Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Elizabeth Thompson, is urging a focus on sustainability and value-added products for Barbados’s fishing industry if it is to move ahead.
She said the local fishing fleet, in particular, needs to be looked at with regards to its modernisation and use of alternative energy sources.
Thompson was speaking in the Upper House on Wednesday, on the Sustainable Fisheries Management and Development Bill 2025 which she said could help with much needed modernisation of the industry.
She said, “The bill also allows for the expansion of the industry by underpinning it with the use of data for informed decision making and planning, allowing information that will itself be helpful to those in the industry.”
Thompson noted that though the fishing fleet had been updated since the days of the Tom Adams administration, further modernisation was needed. “What would it take to invest in those boats and have a fishing fleet that is modern, using alternative power, [and] more environmentally friendly than the existing fleet,” Thompson asked.
She pointed to the recent damage caused by Hurricane Beryl as a potential turning point—an opportunity to transition from outdated vessels to a fleet that is modern, energy-efficient, and environmentally friendly. Fuel remains one area that is particularly conducive to greening the fishing industry and making it more sustainable, she added.
“The truth is, if we are really venture capitalists here, somebody would be paying others to experiment with cooking oil …as a possible biodiesel or alternative fuel source for fishing boats. That way, all the oil that is used at Oistins to fry the fish at night can then be put back in, recycled, and transformed into another usable commodity that helps to create virtuous environmental cycles and keeps the industry sustainable [and] reduces the amounts of waste and so on,” she said.
Senator Thompson also highlighted the untapped potential of value-added products within the fishing sector, and urged the industry to diversify its offerings.
“There is a high end market out there that would be prepared to pay good money for products from fish leathers because it would be novel in the market space. Equally, I don’t think we produce any significant amount of fish nuggets; if you want to serve fish bites at functions which a lot of people do, you have to buy steak fish and cut it up yourself which is very labour intensive. Whereas we really should be selling fish chunks and fish bites, some ready seasoned.”
“You can get things like mackerel prepared in other supermarkets outside of the Caribbean with pepper and herbs and so on…that can happen with fishes that we catch here especially when there are gluts,” she said.
The senator urged those in the industry to pay attention to sustainability and the market opportunities available. “We have to look at the extent to which we can really extract large profits from particular fish products, and how we are going to expand it to help those currently in the industry. Let’s face it, there are people in the industry who have made good money…this should be the next opportunity for investment for them.”
(SB)
