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Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua and Barbuda - More Research Needed

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A debate swirls around whether fish species depletion in Antigua and Barbuda is a current problem or a future threat.  Experts are casting a net over the broader implications for ocean ecosystems and resource usage with livelihoods, diets and recreational activities at risk. The Antigua and Barbuda Fisheries Division reports an overall increase in fish production, with periodic drops linked to economic disruptions and management regulations like the Great Recession and the 2013 Fisheries Regulation. 

Finfish production rose from approximately 1,000 metric tons in 2007 to 1,500 metric tons in 2020. Queen Conch production has remained stable, ranging between 200 to 500 metric tons annually. Caribbean Spiny Lobster production has fluctuated, peaking around 2012-2014, with a post-2015 upward trend, ranging from 200 to 3,500 metric tons annually. Fishery Production Trend courtesy the Antigua and Barbuda Fisheries Division.

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Mounting Challenges to Caribbean Fisheries

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There are mixed official and industry messages in a selection of Caribbean countries, but CIJN investigations have unearthed, at minimum, signs that the regional fisheries sector is currently confronting a variety of potentially disastrous challenges – both natural and human. Over recent months, our team – comprising correspondents in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago – has scanned the regional seascape in search of data-supported evidence of a growing claim of perilous times ahead for the industry. In most instances, there has been a notable absence of available indigenous, official, statistics and an apparent unwillingness by authorities to publicly engage negative speculation regarding the fate of the fisheries sector. There have also been mixed verdicts from key stakeholders including fisherfolk and others involved in the value chain.

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Barbuda’s Unending Disaster

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The case of Hurricane Irma’s impact on Barbuda provides a significant example of what is often termed “disaster capitalism.” It is defined as the exploitation of natural disasters by governments and corporations to push through policies or projects that would otherwise face resistance, typically for economic or political gain. Residents of the island of Barbuda say that is what is happening to them. Irma, a catastrophic category 5 hurricane caused more than USD$220 million damage to homes and infrastructure on the island of Barbuda.  It also left a path of extreme environmental destruction on the island. The storm ripped the roofs off many homes and buildings, power poles were toppled and debris was scattered across the landscape.  The police station was largely destroyed, medical services halted.  Official estimates indicated 95% of structures on the island were damaged or destroyed. 

What surrounded the approximately 1,500 inhabitants as they abandoned their tiny island on September 6, 2017 was utter destruction.

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