"So what’s all the fuss about parrotfish? Well, most Jamaicans may have heard by now of the idea that surfaced of protecting parrotfish in our waters by banning their consumption. Well, it turns out that there are pros and cons to the idea. Let’s explore some of these right now.

What are these parrotfish, and why such a curious name? They are members of a large family of colourful tropical coral reef fish found not only on the Caribbean Atlantic, but even more abundantly, with many more varieties, in the Pacific Ocean as well. They are called parrotfish because their mouths have modified teeth that look like the beak of a parrot – not so much the curve of the parrot’s beak, but the cutting surfaces.

So what is the plan to ban them?

The plan is to stop all Jamaicans from eating parrotfish, sort of like how plastics are being banned. So where did the idea originate? About two years ago, social media began to track the discussion, which was anchored in the Pacific and Australia in particular. So why is this important?

It turns out that parrotfish consume very large quantities of algae and seaweeds as well as coral skeleton. Their more important roles here are, first, the removal of algae that carpets our local reefs. Excess algae, along with other marine problems too numerous to detail here, cause the death of coral by shading out light that they need."

Click the link below to read more of this article written by Dr. Karl Aiken, senior lecturer in marine science at FST, The UWI Mona, with many years’ experience in fisheries conservation and management.