Stakeholders in the fishing industry are this year anticipating the introduction of new and overhauled legislation aimed at better managing the industry.

The bill that is to replace the Fishing Industry Act of 1977 has been languishing for several years after review began in 1995, but is expected to be implemented some time this year.

According to Dr Karl Aiken, former deputy director of the Fisheries Division in the Ministry of Agriculture, the new legislation must include upgraded penalties that have strong deterrent values.

"These days, with the decline of the Jamaican dollar, there is need for reinspection of the penalties once more," he argues.

But more than penalties, he is interested in how the new legislation will encourage research and rigorous management of the nation's coastal resources, monitor the catch of marine life out of season, and tougher laws to regulate the introduction of new fishermen into the industry.

Emphasis on licence fees

Similarly, environmentalist Peter Espeut is advocating a law that is more specific on the types of equipment that can be used by fishermen. In addition, he wants laws that are stricter on licence fees. Very few fishermen are licensed, he comments, and those who pay, pay a very minimal cost for using the resources.

"If you fish on the Pedro Cays, you pay 10 cents per year, and this is problematic because there may be 1,000 fishermen on the Pedro Cays, and each one comes to pay his 10 cents ... The cost of the paper to produce the licence is more than 10 cents, not to mention the staff to go out there and collect the licence fee," Espeut adds.

ban on equipment

Certain types of equipment that are not environmentally friendly ought to be banned by the new legislation, Espeut says. These include the seine, that often destroys coral and uproots sea grass - an important source to sand formation.

"The only net that has been mentioned in Jamaican law is this kind of net," he notes.

Similarly, he says, there is nothing in the present legislation regulating the size of mesh wires in fish pots. The circumference of the holes in the mesh, he points out, are small, causing small fish that have not yet reached sexual maturity to be trapped.

"When you catch them when they are too small, before they can breed, then you will not get any young ones in the next generation. So, the number of fish will just continue to decline," states Espeut.

gareth.manning@gleanerjm.com