The Sea Grant Program in Caribbean Region

¶ … Sea Grant Community Programs

Sea Grant is a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and is concerned mainly with the enhancement of the practical use and conservation of the coastal, marine and Great Lakes resources in order to create an environment that is sustainable to the economy of the regions. The long-term economic development, environmental stewardship and the responsible use of the coastal line is the ultimate goal of the Sea Grant and NOAA strive to achieve this through offering research assistance, education facilities, scholarships and community sensitization programs (NOAA, 2016). However, these efforts face a wide range of challenges among them being as follows;

There is often a clash between the traditional land and sea use that the local communities are used to and have knowledge of over the decades and the new well researched alternatives that the NOAA have invested in and would like the local communities to adopt and embrace as the sustainable approach to environmental conservation. This has worked over years to negate the achievements of the program as well as slowing the progress of the agreed upon implementable solutions to the environmental degradation. This means the current and the future of America's coastal and ocean is in danger and the recovery process may be more challenging than ever seen before. This has prompted the program to adopt a different approach that would ensure the traditional misuse of the coastal line is arrested. The program has significantly engaged in the scholarship programs for the locals who are encouraged to get involved in the relevant academic pursuits that have connections with the protection of the coastal line and the ocean. Once these students go through the academic training and research, they are reunited with the local community with whom they can easily persuade and influence to change their use of land and sea to the new ands beneficial manner.

Another challenge is the fact that the program is at a cultural and technological crossroads where the program faces differences in almost everything, starting from the language, technology, values, ethics and lifestyle of those who come to implement it. The Caribbean region is known to host many indigenous tribes who speak other languages apart from English. This brings a challenge in the process of implementing the program particularly along the coastal line. The region is also widely known to value their cultures and any external interference is often faced with hostility of both ideology and at times physical force. The penetration of technology like communication and power is still at an all time low hence even understanding the people and getting them to understand the research teams and the NOAA team becomes a problem. On this, the Sea Grant has strived to make use of the few influential people within the community to reach out to the locals and have their ideas explained. The Sea Grant has also trained technicians from the local community to help in operating their equipment and remitting data on regular basis on the various programs that are based within their communities. The Sea Grant Program has also collaborated with the local academic institutions to ensure their programs are well imbibed into the community through them being part of the academic process and sponsorship from their kitty (University of Puerto Rico, 2010).