Insurance and pension support must now be treated as critical priorities for Barbados’ fishing industry if the sector is to become truly sustainable and supportive to the average worker in the blue economy.
That is the opinion of head of the Black Fin Fleet Co-operative Society, Moonesh Dharampaul, who has revealed that discussions with the insurance sector were progressing with talks centred on creating policies specifically tailored to the realities of commercial fishing operations.
Speaking on the sidelines of a visit by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations to the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex on Tuesday, he maintained that financial security was needed for fisherfolk.
“As we go forward today to negotiate and have a discussion with the insurance industry, some of the key aspects we will be looking at is what else can we include in our insurance package, such as pensions, health, [and] are we able to have a situation where we have different parametric insurance,” Dharampaul said.
He disclosed that further meetings with insurers were scheduled for Tuesday, noting that fishermen were seeking arrangements that would better protect workers while remaining affordable.
Dharampaul praised the General Insurance Association of Barbados for engaging with fisherfolk “in good faith”, adding that progress had already been made regarding premium costs.
“We’ve been able to have a situation where we’re looking at three per cent on comprehensive insurance across the board, and we are told that if we come as a group, which my group is made up of 250 members, that three per cent can fall to 2.5 per cent and that’s a good step in the right direction,” he explained.
According to Dharampaul, discussions are also underway to create a dedicated commercial fishing policy rather than relying on standard marine insurance coverage, which he suggested often fails to meet the needs of the industry.
He also commended Chief Fisheries Officer, Dr Shelly-Ann Cox for her efforts in ensuring that any insurance products introduced are “fit for purpose”.
“I must tell you that Dr Shelly-Ann Cox has been working tirelessly to ensure the rights of the fishermen and the insurance that is coming is fit for purpose and that is what we want,” he said.
However, Dharampaul stressed that the long-term ambition of the fishing community was to establish a form of self-insurance managed within the industry itself.
“To be honest with you, at the end of the day we want self insurance. We want to be able to govern ourselves. We want to be able to conduct our business in what we call a homegrown situation so that the benefits can stay within the industry and that we can grow the industry,” he said.
He warned that fishermen had initially been reluctant to embrace insurance because many existing policies were poorly suited to the realities of the trade.
“On the issue of insurance, we were not so gung ho about going into the insurance. The reason for that is that the policies that we have are not fit for purpose,” Dharampaul stated.
“We do not want a situation where our premiums are going to end up having the cost of fish increasing. The cost of fish is already high…we’re trying to bring that down. So what we want is that we want the best deal on the table.”
(SB)
The post Talks surrounding insurance for fisherfolk progressing appeared first on Barbados Today.
