St. John’s, Antigua: The Antigua & Barbuda Fishermen’s Co-operative Society, yesterday said the issue of illegal fishing in the country’s territorial waters was a “major problem” and called on other stakeholders to give more attention to the situation, the Observer reported.
The problem, which has resulted in several violent confrontations in the past, is also present in other OECS islands where fishermen have been in a long-standing battle with foreigners who plunder fisheries resources.
The Observer reported that Fisheries Co-operative President, Leonard Mussington, said French fishermen, mainly from the neighbouring territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe, were getting wealthy on the island’s resources while local fishers were struggling to break even. He said illegal fishers were “better equipped,” leaving the best quality of fish on the dinner plates of foreigners.
The co-operative’s president has called on government to remove the requirement that limits concessions only to boat engines below 90 horse power. “The local fishermen are somewhat restricted based on the current legislation that we have, which governs the types of motors we can get concessions on and we need to change that,” Mussington said. Close to 300 fishermen form part of the local co-operative but Antigua & Barbuda boasts of having over 600 registered fishing vessels, according to the Observer report.
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