John Myers Jr., Agriculture Coordinator
Top Left: Cameron: If that (the new act) was in effect, certainly, it would deter some people from doing certain things. Center: Kong: New act has been long overdue. Right: Honeygan: The industry (fishing) is in a mess. - Photos by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
Bottom Left: Tufton: The Fisheries Division seems to lack the capacity to implement any coherent strategy.
Right: Espeut: We are a global case of dramatic, drastic overfishing that we think is normal. - photos by Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
After more than seven years in the making, the revised Fisheries Act is expected to come into force in the next financial year.
André Kong, director of fisheries in the Ministry of Agri-culture and Land, dis-closed at an Editors' Forum on the fisheries sector last Thursday at the Gleaner's office in Kingston, that extensive consultations have been done with stakeholders and policymakers and the amended act should come into force by the second quarter of the next financial year.
"Having done the consultations, the timetable is certainly next financial year," he said in response to concerns expressed by interests in the fisheries industry that the new act has been long overdue. The director of fisheries said the final drafting instructions have been completed and will shortly be submitted to the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.
The new Fisheries Act broadens the scope of the law to allow for improved management of the over-exploited industry. It includes provisions for stiffer penalties and increased fines for persons who exploit the sector.
Havlon Honeygan, chairman of the Jamaica Fishermen's Cooperative (JFC), said the sector was in a mess, much of which has to do with destructive practices carried out by both industrial/commercial interests and fisherfolk.
"Looking at the industry today, I would say it is in a mess and the mess that it is in is caused from natural disasters and human disaster," he lamented at the forum.
Harsher penalties
Errol Cameron, secre-tary of the JFC, noted that the new Fisheries Act would address many of the problems that were currently affecting the sector. "One very important factor which is allowing certain things to pass by and it is the new Fishing Industry Act. To my knowledge, it is almost seven years since that has become a white paper and certainly I don't know what is holding it up," he questioned.
According to Mr. Cameron, the new Fisheries Act contains provisions for "some very harsh penalties in comparison with the (act) we have since 1972." He said "if that (the new act) was in effect, certainly, it would deter some people from doing certain things."
In citing examples of the inadequacy of the current Fisheries Act, Mr. Carmeron noted that a group of fishermen were caught using dynamite recently. However, when they appeared in court, the provisions of the act stipulates a mere $200 fine for such an offence.
Dr. Christopher Tufton, Opposi-tion senator and Member of Parliament for South East St. Elizabeth, reasoned that the island's fisheries industry has been disintegrating because "the Fisheries Division seems to lack the capacity to implement any coherent strategy."
He added: "I would say they lack capacity in terms of the supporting infrastructure, supporting resources and a manifestation of that is the legislation which has been work in progress for the last 15 years."
Complicated, technical act
Dr. Tufton expressed concern that the new Fisheries Act has not been passed despite a policy document being published in 2004, but is yet to reach Cabinet for approval. "All of this combined, added to the fact that the industry has declined in terms of catch by somewhere in the region of 40-60 per cent when you talk to the industry players," he reasoned.
The fisheries director explained that "the act itself is a process of drafting and refining. It's a very complicated and technical act and we have been having several discussions with the Chief Parliamentary Counsel and our stakeholders to try put the act together."
He also said the Fisheries Division is to be transformed into a per-formance based institution to coincide with the passing of the new Fisheries Act to allow for more effective management of the sector. "We recognise that the structure of the Fisheries Division was not in keeping with what is necessary for modern fisheries management and development," he said.
The delay, he argued, has provided for the inclusion of some very pertinent provisions in the Act. "Fortunately, several other issues have come up since that time which require us to take another look at the thing ... and when we looked at what we were doing, we found that the weakness was still there, so we had stop again and try and and fix it," Mr. Kong said.
Peter Espeut, environmentalist and executive director of the Caribbean Coastal Area Management (C-CAM) Foundation, pointed out that the Government's strategy of en-couraging fisherfolk to increase or expand their efforts in order to improve their catch over the years has been the wrong approach and that has contributed to the serious downturn now affecting the fisheries sector.
"We are a global case of dramatic, drastic overfishing that we think is normal. It is a serious, serious matter and all the fishery scientists say that if only we would manage our fisheries, we could triple, more than triple the present catch of fish," he said.
Feedback: john.myers@gleanerjm.com.
