What's the deal with millionaires and anchoring on the reef?

[CheddarChick]

Gees makes me sick.....

 

[fireflock]

Just curious, but why do you think that the people anchoring on the reef were millionaires?

It seems more likely that they were crew members, probably without a substantial net worth.

It's too bad that the reef was damaged, but it seems like it would be relatively easy to enforce any applicable laws in a case like this.

 

[RTBDiver]

seems like it would be relatively easy to enforce any applicable laws in a case like this.

You obviously are not at all with the legal and business systems in Honduras. There are a lot of things that may not appear complicated but rest assured, there is a lot that is not easy

 

[fireflock]

No, I'm not. Please educate me.

Why do they expect people to respect their laws if they don't have a system in place to (a) make people aware of them or (b) enforce them. It's not like the boat snuck out there in the dead of night and their identity wasn't secret.

Are there any laws or regulations against anchoring in this spot?

How can you have a functioning marine park without the personal and legal foundation to enforce the boundaries?

Like I said, it's very sad to see nice reef destroyed.

 

[Bay Island Diver]

And after all this pissing contest, or whatever, I do admit I got off topic a bit with the deet thing but once again, I ask about Deet and the marine park guy replies about sunscreen and pee??
From my first post on this topic the RMP suggested I email them directly, I have, a few times and got no response, I emailed another RMP person at another email, No response.

It seems to me you that you have completely misunderstood the reason we set up the marine park organisation in the first place. It aimed to tackle:

1. Poaching/Illegal fishing practices
2. Anchoring/Anchor Damage
3. The lack of knowledge the local population has about reef health and how they impact it.

To criticise an organisation for not combating other terrestrial issues shows a lack of understanding with regard to its purpose. As you can see, the park is already so busy trying to make headway on its existing priorities there is no time to respond to many emails, lets no encourage them to spread themseleves even thinner! An NGO which aims to achieve TOO MUCH will be ineffective at most of what it does, one which stays focused will at least (hopefully) be effective in those endeavors.

 

[diversteve]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

The deet discussion has been moved to it's own thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/bay-islands/285403-deet-other-pesticides-hurting-reef.html

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[georoc01]

When we were at Ambrigis Caye a couple of weeks ago, we passed these yahts that were all impounded by the Belizean authorities for doing similar acts. They impound the boat, arrest the captain and then lay such a large fine that the boat owner ends up just forfeiting the boat rather than pay the fine.

Its a shame Honduras wouldn't take a similar approach to protect such a important asset.

 

[RTBDiver]

Its a shame Honduras wouldn't take a similar approach to protect such a important asset

Yep, it's a shame

 

[Snodger]

I just came to the board to read about the earthquake but was appalled to find the 2 reports of mega yachts wrecking the reef. Because there's not much i can do from here in Portland I just made a donation to the Marine Park via their web site and encourage you all to do the same.

 

[mikemath]

I would recommend contacting the press in the region where the owners live, especially if there's a strong environmentalist movement such as in northwestern USA. If the public relations backlash is strong enough, it may be possible to encourage these millionaires/billionaires to compensate financially for the actions of their crew.

I agree with those who have commented about the need to enforce laws to ensure compliance, but there are other routes to take if that fails. The press can frequently be used when the law fails.