The Government of Montserrat and local partners have moved almost 300 corals from their location in Little Bay to Rendezvous Beach and Carrs Bay.
The coral relocation is part of the Montserrat Port Development Project which aims to deliver a new jetty for the island by 2024.
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Due to the dredging of the area to increase the depth for construction of the port, it was recommended that the corals be removed to protect them for further damage. Corals are already at risk due to Stony Coral Tissue Loss, a disease affecting reefs across the Caribbean.
Initially, 85 corals in Little Bay and around the Potato Hill coastline were marked and budgeted for in the project plan. However, after further scoping by Scuba Montserrat and other environmentalists, an additional 200 corals were identified as needing to be moved. Coral reefs are a part of Montserrat’s tourism product and help to attract fishes, turtles and other sea creatures.
The relocation of the final 200 corals was completed this week by the team from Scuba Montserrat. It involved using small chisels to break the rock around the corals and moving them by boat to Rendezvous where they were released on the ocean bead.
More information on this project and the relocation of the fishing boat moorings in Little Bay will be shared at the upcoming Town Hall Meeting on Monday June 5, 2023 at 5PM at the Brades Arts and Education Centre. Dr Harriette Stone, Chartered Civil Engineer, International Development, will bring greetings from the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. The project team will present project progress updates.
