M.A. Dworkin USVI - Diesel is one of the quiet forces behind the price of food. It powers tractors, irrigation pumps, harvesters, trucks, generators, and the long chain that moves crops from field to market. When diesel jumps from $3.62 per gallon last year to $6.53 per gallon now, the increase does not stay at the pump. It lands in planting plans, harvest schedules, shipping costs, and farm balance sheets. That is the pressure behind the newly announced New Harvest Relief pr

M.A. Dworkin USVI - The US Virgin Islands sits at the center of a rich marine region, yet much of the seafood eaten in the territory is imported. That gap has made industrial aquaculture (fish farming)an attractive idea for some policymakers, investors, and food security advocates. If done carefully, fish farming could bring jobs, local supply, and new marine expertise to the islands. If done poorly, it could place new pressure on reefs, fisheries, water quality, and coastal

M.A. Dworkin The Deep Blue - Far below the sunlit surface, where pressure can crush machinery and darkness is constant, scientists are still finding life no one has formally described before. The discovery of 57 new deep sea species is a reminder that the ocean’s largest habitat remains one of Earth’s least understood places. These newly identified species are more than curiosities. They are part of a living system that helps recycle nutrients, move carbon, support food webs,

M.A. Dworkin St. Croix - A shipyard lift is not the flashiest piece of waterfront equipment, but it can change the kind of work an island economy is able to capture. That is why the recent $763,401 federal shipyard grant awarded to St. Croix Marine Center matters. The funding supports a major piece of marine infrastructure: a vessel lift package with a capacity of about 165,000 pounds, tied to a 75-ton variable-width Marine Travelift. In practical terms, that gives St. Croix

A.J. Pike St. Croix - A small predator arrived on St. Croix in the late 1800s with a simple job: eat the rats that were damaging sugarcane. The plan sounded practical. Rats were a costly problem for planters, and the Small Indian Mongoose had a reputation as a bold, quick hunter. Then the island learned a hard ecological lesson. A predator introduced for one purpose does not stay inside that purpose. The mongoose did not solve the rat problem in the way planters had hoped. In

M.A. Dworkin St. Croix - The St. Croix Rain Forest feels wild, but it is not untouched. Its shady roads, tall mahogany trees, mango groves, streambeds, and old stonework hold one of the island’s most layered histories. This forest in western St. Croix is more than a scenic escape. It tells the story of Indigenous knowledge, European colonization, forced labor, resistance, farming, water engineering, and modern conservation. It also reminds the U.S. Virgin Islands that nature

A.J. Pike St. Croix - A single fruit fly can look harmless. The Mediterranean fruit fly is not harmless. The discovery of the medfly on St. Croix has triggered a level of response the U.S. Virgin Islands has never seen before: the first USDA-approved federal quarantine in the USVI for this pest. That step signals more than a technical change in regulation. It means federal and local agricultural officials see a serious threat to crops, food security, backyard fruit trees, and

For Immediate Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 25, 2026 Press Contact: Louis E. Petersen, Jr. Commissioner louis.petersen@doa.vi.gov VI Department of Agriculture Declares a Phytosanitary Emergency and Quarantine Measures Due to the Detection of the Mediterranean Fruit Fly [St. Croix, Virgin Islands] — The Virgin Islands Department of Agriculture is alerting the Virgin Islands community of a state of emergency (relating to the health of plants) to the recent de

A.J. Pike USVI & BVI - A boundary line on the water has become a business line for charter operators in the Virgin Islands. For years, charter boats and water taxis have moved between the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands with a rhythm that supported both economies. Guests flew into St. Thomas, boarded boats in the USVI, cleared into the BVI, and spent money across the chain of islands. That balance is now under strain. The USVI has set a new deadline for res

A.J. Pike USVI - A few nautical miles can decide whether a drug load reaches shore, gets transferred at sea, or falls into the hands of federal agents. That is why U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) decision to double its patrol distance off Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands matters. The change expands CBP’s patrol reach from the traditional 12 nautical mile boundary to 24 nautical miles in waters around two of the most important U.S. territories in the Caribbea