Fishing industry in the Caribbean

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Line fishing on Cobblers Reef Line Fishing on Cobblers Reef.JPG
Line fishing on Cobblers Reef
Fishing at Mayaro Bay, Trinidad and Tobago Fishing at Mayaro 120.JPG
Fishing at Mayaro Bay, Trinidad and Tobago
Caribbean fishing boats at Aruba Caribbean fishing boats.jpg
Caribbean fishing boats at Aruba
Fishing boats in the harbour of Petite Riviere de Nippes, Haiti Harbour Petite Riviere de Nippes Haiti.jpg
Fishing boats in the harbour of Petite Rivière de Nippes, Haiti

Although the West Indies has limited resources in terms of developing a large-scale fishing industry, the value of fish and sea products as a source of food has long been recognized. All Caribbean territories therefore have fishing industries.

Contents

Most Caribbean fishermen ply their trade from small boats (4–11 meters). These small craft, often without protection from sun or rain, are forced to remain very close to shore, seldom going more than 16 kilometers offshore.

Methods

Several methods for catching fish are used:

  1. Fillet (gill) nets
  2. Trawling
  3. Line fishing
  4. Seining
  5. Fish pots and reels.

The method of fishing depends on the type and size of the fish to be caught. Trawling is used to catch shrimp, carite, snapper and cavali. The main catches from seine and gill nets are king fish, shark and carite. Fish pot catches are red snappers and jacks. Fishing is a year-round activity in the Caribbean and it directly employs thousands of people.

Sales and marketing

A number of different methods of selling are used in the Caribbean. Most small-scale fishermen take some of the catch for their families and sell the rest at the beach. If there is a delay between catching the fish and eating it, then some form of processing has to take place. The three processing methods that are common in the Caribbean are:

Challenges

Overfishing

The fishing industry in the Caribbean is harmed by the persistent presence of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. These practices are often unsustainable to the region's aquaculture and result in lost economic benefit to the territories. For example, in February 2020, fishing in the Dominican Republic was a 93.4 million USD industry, but illegal activity by both local and foreign fishers from Honduras, Nicaragua, and South Korea have caused a deficit in fish; as a result, the country is forced to import fish that could otherwise by caught or farmed within its sovereign borders. [1]

Aylin Ulman, a researcher at the University of British Columbia, has warned that territories such as Turks and Caicos Islands are drastically under-reporting their catches. Fishing has historically been the main industry in Turks and Caicos, involving up to 75% of locals in some areas. Tourism has contributed to greater demand for seafood, and this has placed increased pressure on marine life. [2]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing</span> Activity of trying to catch fish

Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques include trawling, longlining, jigging, hand-gathering, spearing, netting, angling, shooting and trapping, as well as more destructive and often illegal techniques such as electrocution, blasting and poisoning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trawling</span> Method of catching fish

Trawling is an industrial method of fishing that involves pulling a fishing net through the water behind one or more boats. The net used for trawling is called a trawl. This principle requires netting bags which are towed through water to catch different species of fishes or sometimes targeted species. Trawls are often called towed gear or dragged gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bycatch</span> Fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally

Bycatch, in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juveniles of the target species. The term "bycatch" is also sometimes used for untargeted catch in other forms of animal harvesting or collecting. Non-marine species that are caught but regarded as generally "undesirable" are referred to as rough fish or coarse fish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial fishing</span> Catching seafood for commercial profit

Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often pursue fish far into the ocean under adverse conditions. Large-scale commercial fishing is called industrial fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lobster fishing</span> Aspect of the fishing industry

Lobsters are widely fished around the world for their meat. They are often hard to catch in large numbers, but their large size can make them a profitable catch. Although the majority of the targeted species are tropical, the majority of the global catch is in temperate waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seine fishing</span> Method of fishing with a net

Seine fishing is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be deployed from the shore as a beach seine, or from a boat.

The Scottish east coast fishery has been in existence for more than a thousand years, spanning the Viking Age right up to the present day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unsustainable fishing methods</span> Fishing methods with expected lowering of fish population

Unsustainable fishing methods refers to the use of various fishing methods to capture or harvest fish at a rate that is unsustainable for fish populations. These methods facilitate destructive fishing practices that damage ocean ecosystems, resulting in overfishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing industry in Scotland</span> Aquaculture and marine catching in the UK country

The fishing industry in Scotland comprises a significant proportion of the United Kingdom fishing industry. A recent inquiry by the Royal Society of Edinburgh found fishing to be of much greater social, economic and cultural importance to Scotland than it is relative to the rest of the UK. Scotland has just 8.4 per cent of the UK population but lands at its ports over 60 per cent of the total catch in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing vessel</span> Boat or ship used to catch fish

A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish and other valuable nektonic aquatic animals in the sea, lake or river. Humans have used different kinds of surface vessels in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmental impact of fishing</span>

The environmental impact of fishing includes issues such as the availability of fish, overfishing, fisheries, and fisheries management; as well as the impact of industrial fishing on other elements of the environment, such as bycatch. These issues are part of marine conservation, and are addressed in fisheries science programs. According to a 2019 FAO report, global production of fish, crustaceans, molluscs and other aquatic animals has continued to grow and reached 172.6 million tonnes in 2017, with an increase of 4.1 percent compared with 2016. There is a growing gap between the supply of fish and demand, due in part to world population growth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Factory ship</span> Large oceangoing fish processing vessel

A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier whalers, and their use for fishing has grown dramatically. Some factory ships are equipped to serve as a mother ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flapnose ray</span> Species of fish

The flapnose ray or Javanese cownose ray is a species of fish in the family Rhinopteridae. It is found in the Indo-Pacific off China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mozambique, Pakistan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Vietnam and possibly Australia. Its natural habitats are open seas, shallow seas, subtidal aquatic beds, coral reefs, estuarine waters, and coastal saline lagoons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing techniques</span> Methods for catching sea creatures, especially fish

Fishing techniques are methods for catching fish. The term may also be applied to methods for catching other aquatic animals such as molluscs and edible marine invertebrates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bokkoms</span> Whole, salted and dried mullet

Bokkoms is whole, salted and dried mullet, and is a well-known delicacy from the West Coast region of South Africa. This salted fish is dried in the sun and wind and is eaten after peeling off the skin. In some cases it is also smoked. It is sometimes referred to as "fish biltong".

This page is a list of fishing topics.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to fishing:

This is a glossary of terms used in fisheries, fisheries management and fisheries science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fishing in Cornwall</span> Economic activity

Fishing in Cornwall, England, UK, has traditionally been one of the main elements of the economy of the county. Pilchard fishing and processing was a thriving industry in Cornwall from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into an almost terminal decline. During the 20th century the varieties of fish taken became much more diverse and crustaceans such as crab and lobster are now significant. Much of the catch is exported to France due to the higher prices obtainable there. Though fishing has been significantly damaged by overfishing, the Southwest Handline Fishermen's Association has started to revive the fishing industry. As of 2007, stocks were improving. The Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee is one of 12 committees responsible for managing the corresponding Sea Fisheries District. The Isles of Scilly Sea Fisheries Committee is responsible for the Scilly district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aberdeen floating village</span> Floating Village in Southern District, Hong Kong

Aberdeen floating village is located at the Aberdeen Harbour in the Southern District of Hong Kong. The harbour is known to contain 600 junks and is home to 6,000 people.

References

  1. White, Cliff (19 February 2020). "Low production, illegal fishing haunt Dominican Republic's fisheries sector". SeafoodSource. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  2. "Caribbean fishing industry at risk - Jamaica Observer". Jamaica Observer . 2016-08-08. Retrieved 2024-11-22.