Opposition Spokesperson on Water and Agriculture Lothan Cousins is claiming that foreign fishers are infringing on the livelihood of local lobster fishers due to a loophole in the Fisheries Act.

Cousins, who was responding to a statement by Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining Minister Floyd Green in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, argued that due to a loophole created by Section 54 (1) of the Fisheries Act, foreigners are brought in by large local companies to fish for lobsters in Jamaican waters.

“We have heard the cries of the fisherfolk, the lobster fishers who say that they can’t find market and there is this issue about imports and the ministry of agriculture was quite correct when they said that there are no imports, because what they’re referring to is the normal procedure of imports, but what the fisherfolk were referring to is a loophole provided by section 54 (1) of the Fisheries Act, which allows for a local person to be designated on behalf of a foreign company,” Cousins said.

“The Hondurans are here and we know it; and they are here because of this loophole in 54(1)…Most of these big companies use 54 (1) as the loophole. They carry the Hondurans here, they overfish the waters and then the local fisherfolk are left behind,” he added.

Section 54 (1) of the Fisheries Act states that subject the provisions of this part, the owner of a foreign fishing vessel shall, prior to making an application for a foreign fishing vessel license, appoint an agent who is resident in Jamaica, with the authority to receive and respond to processes and official communications under this Act on behalf of the owner of the foreign fishing vessel.

Cousins further argued that it is disingenuous for the Government to say that there are no imports “because there are companies here locally that are abusing the law and abusing the loopholes.

“Fisherfolk are not being educated about what is in the law to protect them…The fisherfolk…may not know the law but they have an idea and them see the Hondurans, so they know that they are there, they just don’t understand under what circumstances they came to be here and came to be depriving them of their livelihood,” he said.

But Green dismissed Cousins’ assertions as merely propaganda, stressing that “what we have operating in our lobster sector are registered and licensed Jamaican companies. That is a fact. The member knows this but…the member has embarked on a series of propaganda.”

“Our lobster fishers will tell you that they are seeing some of the biggest hauls, catches in a long time. You see what has happened… due to effective management of our fisheries sector, and due to the fact that this government provided the resources for the coast guard to provide a greater presence on our banks, we are now able to bring in more,” he said.

He said that after meeting with fisherfolk recently, “I can tell you our fishers are continuing and expect to have their best Christmas ever”.

On the subject of bigger companies that trade in lobster, Green noted that majority of them export their lobster, so they do not trade in the local market.

He explained, however, that there was a delay with the exportation of lobster for this season, in relation to new requirements that have come out of the European Union which has caused some challenges in the market space.

“With that said, let us be categorically clear, there is absolutely no importation of lobster into this country. Additionally, because we don’t talk, we act, we already dispatched the national fisheries authority to go into our fishing communities to see if there is truly a challenge facing our fishers and where they found that there was a challenge to deal with it effectively…

“Our farmers and our fishers know if there are any challenges that they face, we won’t hide from it; we will treat with it frontally. We will have the teams dispatched to meet with them. The minister makes himself available because there is no sector more important than agriculture and fisheries and this government, this minister will do all in our power along with state minister Witter to ensure that if they face flood, if they face drought…We act upon it; we will be there for them in the good times and in the bad times,” he said.