(MOA Basseterre, St. Kitts, 03 May 2024):
The Honourable Samal. M. Duggins, Minister responsible for Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources announced that in 2023, fisher folk in St. Kitts and Nevis earned over 15 million Eastern Caribbean (EC) dollars from fish landings—the highest figure on record within the last ten years.
Minister Duggins was at the time delivering his presentation during a sitting of National Assembly on Thursday, May 02, 2024, where he noted that support from the government of St. Kitts and Nevis has led to this significant boost in the fisheries sector.
“Our fisher folk have been receiving support. So much so that the data has shown that in 2023 the fisheries sector would have brought in 15 plus million dollars to our people engaged in that sector. I think that is a huge accomplishment and Madam speaker I mention that because in the data that we have, there is no year showing in any data that I have seen, nowhere within 3 million dollars of that figure, highest we’ve ever seen by all data that we can account for. This is what we are talking about, this is what we committed to our people—transformation”, the Honourable Minister expressed.
The main catalyst of the increase in fish landings was Reef and Demersal Fishery which includes species like Hind, Butterfish, Angel fish, Snapper and Grouper. According to the data recorded by the Department of Marine Resources St. Kitts and Nevis, the most poundage recorded for Reef and Demersal Fishery was 757, 153 lbs earning an overall landing value of $9,515,517 XCD. Grouper dominated this category with 260,341 lbs earning the highest landing value of $3,644,774 XCD.
Meanwhile, Coastal pelagic which includes species like Gar, Ballyhoo and Jacks saw a recorded total of 94, 825 lbs, which earned a landing value of $888,640 XCD. Gar dominated this category with 53,555 lbs, earning the highest landing value of $535,550 XCD. Ocean pelagic species such as Mahi Mahi, Tuna, Mackerel, Swordfish or Marlin recorded a total catch of 40,465 lbs with a landing value of $502,354 XCD. Mahi Mahi/ Dolphin fish saw the most poundage in this category at 24,173 lbs which earned a landing value of $290,076 XCD.
In addition, fisher folk in St. Kitts and Nevis also earned over 2.6 million dollars’ worth of Lobster and more than 2 million dollars’ worth of Conch, which contributes to the overall total of $15, 585,521 XCD generated.
The Department of Marine Resources SKN has attributed the deployment of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS) Fisher training and consultations as well as the installation of artificial reefs through its COASTFISH project as significant contributors to the increase in catches.
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