Sustainability and Climate Resiliency Minister Katherine Ebanks-Wilks has responded to pleas from Caymanian water-sports operators, saying that imposing a moratorium on the granting of new Wildlife Interaction Zone licences will be a “priority” for her.
Ebanks-Wilks, speaking in Parliament Monday night, said she was informed that, in order to impose the freeze on licences, legislative changes may be required, but she is committed to addressing concerns raised by local operators.
“I give a commitment that this is a priority for me and, in the interim, I will establish a task force on North Sound watersports operations within quarter one of 2024, while working on the requirements to make legislative changes to place a moratorium on the granting of the WIZ licences,” she said in her budget debate contribution.
Cayman has two Wildlife Interaction Zones – Stingray City and Stingray Sandbar – where members of the public can interact with and feed stingrays.
The watersports taskforce was unanimously supported last December in Parliament through a private member’s motion from West Bay West MP McKeeva Bush. He said at the time that Caymanian operators were being squeezed out of what has been a traditional source of income for them and said a taskforce and moratorium was needed.
Ebanks-Wilks said the moratorium and review of the operations in the North Sound aligns with sustainability efforts.
“[It is] ensuring that we are not oversaturating our Stingray City and Sandbar, which poses a safety element for our people and our precious stingrays. Equally important is making sure that the very people that built this industry are given a fair opportunity in the market,” she said.
Cayman Islands Tourism Association president Troy Leacock, responding to the minister’s assurances, welcomed movement on the taskforce and moratorium.
“I am pleased that the minister has recognised the importance of establishing the North Sound task force and has committed to making it a priority. Hopefully, we can quickly start to address the myriad of issues affecting the livelihood of Caymanian operators,” he said in a brief comment Tuesday.
Leacock last month raised the issue of the challenges faced in the North Sound, saying that unregulated operators cannot continue unchecked in the WIZ areas, as he pointed out that it was been a little over a year since legislators voted for the creation of a task force.
Leacock, who runs Crazy Crab boat charters, had expressed disappointment that the promised task force, to review and make recommendations to protect local operators working in the North Sound, so far had failed to materialise.
He called for operators to be trained to work in the Wildlife Interaction Zones and for the issuance of licences to be limited to Caymanians only.
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