There has been much talk about the need for a fishing agreement between Barbados and the twin-island republic of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T), but Barbados’ Ambassador to CARICOM believes that one such agreement is not nearly enough, there must eventually be a regional fishing agreement put in place.
“This belief in this day and age that one can go into another country’s territorial waters and just fish like that is no-no with me also, because we have a serious problem as it relates to drugs and other crimes and we must learn to appreciate that everybody must have a right to look after their own security and that is why I am saying that we must be proactive and see this as something that must occur within CARICOM and not just Barbados and Trinidad. We must have a regional fishing agreement even if it means moving out of my hands and into someone else’s hands,” Ambassador Denis Kellman said during an exclusive interview with the Barbados Advocate.
However, Kellman who is charged with the responsibility of securing a fishing agreement between Barbados and T&T, said that several avenues are being explored in this regard and so the probability of finalising such a bilateral pact remains possible. On the other hand, he noted, as a country we also have to take into consideration that the situation which drove Barbadian fisherfolk to initially pursue the flying fish in Tobago’s waters, has changed. The ambassador explained that in fact the fish stocks in our waters have increased, and the demand to go to Tobago is not as great as it used to be.
“…As it stands right now, the best judge is to monitor the catches of the day boats, people tend to monitor the catches of the ice boats. But I am telling you that last season there were some day boats that could have beaten a lot of the ice boats or equalled them with their catches. Moreover, when you multiple the daily catches by seven days and consider that some of those ice boats go out for two weeks and you do a conversion, the days boats have been doing a lot better – so it tells you that the flying fish would have to be close at home,” he contended.
Nevertheless, Kellman said that negotiations with Trinidad are still on the cards, but persons must recognise that in negotiating, parties have to be very careful that they do not come over as if they are begging.
“…You also have to be very careful how you relate to the other party. There must always be a situation where you have something to give in exchange for what you want. If we are going to have a fishing agreement I strongly believe that Trinidad must come to the table with what they would expect from us and for us to sit down negotiate with them. Barbados has never been a begging country and I do not think that as Ambassador to CARICOM and with responsibility for the fishing agreement, that anybody can expect me to be in a biting capacity, it must be equal ground,” he added. (JRT) (Barbados Advocate)
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