During Gerald McFarlane's tenure in the Tobago House of Assembly
(THA) as Secretary for Marine Affairs he commissioned the Institute
for Marine Affairs (IMA) to study the coral reefs around Tobago
and to develop a management plan for the Buccoo Reef. In 1994,
he led a THA delegation to Maine, USA, to look at aquaculture
and marine laboratory facilities, which, with the meeting of Gerald
and Rich Langton, resulted directly in the establishment of the
Buccoo Reef Trust.
Following a presentation by Owen Day at the Trinidad & Tobago
High Commisssion in London, UK, to an audience of businessmen
and diplomats, Lawrence Duprey pledged the support of CL Financial
to the establishment of the Trust - which was named after Tobago's
most prominent coral reef.