Fishers worry over high costs amid another storm season

The fishing industry, still struggling to recover from the devastation from Hurricane Beryl last year, warned on Wednesday that soaring costs to secure vessels ahead of major storms could cripple the industry, Barbados TODAY has learnt.

The industry leader said many fishers simply cannot afford to safeguard their livelihoods as the hurricane season continues.

Hurricane Beryl nearly wiped out the island’s fishing fleet, particularly at the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex, where more than 240 fishing vessels were damaged or destroyed, and the livelihoods of thousands were severely disrupted.

More than two months into the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, the Barbados National Union of Fisherfolk Organisations (BARNUFO) sounded the alarm that it would be a major challenge to cover the current cost of hauling vessels out of the water for safekeeping should the island be under threat.

“The vessels are looking at the haul-out system. The issue for us now is the cost to haul out a vessel. You are looking at either $1 600 or $1 800 to haul up, and then to haul down. And because these guys have not been able to recover that kind of money… right now to find that kind of money to even haul up a boat, is a difficult thing,” BARNUFO President Vernel Nicholls told Barbados TODAY.

“Either $1 600 or $1 800 up and down. I am not exactly sure, but that is around the range for a vessel to haul out of the water. And if our boats have not been making that kind of money yet for the season, we really have some challenges. So, there is a lot that we are dealing with at this time. Even though we are struggling, we are being positive and we are being hopeful.

“We definitely have to look at the issue of hauling out in assisting the industry in moving forward financially, especially. So, as time goes by… we are into the hurricane season… and that will be our primary focus at this time… ensuring that our boats are safe. Those that have been rebuilt, those that have come back in the water. So we want to ensure that these boats are safe for another season.

“All of our vessels are not back in the water. But you know this is now the period of the hurricane season again, and so we are now more looking to haul up again… get the vessels out because we don’t want to risk a similar situation, even though we are hoping for the best and that we don’t have those challenges.”

While acknowledging that the rebuilding process would be slow, the fisherfolk spokesperson raised concerns about the third-party liability insurance introduced to the sector.

Nicholls said: “The fisheries legislation came out and was passed. The third-party liability insurance is touted to be one of the requirements in the industry. Recently, the fisherfolk, boat owners and fishers, through the Fisheries Division, had a meeting with some of the insurance officials, and the discussion was around the introduction of the same legislation. Of course, there is still some concern that fishers have and boat owners, and we are hoping that some of those things will be addressed.”

The meeting discussed setting up a working group consisting of fishers, insurers and herself as BARNUFO leader to examine the concerns of the fisherfolk regarding third-party insurance cover, she said.

“We recognise within the industry that the third-party insurance is not particularly beneficial to the fishers or the boat owners,” Nichols said. “Therefore, we have to talk comprehensive liability insurance. Most persons know that when you have third-party, it benefits the other party. It doesn’t benefit the person that the vessel belong to. So, we want to ensure that if for any reason there is an issue, the boat owners… they are not only paying out money to an insurance company, but they are also benefiting in terms of having their own vessels repaired or replaced.”

Nicholls accepted the government’s desire for insurance to be available, but suggested it should also fit the industry’s practical needs.

She also expressed dissatisfaction with the amount of money allocated by the government to rebuilding the industry following Beryl.

The fishers’ spokeswoman said: “The funds… some of the boat owners were reporting that the funds were not sufficient to totally build back. So, some people are still struggling to access funds to get their boats in the water. Some boats have not been back in the water for the season as yet. Some have, but then we were having other challenges. We still have the disruption of the sargassum and other climate change issues that prevented the boats from fishing as much as we would want.”

She said other “serious issues” included access to ice, which limited the number of trips some boats could make, even when they were otherwise ready.

These are some of the challenges that Nichols said she was hoping the government would address through the rebuilding process, with assistance from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

“We are hoping that once these things are sorted out, that at some point, we can have a better build-forward industry. So, we are looking that, hopefully in the future, we can have a better sector, more organised,” she said. 

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb