Thursday, 14 January 2021 - 12:03pm
The Government of the Virgin Islands is working diligently on tackling the Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease in the Territory.
According to the Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration Honourable Vincent Wheatley, his ministry and the National Parks Trust (NPT) of the Virgin Islands are pleased to work closely with local dive operators and marine experts to tackle the coral disease.
Minister Wheatley explained that the Stoney Coral Tissue Loss Disease is a lethal coral disease that has the potential to kill half of the stony coral species in the British Virgin Islands.
Since its discovery in the Virgin Islands late 2019, the Government of the Virgin Islands through the ministry and the NPT has been leading the charge in treating the disease as part of a ‘Strike Team’. The ‘Strike Team’ was established by Honourable Wheatley to tackle what he terms “a coral crisis”. The team’s aim is to prevent the disease fr