By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
ONE HUNDRED and thirty-five fishers from St. James and Hanover have been granted permits to fish within the 15.3 square kilometre ambit of the Marine Park, in compliance with new fishing regulations implemented by the park administrators.
"The permits, which we issued on May 29 to fishers is a one-time event for the next five years," explained Heather Crawford, outreach officer for the Montego Bay Marine Park.
"The permitting system is a means of ensuring that the park is not over-fished and it's a first step towards managing the resources of the park."
To qualify for permits, each fisher has to be licensed as a commercial fisher by the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and had to participate in workshops on good fishing practices, hosted by the Marine Park. Topics covered by the workshops included marine ecology, the rules and regulations of the Montego Bay Marine Park and fisheries management strategies.
"The response we got from those who participated in the workshops is that they now have a better understanding of the importance of the Marine Park and why it is necessary to protect the park," Ms. Crawford told The Gleaner.
In the meantime, fishermen without permits will face tough penalties such as heavy fines, jail time, confiscation of equipment and or a directive to do community service if they are caught fishing within the confines of the park. "The permitting system is now in effect and our rangers will be patrolling the area to enforce the system, so anyone found flouting the system will be dealt with," Crawford warned.
She also stressed that fishermen with permits are expected to have them in their possession at all times and display the permit's identification numbers on their boats, fish pots and nets. Those who have permits can fish inside and outside the park, while the park is off-limits to those without permits.
"Over 40 persons from my fisherman's co-operative participated in the training exercise and we found it very informative," said Troy Jumpp, president of the Whitehouse Fishermen's Co-operative. "In fact much of what we learnt at the training sessions about fish habitats is further discussed when our co-operative meets every fortnight."
"There are a lot of things about the reefs I didn't know and several of my colleagues didn't know about the reefs and the causes of algae growth on the reefs, until I went through the workshops," said Simon Watson of the Bogue Fishing beach.
