The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN fishermen hope the Government “sooner rather than later” will implement mandatory licensing, a leading executive yesterday saying such a move would go “a long way” to regulate the industry and provide a source of revenue for the Government.

    Adrian LaRoda, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance (BCFA) president, told Tribune Business the issue was one it was hoping the Government will still look into.

“One thing we hope that the Government would understand and implement sooner  rather than later is the fisherman’s licensing. That would go a long way for the industry in terms of regulation and could be a revenue generator for regulators,” said Mr LaRoda.

    “Just like a driver’s license, which you are required to have if you are going to drive a vehicle, the fisher license would mean that every commercial fisherman would have to have a license.

“That way you would be able to have a better understanding of how many people are in the sector. It would aid in record keeping and bring some form of regulation to the sector. At the moment people are not inclined to follow regulations if there is no penalty.

“With the licensing, if someone breaches the regulations and could lose their license, they wold be more inclined to not break the laws. Right now there are diving permits that are issued to fishermen, but they do not contain photographs and cannot be used as an official form of identification for anyone.”

    Mr LaRoda added that despite the decline in global fuel prices, Bahamian fishermen were still hoping to secure fuel concessions. “We would still want the fuel concessions. Fuel costs fluctuate. Today it’s low - it’s the lowest it’s been for years - but who is to say this is going to be the norm?” he said.

“They could very well increase four months from now. The concession would be a  constant and bring stability to the sector. We’re still trying to work with the Government on that. We’re not going to give up.”

Mr LaRoda said the retail fisheries sector has had minimal challenges relative to the implementation of Value-Added Tax (VAT).

“There have been minimal challenges with relation to VAT and the retail fisheries sector. Fortunately, most of the vendors have not been charging VAT to the consumers whereas I’m sure the wholesalers are including VAT in their sales,” Mr LaRoda said.

“The reduction in fuel has helped a bit, softened the blow somewhat and its impact on the sector. Fuel costs have been drastically reduced, which is a good sign, and if all indications are correct we should be seeing these savings for a while, which is good news for the sector.

“Things are looking up, although poaching is still a major issue for us. The VAT roll-out has not been as difficult as we would have expected as a lot of retailers have decided to absorb the VAT rather than pass it on.”