Dear Toco Port Development Project,
The following is a comment on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regarding development of the Toco Port project. Overall it appears that this is a very comprehensive development plan, and the EIA covers most of the questions of the immediate and near-term impacts of the project on the natural environment of the Toco area, and specifically Grand l’Anse Bay. I do, however, think that there are several areas that are not weighted heavily enough, as perhaps this is not requisite in the EIA, but nevertheless should be considered carefully in decisions regarding the future of the project.
A major concern of the impact of the project is the impact on the local marine environment. There are concerns about the coral reef community, sea turtle nesting sites, the rich bird fauna, and the impact of development on an already declining artisanal fishing industry. The overall impression given of the reef in the EIA is that, compared to the main reef system of Sylabia to the south, the Grand l’Anse reef system is depauperate in species. This is an accurate assessment, but is not a particularly meaningful one. Coral reef ecosystems are the among the most biodiverse systems globally, containing more than 25% of all species in the world’s oceans. Thus, even a relatively species poor reef is, compared to other marine communities, a species rich one. The Grand l’Anse reef is no different, as well documented in the EIA report. The efforts of the company that compiled the report to generate their own data were wanting, as the sampling intervals were very short and overlapped with poor survey conditions. But a number of other surveys have been conducted on the reef and are cited in the report. Those surveys point to a system with a moderate number of species (species richness), but it is not only species richness that matters to biodiversity. An equally, and perhaps more important measure is functional diversity, i.e. the number of distinct ecosystem functions in the community. The attached figure (please see email attachment) illustrates the functional diversity and interactions at Grand l’Anse. Each circle represents a functional group, for example “sheet macroalgae”, “endolithic sponges”, or “herbivorous fish”, and each one consists of multiple species. Think of these groups as equivalent to economic or industrial sectors in an economy. The lines between the groups are pathways of energy transfer, moving energy from producers (algae, phytoplankton and symbiont-bearing corals) all the way to top level predators. Most of those top level predators are only part-time visitors to the reef, and support the surrounding fisheries. An example would be large sharks. It becomes immediately obvious from the figure that this is a highly functioning system. This is one of the reasons why coral-dominated systems are so important in tropical coastal waters. They support local biological and human communities. Granted, the reef at Grand l’Anse is fairly small, but overall the global tropical reef ecosystem is threatened and shrinking at an alarming rate, and nowhere more so than in the Caribbean. Caribbean coral reef systems have been declining for decades because of overfishing and pollution, now made worse with climate change-driven ocean warming and acidification that are in turn driving outbreaks of coral bleaching and diseases. It is not alarmist to say that we are in danger of having no reefs by or before the end of the century, and that it is vital to protect every single small piece of reef that is available. There are no fall back systems. When we protect reefs in a few choice areas, such as parts of Tobago, we are placing all our eggs in one basket. And the benefits of having a healthy reef elsewhere do not translate to local communities. They do not derive any economic benefits from artisanal fishing, eco-tourism, physical protection from storms and sea level rise, and they do not share in the educational or aesthetic benefits that are possible when living in a locally biodiverse locale.
And this brings me to my second point. There is a considerable portion of the planned project devoted to fishing; berths or areas for small fishing vessels, and fish processing facilities. There are 92 documented artisanal vessels in the northeastern region of Trinidad, with that number increasing. Yet, it is acknowledged in the report that catch sizes are declining, and have been for some time. So who will benefit from continued engagement in a failing industry? Does the government plan to subsidize local artisanal fishing? Catch sizes are declining because fish abundances are declining, and there is absolutely no way in which the proposed project will halt or reverse that. It will, in fact, worsen the situation. The local fishing industry is obviously important to the local population, but upgrading boating facilities will not help it.
And finally, there is a glaring omission from the overall plan to what is an otherwise comprehensive facility. There do not seem to be any plans for educational outreach. Are there any sub-facilities planned that will offer visitors, workers and locals an educational experience regarding the region’s biodiversity or cultural history? This is an opportunity that should never be overlooked; it is both payment to a past that will be erased by the development and an investment in the future.
In conclusion, I am obviously an individual who is not in favour of the project. One cannot deny the level of economic and labour investment, nor the obvious outcome of the transport connection between the two islands. But I am skeptical of the positive outcome on the region’s population, and the impact on the natural environment will be negative. Endangerment or destruction of the local reef will only be negative. While the region needs investment and development, is this really the best option? Trinidad is unique among the Caribbean countries in so many ways. But you can find this type of development anywhere: Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and so on. And how have those benefited the islanders? In the Greater Antilles one has to go into the mountains of Jamaica, or remote coastal areas of the DR or Cuba, to find the places that will tell you today how beautiful and rich those islands were. The changes that I have seen in my lifetime, no one should see. And things that my father told me that he saw in Trinidad as a child growing up in Debe and San Fernando, such as a sky blocked out by migrating birds, I have never seen, and will never see. I am a senior scientist at the California Academy of Sciences, one of the world’s foremost institutes for biodiversity science, and all of my career started, all of it, because I grew up where I did. We should try to preserve what we have, while we still have it.
Yours sincerely,
Peter D. Roopnarine, Ph.D.