With the hurricane season becoming more active over the years due to the climate crisis, and the passing of Hurricane Beryl in 2024, preparedness and resilience building are of top priority; particularly for sectors such as fisheries.
The Barbados Fisheries Division hosted a fisheries-focused Disaster Response Tabletop Exercise in collaboration with Ms. Shonda Gibbs, MSc. Natural Resource and Environmental Management student at UWI-CERMES. The exercise which was held on 29 August 2025, simulated a scenario of an impending system approaching Barbados.
The exercise was attended by key information and first-response agencies such as the Barbados Meteorological Services, Barbados Fire Service, the Department of Emergency Management, Barbados Red Cross, Barbados Port Inc., and the Barbados Coast Guard, among others. At the table, each agency detailed their roles at each stage of a hurricane approaching the island at 72, 48, and 24 hours before landfall, and after the All Clear is given. Various "wild cards" were thrown into the situation, such as malfunctioning cranes preventing the swift haul-out of fishing vessels from the water, and obstructions in the road impeding the processes.
The various agencies around the table discussing their roles at each stage of the hurricane approach simulation.
The simulation was successful in unearthing the various nuances that arise when dealing with disaster response, testing the ability of each agency to adapt as the situation changed.
A physical simulation is scheduled to be held during the month of October, taking it into a more practical setting. With weather systems becoming more intense and frequent in the face of climate change, exercises such as this are critical to ensure all agencies work together like a well-oiled machine when a real-life event occurs.
It is anticipated that these exercises will support the update of the Fisheries Sector Disaster Management Plan to build climate resilience in at every stage of the fisheries value chain.