BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The lead researcher at a US-based environmental research unit has called for urgent action to ensure the future sustainability of the fishing industry in the Caribbean.

Aylin Ulman, from the Sea Around Us — a research initiative at the University of British Columbia — also warned that the marine environment of local communities in the Turks and Caicos Islands and the rest of the Caribbean are being threatened as marine catches have been “drastically under-reported”.

According to a report published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Marine Science, Ulman said actual catches on the islands were an alarming 86 per cent higher than that reported to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and this has very troubling implications.

This has prompted Ulman and her team to call for urgent action from policymakers.

In making specific reference to the Turks and Caicos Islands, Ulman said fishing has historically been the main industry there and in some areas, up to 75 per cent of locals are involved in the fishing industry. The rise in tourism is creating more demand for locally caught seafood and is placing increasing pressure on local marine life.

However, she noted that the data passed on to the FAO are incorrect because they only account for commercial catches that will be exported, and do not include seafood caught and consumed by locals and tourists on the islands. This can put future stocks at risk.

“DEMA (The Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs) has done a great job of monitoring fish sold to the country’s fish plants,” said Ulman.

“However, it seems they have not always had enough staff to monitor seafood being sold or given to locals and tourists, whether that be at the dock, in shops, or in restaurants.”

For a better estimate of the amount of seafood caught around the islands, the authors assessed all catches between 1950 and 2012.

The reconstructed data also included evaluations of recreational catches and illegal poaching. Using these data and mathematical models, Ulman and her team have made the most accurate estimates to date of seafood consumption by residents and tourists on the islands.

Reported catches have been used to put regulations in place for sustainable catch limits. However, these limits have been unsustainable, leading to the over-exploitation of marine life.

“Local seafood consumption surveys should continue to be completed once every three to five years to track changing patterns, especially with the ongoing growth of tourism. Local consumption catches must be factored into the equation when calculating the total allowable catch limits, especially for key species of conch and lobster, to determine if it is even possible to continue the export business,” said Ulman.

She added that new legislation is needed to reduce seafood catches so that stocks are being fished within safe limits, and this study adds new weight to the urgency of this issue.

The report also advised officials in the Turks and Caicos Islands to stop the exportation of conch for up to five years to allow populations to recover, but they have delayed in implementing this.

“While the results of this research may seem like bad news, we are quick to emphasise that this new data may actually present an opportunity,” said co-author Edward Hind, who added that if the Government supports the Turks and Caicos Islands fisheries scientists in collecting better catch data, then the country can have healthy fisheries for decades to come.

The under-reporting of fisheries catches is common across the Caribbean.

The report noted that Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Jamaica are facing the same problems and urgent action is required to avoid further over-exploitation of marine life.