Linking the social with the natural a socio-economic review of Shoal Bay and Island Harbour, Anguilla

Most socio-economic information on Anguilla
centres on demographic and employment
data – population size, age, gender, ethnicity, religion,
level of unemployment, occupation, infrastructure,
and facilities. Information on natural resources and
area use is limited. Data on the nearshore, coral reef,
and marine park use are almost nonexistent. Limited
information makes management of these resources
and areas and enforcement of relevant regulations,
legislation, and policies difficult – particularly of those
areas that have been identified as in need of special
management, namely, Anguilla’s five marine parks.
Given this apparent information gap, from August
2005 to April 2006, the Anguilla National Trust (ANT)
and the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources
(DFMR) (Government of Anguilla [GOA]) conducted
a socioeconomic assessment of the communities that
border one of Anguilla’s most popular coastal areas
– the Shoal Bay-Island Harbour Marine Park.