Collaboration between Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy

In April 2021, an agent of the Territorial Environment Agency of Saint-Barthélémy came to Saint-Martin accompanied the teams of the National Nature Reserve of Saint-Martin during a scientific protocol session at sea in order to be trained in the PCC method.

Participation and training of the ATE by AGRNSM © AGRNSM

Very first replicability mission

As part of the LIFE BIODIV’OM project, the actions put in place allow the various partners to acquire a great deal of knowledge and skills in favor of biodiversity. In order to increase the positive impact of these actions, the project provides for the realization of replicability missions with the aim of forming additional structures in new territories.

In Saint-Martin, the Association de Gestion de la Réserve Naturelle de Saint-Martin (AGRNSM) has implemented an innovative scientific protocol based on the PCC method in order to capture post-larvae. This method makes it possible to identify the species of fish present in the waters of Saint-Martin and thus to learn more about the larval colonization processes, in particular of the Nassau Grouper and the Atlantic Goliath Grouper, globally threatened species.

In April 2021, the Nature Reserve of Saint-Martin launched the very first LIFE BIODIV’OM replicability mission by inviting one of the agents of the ATE of Saint-Barthélémy to participate in a session. Two other ATE officers will also attend the next sessions organized by AGRNSM. This inventory technique could thus eventually be used in Saint-Barthélémy.

Use of the lighting device within the framework of the PCC © AGRNSM

The PCC method

PCC (Post-Larval Capture and Culture) is an innovative technique for collecting marine post-larvae at sea and rearing in an artificial environment. PCC involves removing the post-larvae present in the ocean before they experience this high mortality and raising them to later stages in order to release them and strengthen fish populations in the natural environment. This method also makes it possible to know the identity of the species and the period in which they settle in coastal waters.