Successful establishment of mooring fields for the Elizabeth Harbour Conservation Partnership
Thanks to the Friends of Exuma Harbour Fund, 2023 has been an exciting year for the Bahamas National Trust and the Elizabeth Harbour Conservation Partnership as their joint initiative to install environmentally-friendly moorings to protect the ecosystem of Elizabeth Harbour came to fruition. The BNT and EHCP developed a vision to work together in 2022 and soon after signed a memorandum of understanding committing to collaboration on the establishment of mooring fields, as well as scientific monitoring and education programs. The project officially got underway in January 2023 and as of Dec 12th, there are now three new mooring fields at Stocking Island and Red Shanks Cay. The two mooring fields by Stocking Island with a total of 64 buoys will be managed by the EHCP. The BNT will manage 34 moorings at Red Shanks Cay/Crab Cay. A Bahamian Company, Bahamas Maritime Solutions was engaged to do the installation work, supported by Applied Technology Management, American Underwater Contractors, and FourCs Ltd.
Jason Hanna of Bahamas Maritime Solutions and Bob Coughlin of Friends of Exuma
The moorings initiative features an environmentally-friendly mooring system design that does not impact the seabed like traditional chain moorings. Once the anchor is embedded into the seabed (15’), a shock absorbing downline is held above the seafloor by a subsurface buoy, thereby allowing the seagrass around the area to grow undisturbed. The organizations will continue to collaborate to ensure that the moorings are maintained properly, and that new mooring field safety rules are followed.
Thanks to the tremendous funding assistance from the FOE Harbour Fund, the EHCP and BNT are now poised to generate sustainable revenue for both organizations through mooring fees while protecting the environment.