St. Vincent and the Grenadines
St Vincent and the Grenadines – Riding Challenging Tides
By 
Rawdica R. Stephen |
Depending on who is doing the speaking, St Vincent and the Grenadines is anywhere between experiencing a boom in fisheries and the reality of gradual, despairing decline. Local fishermen interviewed for this story all claimed there has been a serious reduction in catches. But, in a speech to open the 47th Annual Fisherman’s Day competition on May 27, Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves noted: “The fish stock in St. Vincent and the Grenadines has doubled in comparison to that of other years.”
A 2021 study by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) however suggests that there are several important variables to be considered before a final verdict is considered. For example, its research spanning 28 different landing sites suggests that depending on species, locations, and timing the indicators may point in different directions.
The data indicate that some fish species are particularly susceptible to overfishing because of poor growth rates or limited ability to reproduce, which puts them at risk of population depletion.
Mounting Challenges to Caribbean Fisheries
By Wesley Gibbings, Editor and CIJN Staff Writers |
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.