FFOS tells PM: Deal with illegal trawlers

Fishermen and Friends of the Sea corporate secretary Gary Aboud, left, speaks to IMA officials aboard a Coast Guard vessel. FILE PHOTO -

Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) is imploring Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to deal with destructive illegal trawlers on the North Coast.

In a media release on December 12, FFOS said, "Every law must be obeyed, yet year after year, the same environmental crimes are replayed on the North Coast, leaving our communities impoverished. We are begging our Government to act as decisively as they have on fireworks.

"Shrimp trawlers, dragging massive tickler chains, scrape and massacre the seabed, destroying our marine life. It has been likened to dynamite fishing in terms of sustainability by the World Resources Institute in Washington. Juvenile species are wasted as measured by-catch of 14.7 pounds of marine life is destroyed for every pound of shrimp landed."

It claimed the trawling was damaging fisherfolk's fish pots and nets with little to no enforcement by the Coast Guard.

"This level of destruction is nothing short of ecological violence and genocide. The law is clear. Shrimp trawling on the North Coast is strictly limited from November 15 to January 15, only west of Saut d’Eau Island, at least two nautical miles offshore, and only between 6 am and 6 pm. Yet illegal trawling continues right under the watch of the very agencies meant to stop it. We cannot kill all rogue trawlers violently."

The organisation suggested the US military-grade radar could be used to address the illegal practice,

"This morning, when a report of illegal trawling was made, the Coast Guard initially took no details and promised to call back. When they eventually did, the response was deeply troubling: 'We must catch them in the act.'

"But everyone knows what happens next. As soon as the Coast Guard vessel turns the first Bocas, the trawlers lift their nets and claim, 'We are not trawling,' or simply shift a little further out and say they are beyond two miles. This cat-and-mouse game costs taxpayers tens of millions and is repeated ad nauseam every year. There is no real deterrence. No lasting solution. Our repeated cries are stifled by a lack of political will."

FFOS said in 2014 the then-UNC government promised to address the issue and a feasibility study was also done.

"Why are taxpayers forced to fund endless studies while the destruction continues unencumbered? While our parliamentarians parade with millions spent on blue-light security details, who is protecting our vulnerable?

"We appeal to our PM Persad-Bissessar for real enforcement, a properly equipped and responsive Coast Guard with functional vessels and fast interceptors, and for the Fisheries Bill to be brought to Parliament. We need law and an end to state-sanctioned lawlessness at sea. This is a national failure. Please, no more excuses."