A Trinidadian NGO is lobbying the country's government to pass a bill drafted almost 20 years ago, but never made law, that would increase the safety of fishermen at sea.
Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) was quoted last month by a local newspaper lamenting the fact that “the Fisheries Bill which was written almost 20 years ago, and where public consultations were completed since 2011, for unknown reasons...has been left to gather dust, and public endangerment continues.”
FFOS Corporate Secretary Gary Aboud told the Newsday newspaper that his organization was “extremely worried” about the matter, in the present circumstances where rough seas warnings are a regular occurrence.
Aboud said the bill “would ensure more responsible and regulated conduct at sea.” Currently, there is no regulatory regime for safety at sea, he said, and an estimated 20 percent of Trinidadian fishermen, who frequently venture out to sea without life jackets, are unable to swim.
“There is still no stipulated regulation or policy for fishers that they report their whereabouts at sea or expected time of return and there is no regulation regarding portable water capacity for any vessel or any safety inspection for vessels or engines,” Aboud told Newsday. “Many vessels still go to sea without an adequate anchor, or with insufficient rope. Most vessels have no GPS, and often go to sea without even a cell phone.”
Aboud also pointed out that there exists no regime for licensing captains or ensuring their competence.
“In other words, any person of any age, whether three or 103, can captain any artisanal vessel at any place, at any time, at any speed, anyhow, whether drunk, blind, or in between,” Aboud said
Greater regulation of the sector would mean “there would be authorized certified captains, with mechanisms of reporting and information dissemination that would warn fishers (of possible tsunamis or rough seas),” Aboud said.
A statistical report by the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism states that in 2011 there were approximately 3,400 fishermen in Trinidad and Tobago involved in marine commercial capture fisheries. Most were artisanal fishers working in crews of two or three, landing approximately 13,000 metric tons of fish annually. Many used vessels of between six and 12 meters in length.
