her comments on fish traps she saw inside the Sanctuary. We will follow that up. As WRFS relies on grants, private donors and a few volunteers there is a limit to what we can fund our wardens and manager to do. If you see illegal fishers or fish pots or anything that seems not right then please call us on 876-859-3835 or 876-564-8118, or email [email protected] all the details (time, date, approx. location, etc. and, if you can, take photos and send them too). Together we can do better.