By the time the next fishing season begins in another three months, a protocol should be in place to ensure Barbadian fishermen are treated “in a humane” way if they enter Trinidad and Tobago waters.
Ambassador to CARICOM Robert “Bobby” Morris said today that the document will be “installment one” before a fishing agreement is completed.
A draft submitted by Barbados is currently being evaluated by the government of the twin-island republic and Morris said a response should be forthcoming by next week.
“And I’ve been advised by one of their leading negotiators that it is entirely possible that we might not have to sit down and negotiate but they will respond to our draft because our draft was a fairly extensive draft, and if they have differences that can probably be ironed out by exchanging correspondence,” he said in an interview as Prime Minister Freundel Stuart and other leaders attending the 33rd Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government met in caucus.
“So we’re hoping to have that protocol in place, so that when the fishing season starts in November that people would be very careful about how they fish and where they fish but if anything happens we have a protocol that will deal with that.”
Asked for the details of that protocol, Ambassador Morris said he could not give specifics before the final document is made public.
“All I can say to you is that the protocol is designed to treat our fishermen and our boat crews in a humane way just in case they happen to be arrested in Trinidadian waters,” he said.
Morris, who is part of the Barbados delegation at the summit, said a final fishing agreement will outline the terms under which Barbadian fishermen can ply their trade in Trinidad and Tobago waters.
Morris’ comments came hours after Prime Minister Stuart told reporters that he hoped in the very near future Barbados would have “something in writing that will help us to stay clear of the kind of trauma, the kind of dislocation that can take place when Barbadian fishing boats wander into Trinidad and Tobago’s territorial waters.”
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