SEA, SAND AND A TERRIBLE STING-
What are fire corals and stonefish? Can you identify them? Do you know that these marine creatures, which wash up on our shores every year during Easter time can inflict severe pain should you get stung?...
Sargassum – A Visitor to Our Beaches
While we are home, another visitor is washing up on our beaches, the Sargassum seaweed....
Happy 2020 Easter
On behalf of the Board of Governors and Management of the Institute of Marine Affairs, I extend Easter Greetings 2020 to all....
The Importance of Gender Equality to Marine Sciences at the IMA
From the brackish waterways dotted with hectares of healthy mangroves on Trinidad’s shorelines to scenic underwater seascapes of coral reefs in Tobago, female scientists at the Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA), alongside their male colleagues, continue to dedicate their time and efforts to conserve our precious marine and coastal resources. ...
Wetland Biodiversity: Why It matters?
Prepared by Dr. Rahanna Juman, Director (Ag.) Institute of Marine Affairs As the world commemorates World Wetlands Day on February 2nd with the theme ‘Wetland Biodiversity: Why its Matters’, a December 2019 publication by Diaz et al in Science revealed that most indicators of the state of nature, whether monitored by natural and social scientists or by indigenous peoples and local communities, are declining. Consequently, nature’s capacity to provide crucial benefits has also declined, including environmental processes underpinning human health and non-material contributions to the quality of human life. These trends in nature and its contributions to people are projected to worsen in the coming decades, unless rapid and integrated action is taken to...
Coral Bleaching Outlook for Trinidad and Tobago
August 22nd 2019 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coral Reef Watch have released the latest coral bleaching outlook for the next four months (August to November) for the Caribbean region. (https://coralreefwatch.noaa.gov/vs/gauges/trinidad_tobago.php). According to this, Trinidad and Tobago’s, coral bleaching stress gauge is currently at “Watch Level.” This means that the waters around Tobago are above average sea surface temperature (SST) for this time of year. NOAA predicts that over the next 5 - 8 weeks, Tobago and the rest of the Lesser Antilles have a 60 % chance of reaching “Bleaching Alert Level One,” (high likelihood of coral bleaching), while the outlook for next 9 – 12 weeks indicates a 60 % chance of...
6th Community Research Symposium
Fishing communities across the length and breadth of our nation are facing a number of challenges that take many forms – from coastal development limiting access to the shoreline, conflicts with other resource users, pollution from land-based runoff, oil spills, to overexploitation of resources. According to Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Planning and Development, Ms. Joanne Deoraj, these challenges adversely place our local coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses and coral reefs at risk while rendering fish and other seafood unfit to eat, and impacting livelihoods. Delivering the feature address at the Institute of Marine Affairs’ (IMA) 6th Community Symposium, which...
