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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Monday, December 20, 2004 - Fishers are now expected to demonstrate a
higher level of safety awareness.
This new optimism follows a recent workshop held to heighten the awareness of
fishers to their responsibility to be more proactive where personal safety is
concerned.
The Department of Fisheries also expects fishers to demonstrate increased
compliance to safety measures than they have in the past.
The latest initiative dealt with the Safety of Indigenous Fishing Vessels in the
Caribbean. Chief Fisheries Officer, Mr. Vaughn Charles said that the workshop
coincided with the opening of the pelagic fishing season, which starts in
December and ends in July, noting that the Department of Fisheries usually
receives several disturbing reports over those months.
At the opening of the workshop, Minister responsible for Communications,
Honourable Felix Finisterre said he was pleased that the “Safety of Indigenous
Fishing Vessels in the Caribbean Workshop’ initially carded for Suriname was
shifted to Saint Lucia.
“When we looked at the IMO (International Maritime Organisation) programmes for
the region, we immediately indicated that there was need for such a workshop in
Saint Lucia, given what was happening at the time,” he remarked.
IMO Representative and Regional Maritime Advisor, Lieutenant Commander Curtis
Roach said that overall, the fishing sector suffered over 24,000 fatalities per
year, the large majority of which occurs on board small fishing vessels.
He said “the safety of these 16 million plus fishermen working full time in the
marine sector falls within the mandate of the IMO”, pointing out that the
Secretary General had highlighted to the IMO Sub- Committee responsible for
fishing vessel safety, the poor state of safety in the fishing industry and the
need to urgently address this issue.
According to Mr. Roach, the number of injuries and loss of life can be reduced
if the issue of safety on fishing vessels is addressed. He lamented that the
regional fishing sector still lacked the international mandatory safety regime.
“Both FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and IMO have provided technical
assistance to the Caribbean in respect of the safety of fishers and fishing
vessels, and I am aware that Caricom and the OECS have also taken steps in this
regard,” said Mr. Roach.
The workshop provided information on the current status of safety of fishing
vessels both regionally and internationally, while identifying measures taken to
address safety on board regional fishing vessels. Meanwhile a number of
recommendations coming out of the workshop will be implemented.
Other Caricom countries are also looking closely at boosting safety in the
fishing sector, to curb the number of tragedies that surface throughout the
year.
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