The Castries Fisheries Complex came alive last Sunday February 22nd, Independence Day, for a massive seafood festival, hailed a huge success even while still in progress.
The midday start saw scattered numbers but as the afternoon crawled and dusk approached the event turned out to be the massive event that was envisaged.
On hand to witness developments firsthand was Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Climate Change, Lisa Jawahir. The annual event, according to the Minister, was particularly impressive this time around. The newly installed minister says plans are afoot to further assist fisher folk. “We are at a place where we are suffering such devastating Impacts of climate change that severely impacts our fisheries. I believe our fishermen has done a phenomenal job in the past in terms of feeding our nation and it is an area we are exploring right now to see how we can better support them.”
Work at the Vieux Fort Fisheries Complex is expected to commence in the next few weeks, which will be followed by the Dennery facility, then Soufriere and Choiseul according to the Minister. The Minister committed to continued assistance for fishermen especially in the form of GPS gear, fuel rebates, FADs { Fish Aggregating Device} and the like.
2026, according to Minister Jawahir, is expected to be a bumper year for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Climate Change. While traditional agriculture will be supported and enhanced, “innovation” will be the buss-word for the ministry. “I want to add a bit more innovation to agriculture so we can diversify a bit more. You know we have a very high food import bill and we are nowhere close to being self sufficient and that is why we need to broaden fisheries and explore that sector a bit more.”
Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre is expected to introduce measures that will encourage the buy-local, eat-local concept when he presents the annual budget estimates in a few months.
Agriculture Minister Jawahir was tight-lipped on next year’s fisheries festival, only admitting that there will be two locations, The Castries Fisheries Complex and another in the south of the island.