The marine environments of Cuba and the U.S. have always shared the same resources.

Now the managers of marine protected areas in both countries will start sharing information.

This week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Park Service signed an agreement with Cuba's Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

The agreement provides for sharing information and setting up a "sister sanctuary" program between Cuba's Guanahacabibes National Park and the Florida Keys and Flower Garden Banks national marine sanctuaries in the U.S., as well as Dry Tortugas and Biscayne national parks.

"It's the start of a conversation," said Sean Morton, superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. "This is really opening up a wider Caribbean to have a holistic look at how resources are managed, how resources are shared, how we use those resources collectively and how we do a better job managing them for the future."

Even when there were no diplomatic relations between the two countries, scientists were able to share information at global conferences. But managers, working directly for their governments, could not communicate directly.

The marine life, meanwhile, was free to travel around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean ecosystem.

"No one's told the fish or the lobster or the tarpon or the corals that there's been an embargo or not sharing of information," Morton said.

He said he's looking forward to sharing information on how to deal with global threats, like coral bleaching and disease and the effects of over-fishing on reef ecosystems.

"There's things that we can share in terms of information about how people use them, commercially, recreationally, for tourism potential. Particularly in Cuba I know that's been a concern of theirs," Morton said. "But they've been very successful in protecting some of those resources, so I think we have a lot to learn from them." 

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