Fishermen and fish farmers across the island will benefit from improved service delivery with the rollout of a Fisheries Licensing and Registration System Project that will enhance regulation and management.
The system, which will be executed through the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) along with the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), will shift from a completely manual process to a digitized one. This will enable fisherfolk to renew their licences from anywhere in Jamaica, eliminating the need to visit a physical location to submit an application.
Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining, Hon. Floyd Green, said during a press briefing at the Ministry’s Hope Complex office on Wednesday, January 31, that the system will go live on February 5 and is expected to reduce the time of the renewal process.
“Now, it takes a fisher approximately 2 weeks from applying for the licence to get their licence renewed. We know our fishers, most of them, once the weather is good, they try to go out each week and as such, it would be two weeks that they are unable to go out because they would run afoul of the law,” Green highlighted.
“Under this new process, we expect to be able to return licence within a week because again it is a new digitized process, and it will give our fishers the ability to apply from anywhere they are in Jamaica. They won’t have to go into a physical space to have the application done,” he added.
The agriculture minister has indicated that fishers do not have to wait until their licences have expired to start the renewal process, as this process can be done before the expiration date.
“You can apply for the licence, it will be processed, your new licence will be issued, and it will be dated to start when your old licence expires,” he shared.
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