By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
FISHERMEN WHO use the waterway spanning the Great River, on the St. James/Hanover border, to Tropical Beach, in the Whitehouse area of St. James, will now be required to have a special permit if they intend to continue fishing legally in that section of the harbour.
Starting this month, each fisherman who operates within the 15.3 square-kilometre waterway, which falls under the ambit of the Montego Bay Marine Park, must possess a special permit issued by the park to operate within the law. Those who are caught flouting the new law are expected to face stiff penalties.
"The penalties for breaching the regulations include equipment confiscation and fines, with the possibility of community service and jail time," said Andrew Ross, science officer with the Montego Bay Marine Park. "Whoever fishes in the Marine Park without permits after will be subject to these penalties." Under the new system, for a fisherman to be granted a permit by the Marine Park, he must have been licensed as a commercial fisher by the Fisheries Division of the Agriculture Ministry and would therefore be in possession of a valid Fisheries Licence.
Outlining the new system to The Gleaner, Mr. Ross insisted that the new programme would not only prevent over-fishing in the marine park and help improve the state of the reefs but would also create positive benefits for fishermen in the parish.
"This project is simply looking to keep new fishermen from working in the park for the next couple of years," explained Mr. Ross, while emphasising that the park's management is trying to replenish the fish stocks in the Marine Park by preventing over- fishing in certain areas.
Mr. Ross added: "Nothing about local fishing will change; fishermen with permits may fish outside as well as inside (the park)."
, as they have been doing in the past."
the permit system is expected to serve as a deterrent to fishermen from elsewhere in the island who would wish to come and fish in the Marine Park, which is now showing signs of an increase in its fish population. In further support of the permit system, he questioned, "Why increase the fish population if somebody from Trelawny or St. Ann or Honduras or America can just come in and harvest those fish?"
"Nothing about local fishing will change; unregistered or new fishers will still fish as normal outside of the park," said Mr. Ross. "Fishermen with permits may fish outside as well as inside (the park), as they have been doing in the past."
The new permit system is in keeping with regulations stipulated for Marine Parks by the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) and the Government of Jamaica. According to the regulations, the registration of fishermen operating within a Marine Park area is a first step in effectively managing marine resources.
