Over the last 15 years, I have written several times in this column about how serious overfishing is in Jamaica, and what needed to be done to turn the sector around, but I must say that sometimes I felt I was wasting my time. Now I feel a little hope. In his Budget speech last month, the Minister of Agriculture, the Hon Dr Christopher Tufton, made some statements that led me to believe that, for the first time, it seems that a minister understands the situation.

For example, he states unequivocally: "Mr Speaker, there are some activities which have been part of the fishing tradition for decades, which are simply unsustainable. Moreover, we have overexploited our reef fishery resources and the industry is suffering as a consequence."

Most overfished waters

Over a decade ago, CARICOM fisheries authorities announced that Jamaican waters were the most overfished in the region; no other country comes close! The classic symptoms are there: reduced catch weight; reduced fish length; and a shift away from quality fish towards trash fish. (When last have you seen grouper?)

Overfishing in Jamaica is caused by the unsustainable fishing practices of Jamaican fishermen allowed under present Jamaican fisheries law, and sustained by government indolence. A new fisheries act has been in draft for a decade, and a new fisheries policy has been knocking around for about five years. Over the last 20 years, the Jamaican Government has known what the problem is, and which strategies have the best chance of making a difference, and has failed to act.

Ensuring viability

Minister Tufton went on: "I want to say to the fishers out there that this Government cares about you. We want you not only to survive, but to prosper. We want to work with you to ensure that our fishing industry is viable and sustainable. This sustainability of which I speak, can only be achieved if we work together to address the challenges facing the industry. One such challenge is the matter of overfishing. Mr Speaker, we cannot continue to remove more fish than the species' ability to replenish itself. Otherwise, one day, the livelihood of our fishers will come to an end. Already, we see smaller and smaller catches and sizes. We have to stem this tide and our fishermen must partner with us to this end, in their own interest."

The mesh sizes in Jamaican fish pots are so small that they trap fish while they are still juveniles, before they reach the size and age to reproduce. As I tell fishers during fisheries management training sessions, if a goat farmer kills his nanny goats before they are old enough to drop, he soon will have no goats left in his herd; and that is what is happening in Jamaican fisheries. Despite the recommendations of fisheries scientists and managers, our laws do not prescribe a minimum mesh size in fish pots to prevent this. Seine nets and trawl nets scrape the sea floor, destroying seagrass and corals and eggs laid by female fish. These nets - banned in many countries - are legal in Jamaica.

Sanctuaries not implemented

Preventing fishing in fish-breeding areas by creating fish sanctuaries would allow fish populations to multiply unmolested. In Jamaica, only two fish sanctuaries have ever been created (in Bowden, St Thomas and around the Bogue Islands in Montego Bay) and these many decades ago. When the Fishing Industry Act was first passed in 1976, about a dozen fish sanctuaries were proposed, but the recommendations were not implemented. Government indolence again! And some fishers use dynamite and other substances to kill fish, which also destroys their habitat, and others spear fish with scuba and hookah, which is tantamount to fish genocide across wide areas.

Scientists have forecast that should proper fisheries-management strategies be implemented and enforced in Jamaica, our annual national catch could triple after about eight years; but this is going to require that both the Government and the fishers radically change their behaviour.

In his Budget speech, Minister Tufton announced that he would bring the fisheries policy into force and bring the new Fisheries Act to Parliament this year. He also committed to expand the registration and licensing of fishers, and to create five new fish sanctuaries this year. If he does just this, he will have done more that the previous government was able to do in the last decade and a half! The last government promised nothing and did nothing. This government has made promises, and everyone will be watching to see whether they will deliver.