Richardo Morris, fisheries officer, Fisheries Division

In terms of institutional development, the Fisheries Division is to be converted into an executive agency, with increased funding and the capacity to better manage the sector. Here, the Government of Jamaica will be seeking to promote the goals of transparency, accountability andefficiency.

The agency under the new act will consist of a panel of qualified persons, instead of the case that now exist under the current act, where the director of fisheries is the sole licensing authority.

The new fisheries executive agency will have a compliance and enforcement unit, with a budget and staff solely dedicated to enforcement issues.

One other obstacle to meaningful enforcement and a criticism of the current act is the fact that the fines are extremely low. The new act will allow for more hefty fines ranging from $500,000 to $5 million, for persons found in breach of the new Fisheries Act.

G. Andre Kong, director, Fisheries Division

The 'informer fi dead' culture must stop in the country: people must be willing to identify individuals dynamiting the fishes and carrying out all other form of illegal activities.

Trevor Burke, volunteer, The Nature Conservancy

Something must be done on the Rio Grande or in another six months from now nothing will be found in the river, because the spear fishermen continue to kill out the young fish life, not long from now there will be no crayfish or other river life.

Kimberly Johns, ecologist and manager

The nature conservancy's sustainable water programme.

If we look across Jamaica, inland fisheries had always been a part of the Jamaican diet and it used to be a whole lot better than it is right now, so the time is now to start managing it.

There are a few issues affecting these areas; it is not just the poisoning of the river, there is also a big problem with over fishing, it is just as intense as the coastal fishing. I am also concerned about the dynamiting and sand-mining activities in these areas.

With the Rio Grande (Portland) and Black River (St Elizabeth) as two of the main inland fishing areas, we need to identify others and put things in place for them to be properly managed.

Wadwall Knight, commercial fisherman

If the Government should disperse the $50 million available to lend our fishermen without creating ways to ensure that they don't default on their obligations, the situation can get worse than it is at this time.

I am proposing that the Government build FADs (Fishing Attraction Devices) and place them out there in the waters, (just as how the Cubans build Casitas to attract lobsters) to guarantee that our fisher folk can catch enough fish to sustain themselves while repaying their debts or not long after you will be coming to seize their boats.

A FAD consists of a bamboo raft, coconut limbs, rope and about 16 tyres placed on a swivel and sunk some 800 to 900 feet in the deep waters. This creates a shade and normally attracts millions of fishes, including dolphins and sharks.

Ainsley Henry, manager, Eco-System Management Branch, National Environment and Planning Agency

There is an impressive list of proposals in this policy, which if implemented efficiently augurs well for Jamaica.