No one except an unprecedented Hurricane Beryl can be blamed for devastation of the island’s fishing fleet on Monday, Kemar Harris, chairman of the Fisheries Advisory Committee has said.
Responding to Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne and other critics who suggested that more could have been done to safeguard the boats during the hurricane’s passage, Harris said that not much could have been done due to a lack of equipment to haul up more than 200 fishing vessels.
He said: “[What] has happened is no fault of no person or persons, this is an act of nature. To the rumours saying ‘we could have put them on a pasture, we could have put them [other] places’, it [could not] have been done. You cannot put boats any and everywhere. First, gather the facts, find out information from those who know about the sector and the industry, and then speak.
“Last year, we had an issue where we could not get the boats hauled out quickly. We were able to identify down at BICO by Spring Garden side as an area for boats. We were not able to get all of the boats out in time because we do not have the amount of equipment to take out all of the boats.”
Harris emphasised that the Bridgetown Fisheries Complex was previously used extensively as a safe harbour for boats, and, as such, authorities had no reason to be concerned prior to Monday about the vessels’ safety during a storm.
“The Bridgetown fish market complex was the place that we housed boats for years in bad weather, and it’s just unfortunate that this time that the breakwater broke away and the surges were bigger than ever before. My dad has been in this [industry] for more than 50 years, and he said he has been out in the ocean and has never seen swells as big as this, and those sentiments come from most of the other fishermen.
“This is something unusual to us; it’s no person’s fault, it’s just an act of nature.”
He also stressed that though Barbadians will have many questions on when the fishing industry can get back on track after such a substantial loss, an assessment of the situation needs to be carried out in full before any concrete decisions are made.
“We are still waiting on the assessment of the damage, because we have not been able to pull all of the boats out of the water. Some have been able to sail out, some are in the Careenage and so forth. I know we will work with the people to see how best we can assist. Rome was not built in a day nor was this Earth created in a day.
“This has affected not only the fisherfolk of the country, but business people, because we depend on the fisherfolk to get our fish in the Oistins Bay Gardens. So it is a tough time for the industry,” Harris said. (SB)
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