Plea against price rise amid fisheries losses

Fish processors have been urged not to raise the wholesale price to vendors after a leading spokesman for the fishing community estimated that Hurricane Beryl has destroyed 90 per cent of the island’s fleet.

“We are asking them, ‘don’t juck out we eye’,” said Kemar Harris, chairman of the Fisheries Advisory Committee, as he issued the plea during a media briefing at Oistins Bay Garden.

Urging processors not to exploit the crisis, he added: “I am hoping that the fish processors of this country do not put markups on their fish, because they don’t pay VAT for it, and understand that this is a seriously impacting moment at this time.”

The storm surge associated with Hurricane Beryl on Monday left fishing folk watching “in horror” as most of the country’s fishing fleet was destroyed or critically damaged. 

Harris emphasised the need for discussions with processors to establish capped prices, considering the extraordinary circumstances. 

“I want to meet with them so that we can have some conversations to see if we can come to some capped prices based on the circumstances that have now happened…. All of these small enterprises can have capped prices for these persons in this difficult period because we don’t have the boats going out,” he said.

Harris acknowledged that no accurate timeline could be provided for how long the local fish stock would last, given the lack of boats available to replenish supplies. 

“What we are going to miss is our local dolphin, our flying fish, the potfish, the snappers… those local fish that we get from here,” he explained, adding that traditional dishes like coucou and flying fish may be unavailable for some time.

The government has begun addressing the crisis, with Cabinet expected to devote its weekly meeting on Thursday to discuss recovery plans. Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight, BLP hopeful for the Christ Church South constituency, reported that over 156 workers from various agencies, including the National Conservation Commission, Ministry of Transport and Works and Coast Guard have been involved in cleaning up the Oistins area.

Senator Munro-Knight emphasised the need for a forward-looking approach: “The conversation is about how we build resilience in the future; it’s not just about rushing in and saying ‘okay, we are just going to replace’, but what are the lessons we learned from what has happened here, and how can we do it better.”

“Cabinet this morning was fully dedicated to having this discussion,” said the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Culture. “We got a full update from the prime minister who was fully on the ground for a number of days, and the discussion in Cabinet was about what is it that we need to be able to put in place to address what has happened, to make sure we are able to provide some level of assistance.” 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb