The Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Hon. Pearnel Charles Jr, has charged the National Fisheries Authority board members to recognize the vast potential of fisheries, stating that the fisheries industry presents the greatest opportunity for upward mobility and growth of the agriculture and fisheries sector.
“The potential in pelagic fishing, in oysters and sea moss, aquaculture, mariculture, and the several other, will allow for investments to reap high yields, leading to an explosion in the agriculture and fisheries sector,” he outlined.
Charles Jr was speaking at the National Fisheries Authority’s (NFA) Commissioning Ceremony of its new Board of Directors, held on Thursday, January 12, 2023, at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites in St. Andrew.
The agriculture minister also encouraged the board to always consider climate change when developing plans for the NFA.
“There is no other sector that I have seen like agriculture and fisheries that is more susceptible to climate change elements. It means that you have to build with this in mind,” said Charles Jr.
In 2019, the National Fisheries Authority (NFA), which has oversight of the management and development of fisheries and aquaculture in Jamaica, transitioned from being the Fisheries Division under the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, to a statutory body.
Notwithstanding some challenges, the authority noted several major accomplishments since 2019. Among the achievements highlighted were the execution of a multi-agency mechanism that seeks to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU) in addition to the successful acceptance of the proposal to have Jamaica host a regional hub for the Blue Justice Community by the Norwegian government and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP and the establishment of an offshore radio communication system that services the entire south coast of Jamaica.
Minister of state in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the Hon. Franklin Witter, expressed his satisfaction with the performance of the NFA and encouraged the entity to maintain a strong work relationship as they work towards improving agriculture and fisheries’ contribution to the economy.
“We are now boasting in the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries four consecutive quarters of growth in this sector, which is a great achievement, and we could not have done so without the participation and commitment of NFA,” he noted.
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