JAMAICA HAS been placed on the permanent list of Third World countries authorised to export conch to the European Union. This was revealed by Minister of Agriculture Roger Clarke in the House of Representatives recently.
"The Ministry is extremely pleased with this development particularly in light of the significant resources and efforts that have been expended into ensuring that Jamaica gains access to this lucrative market," said Mr. Clarke.
He outlined amendments to the Fishing Industry Act which will seek to regulate the conch industry and allow for reopening of the conch fishing season, until a comprehensive review of the Act is completed. The amendments specifically addressed the following areas:
Explicitly empower the issuing of catch quotas.
Make it clear that the Aquaculture Act cannot prevent the issuing of quotas.
Protect the industry and economy from disruption of the conch seasons.
Penalise malpractices in conch harvesting.
The amendments have been approved by Cabinet.
A conch quota authority appointed by the Minister will be established and empowered to grant individual catch quotas. The conch industry is a major subsector of the fishing industry, earning in the region of US$15 million and with the potential of significantly higher earnings with efficient management. It is an important source of employment with more than 3,000 persons engaged in all aspects of the industry from harvesting to processing.
The industry has been inactive for the entire 1999/2000 season as a result of a court injunction against the issuing of quotas on the grounds that the Minister of Agriculture has no powers to issue and that certain requirements of the Aquaculture Act are not in place. The Ministry is at court with DYC Fishing Limited.
"It is to be noted that there are deficiencies and some confusion in the laws relating to the power to issue quotas and to implement and operate the management practices as stipulated in the cites convention. This has resulted from the haste with which the Aquaculture Act was passed in 1999 in order to accommodate the requirements of the EU review team which visited and reviewed our readiness to export fish and fish products to those countries", the Minister said.
However, Mr. Clarke said he envisaged that all the elements will shortly be in place to allow for the early resumption of conch fishery.
