Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Alfred Prospere says moves are afoot to increase opportunities and benefits for the stakeholders in the fisheries industry.

On Tuesday the 28^th of September, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security & Rural Development Hon. Alfred Prospere said, that the fisheries sector is one which remains on his priority list. Hon. Alfred, a former Chief Forestry Officer, said fisheries plays an essential role in providing food and livelihood for thousands. Minister Prospere is currently exploring compensational and beneficial avenues for fishers.

Hon. Alfred Prospere

“The fishing exercise is a very risky business. Sometimes we hear our fishers go out to sea, they are lost at sea, their boats sink due to bad weather conditions but there is nothing or very little to compensate in terms of loss of life and so on. I am really concern about some form of insurance for our fishers. When a life is lost at sea, the family members can benefit. When a fisherman decides at age 65 I cannot afford to continue to go to sea, there should be some form of health insurance coverage for them just like the NIC would do to the regular workers”.

The Minister added that the removal of the $1.50 cents excise tax on fishers is only the beginning of future plans to alleviate some of the challenges confronting fishers.

“Insurance coverage is one of the areas I am giving high priority in terms of how we assist our fishermen. The government of St Lucia in its manifesto indicated that the $1.50 excise fuel tax will be removed so that there will be an ease on our fishermen because that will be able to give them some latitude in terms of benefiting more by removing the $1.50 tax on fuel. It is a very important sector but it’s also a sector with lots of challenges. It is one of those sectors I will be giving a lot of attention in terms of attempting to address most if not all of the challenges that they face”.