Black Immigrant Daily News

Les autorités ont communiqué les chiffres de la situation sanitaire liés à la propagation du COVID 19. Selon l’Agence Régionale de Santé, 318 nouveaux cas ont été recensés contre 342 la semaine dernière. La prédominance du sous-lignage BA.5 d’omicron se poursuit.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 12, 2022, (SKNIS) – The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, is continuing with the roll out of the Innovative Protected Cultivation Systems in the Caribbean Project in St. Kitts and Nevis with a Capacity Building and Technical Training Workshop this week from October 10-15.

The Innovative Protected Cultivation Systems in the Caribbean Project was officially launched in St. Kitts and Nevis in March 2021. The initial training was conducted in Nevis in June of this year. This week’s workshop represents the second leg of training.

The project is designed to help the Small Island Developing States (SIDS), like St. Kitts and Nevis face challenges that make them vulnerable to food insecurity by upscaling the protective structures used in cultivation for optimum crop production.

FAO International Consultant, Mr. Jervis Rowe, who is facilitating the training, stated that the Innovative Protected Cultivation Systems project forms part of the organization’s global initiative to shore up food safety and security.

“If you are aware of what is happening in other parts of the world, you should by now realize that it is not something that we really have so much of a choice in doing, it is just something that we have to do if we are going to move forward in feeding our nations and maintaining our good health and strength,” he said.

Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture,  Miguel Flemming gave his full endorsement of this timely project, which he said can only help to improve upon what is already being done in the agricultural sector.

“From the ministry’s standpoint, we are going to expand in protected structures because with all the challenges that we have with climate change and feral animals, we can’t just sit back and complain that the animals are destroying all the food…so in order to combat that this is a step in the right direction,” Acting Permanent Secretary Flemming said.

The six-day workshop is being attended by farmers and officers of the Ministries of Agriculture from both St. Kitts and Nevis.

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, October 10, 2022 (SKNIS) – The Ministry of Tourism, ably-led by the Honourable Marsha Henderson, the St. Kitts Tourism Authority (SKTA) and other stakeholders in the tourism industry all came in for high praise from Prime Minister the Honourable Dr. Terrance Drew, as St. Kitts and Nevis welcomed the inaugural call of the Seabourn Venture to its shores on Monday, October 10.

The SKTA hosted a plaque exchange ceremony at the Carambola Beach Club where the Seabourn Venture is docked. There, Prime Minister Dr. Drew brought greetings on behalf of Minister Henderson who is currently representing the Federation at the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA) Conference with the Heads of Government and cruise executives.

“I must commend the honourable minister and her team for the tremendous job they have done thus far. I am proud of the work the ministry has conducted over the past months and I look forward to the new tourism season,” said the prime minister.

Prime Minister Dr. Drew also commented on the strong partnership between St. Kitts as a tourism destination and the Seabourn Cruise Line.

“I am also aware that after our lockdowns due to COVID-19 and we began courting the cruise lines to return, Seabourn was the first line to visit the destination back in July 2021. I want to express my sincere gratitude to the line and to commit our continued support of the partnership we have developed over the years.”

The prime minister indicated that the inaugural call of the Seabourn Venture marked the eighth ship from that line to visit St. Kitts. Dr. Drew said, “This to me is remarkable and shows confidence in our people to deliver at a very high standard.”

Prime Minister Dr. Drew also used the occasion to record his thanks and appreciation to the stakeholders of the tourism industry for their resilience over the past two years.

“Today we can look towards the future with hope and anticipation for better days. I want to also thank everyone who played a role in the return of the cruise sector for the 2022-2023 Season and encourage us to work together to offer our visitors a rich authentic Kittitian experience,” said Dr. Drew.

With the removal of all COVID-19 protocols and the gradual return of traveler confidence, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is optimistic that the 2022-2023 Season will be fruitful.

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Lionfish Experts Coming to Antigua

Profile: Jim Hart

Antigua is preparing to host international scientists, conservationists and celebrities at the first Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament Nov 18-20th, capped with a festival in Nelson’s Dockyard on Nov 20th from 1:00 pm until 5:00 pm. A diverse group of experts make up what the group’s organizer Martha Watkins Gilkes, calls her “A-Team.” This is one in a series of profiles of the A-Team members.

Why would a successful Hollywood screenwriter start a non-profit and come to Antigua to talk about lionfish?

Whatever your age, you’ve probably seen the work of James V. Hart – Contact, Hook, August Rush, Tuck Everlasting, Muppet Treasure Island, Bram Stoker’s Dracula.  During his 40+ year career writing and producing movies and television, Jim became friends with the likes of Robin Williams and Carl Sagan.  He’s worked with directors like Francis Ford Coppola. And he trains writers to turn their imaginations into blockbusters, reminding them that “No one has a job until the screenwriter types, ‘The End.’”

So why the interest in lionfish? When Jim heard about the invasion of lionfish, his first inclination was to write a screenplay about a Volkswagen-sized predator ravaging humans who dared go in the water. The idea didn’t sell, mostly because Hollywood had no idea what the lionfish problem was, or for that matter, what a lionfish even was.

By then, as an avid diver, he was watching a catastrophe play out in real life on his favorite dive sites. Lionfish have been called “perfect invaders.” They’re excellent hunters with voracious appetites, and native fish lack a natural fear of them. Lionfish grow quickly and reproduce early in life and often, with each female releasing over 30,000 eggs every three days.  And few fish in the Atlantic seem to want to eat them. Except humans!

Jim realized this is an issue he cared deeply about.  So, along with dive buddy Stacy Frank, they started a non-profit called Lionfish University, which is a social networking platform for people to share news, reports, and ideas about lionfish.  LFU also sponsors training, outreach and research, organizes events, and supports marketing of lionfish products.

Seeing how people have responded to the invasion, Jim now wants to tell a different story.  It’s about a silver lining. “Lionfish have changed the lives of so many people.  Most I would never have met without this invasion – hunters, scientists, entrepreneurs – all very different in every way you can imagine. But they leave their differences at home when they rally to the call of protecting our ocean. I realized this is a success story about people pulling together because on this issue, they have the same values. It’s a model that can be replicated, and the story needs to be told.”

Meanwhile, one LFU patron, Antigua’s Martha Watkins Gilkes, had the idea of bringing experts from the lionfish community to the island to help control the invasion. She contacted Jim and Stacy, who quickly agreed, and assembled a team that visited in 2019. They did field surveys and met with key contacts on Antigua, then developed a report and video on the project. With his experience in Hollywood, Jim was the obvious choice as project documentarian!

One outcome of that project is the Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament and Festival. “We hope to educate the public about lionfish and promote ways to control populations and put the fish to good use as seafood and in the production of jewelry and other products. The benefits will be both environmental and economic.”

You can meet Jim at the festival on November 20, and listen to him speak at 1:40 at Nelson’s Dockyard.

The Antigua Open Lionfish Tournament is made possible by the generous support of the Ministry of Tourism and the Honorable Minister Max Fernandez, Mill Reef Club as a platinum sponsor, Elite Island Resorts as a silver sponsor, and other island stakeholders, including: National Parks Authority, Fisheries, Coast Guard, local media, dive shops, fishermen, and others.   For further information, visit https://antigualionfish.com or contact [email protected].

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