The fishing industry has bounced back to around 80 per cent of its pre-Hurricane Beryl strength, with most of the fleet repaired and poised to relaunch for the peak season in November, according to Chief Fisheries Officer Dr Shelly-Ann Cox.
“At this time, we do have about 260 active vessels. Before Beryl, we were at 312, but some of those active boats came up to shore for the hurricane season. So right now we do have the sports fishers playing an important role,” she said Thursday.
“In the last two weeks, you would have seen landing of a lot of [red] snapper, and we know this is a fish that the public loves. The price of course varies between $12 and $15 a pound, but snapper has been quite popular. This is a time where flying fish and dolphin fish landings typically go cold down.”
While acknowledging that the fleet has not yet reached pre-storm levels, Dr Cox noted: “We’re more than halfway there though, if I was to give you an estimate of that recovery status.”
She revealed that 79 boats have already been repaired and relaunched since the storm, though many fishers have now pulled their vessels ashore again to complete minor work and prepare for the official start of the season in November.
“So in terms of recovery, there is still a lot of repairs going on for boats, but everybody has expressed interest in staying to be on the safe side this hurricane season and then relaunch in November,” she said.
Private sector support has also been critical: “We had significant contributions from the private sector, for boat building supplies [and] support to launch the vessels as well … and we have been working internally on rolling out the new surveying methods, inspection methods that are now a part of our sustainable fisheries management and development suite of laws.”
Barbados is also looking to learn from Japan’s experience in building disaster-resilient boats. “We have some ideas as it relates to superstructure integrity, [and] what electronic systems we need to have on board,” she noted.
Insurance for the industry remains a critical area, given the historical absence of coverage for most fishing vessels.
Dr Cox said: “We have started discussions with the General Insurance Association of Barbados, and we had a great stakeholder consultation. Out of that consultation, a working group will be established where we’ll be meeting with the president of the GIAB, along with a marine underwriter, and it will be a working group with boat owners to come and develop a fishing scheme, tailored to the sector.”
The fisheries chief stressed the importance of mandatory coverage to protect both fishers and the country.
She said: “Mandatory third-party liability insurance is what is in the legislation, but we know that comprehensive insurance schemes are encouraged. But in terms of making sure that the country is protected, just like for cars, the government must mandate third-party liability. This scheme must also include wreck removal, which was a significant cost to the government after Beryl in terms of removing all those boats that were partially submerged and sunk. We have to have a tailored package for the sector.”
Dr Cox provided an update on the state of the industry on the sidelines of a meeting of the Barbados Coastal Fisheries Resilience Project, held at UN House under the theme, Developing a Gender-Responsive Knowledge Product on Resilient Boatbuilding in Barbados.
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