Poor management as well as the inadequate access to ice within the fisheries sectors is threatening the livelihood of fisherfolk, president of Black Fin Fleet Cooperative Society, Moonesh Dharampaul, reiterated on Tuesday.
He was speaking to members of the media following a visit to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) assistant director-general and regional representative, Rene Orellana Halkyer, and members of the fisheries sector.
Dharampaul said the facility was operating with only one functioning compressor, severely limiting ice production for more than 150 boats, some of which required seven or eight tons of ice.
He said the situation had become so severe, that some fishermen were forced to travel to Grenada or seek private suppliers in order to continue operating.
“We have another boat that received ice from Glacier Pure in St George, which is a labour intensive process and another which will receive ice from Oistins. The best option is to be able to have the ice blown into the boat from the dock and going out,” he noted.
He also blamed poor management across the board for the issue affecting the ice machine and called for Chief Fisheries Officer Dr Shelly-Ann Cox to be put in charge of the seafoods markets, as he pointed to lack of engagement in relation to maintenance, communication and accountability.
Dharampaul noted that the permanent secretary, along with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment, National Beautification and Fisheries Santia Bradshaw, ordered a report from the senior manager of fish markets on the machine, which included maintenance logs, proposals for new equipment and new machinery.
Additionally, he said the cooperative is pushing for an independent audit on the machine and for a public-private partnership with the ice machine.
“We believe that this partnership would be able to reduce the cost to Government, increase the efficiencies of the ice machine and, at the end of the day, give the fishermen a sense of partnership, a sense of ownership in being in the industry and we think that this is something that needs to be done sooner rather than later,” he said.
The challenge at times, stated Dharampaul, was that the ice was available but personnel was not present to blow the ice onto the boats and that affected whether boats could go out to sea.
He said the level of frustration has been overwhelming and some individuals decided not to return to work because of a lack of ice.
“They’d rather sit down home because the risk is too high and you can’t get the ice. There’s no infrastructure for us to run a business. You have to imagine that in the industry, if you have 280 boats, that’s 280 self-employed people. Fisheries is the only sector with . . . generational wealth.
“I fish my father boat. My father fishes my father’s boat and my son can fish my boat; that is what we want at the end of the day. We’re too frustrated with these little things that can be dealt with,” he said.
He said the cooperative was pushing to have the first traditional bait and fishing school as a course, which will teach participants how to get back into the water to increase the number of individuals in the industry. (AJ)
