The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian fishermen are expecting to lose some assets as a result of Hurricane Joaquin, although they are hoping to minimise any reduction in days at sea.

The Bahamas Commerical Fishers Alliance’s (BCFA) president, Adrian LaRoda, said: “This storm came up on everyone. It caught us a bit off guard. We were watching this water system for a while because we closely monitor these systems.

“We didn’t expect it to intensify to a hurricane in such a short time, although we were aware that it was out there. So far all of our operators are safe as far as we know.”

Mr LaRoda added: “We would expect that there will be some loss of assets as a result of this storm. We hope that is kept to a minimum.

“It’s too early to tell right now, but we will be doing our assessments afterwards. Our information, though, is that fishermen in Crooked Island, Acklins and, to a certain extent, Long Island, have been affected.

“We are waiting on word to see if there has been any catastrophic losses to their fleet, but we haven’t gotten any word as yet. We are expecting there would be some losses like that.”

The Category Four hurricane, with maximum sustained winds around 130 milesper hour, battered the southern and central Bahamas last week.

“While we are not in the clear yet, any adverse weather conditions impacting the country would no doubt impact the fishing industry. We are going to lose fishing days,” said Mr LaRoda.

“Hopefully with this storm being where it is, and moving the way it is, we would not lose too many fishing days. Anything under a week will have a minimal impact, but anything over a week in terms of being docked would have a major affect on the entire industry.

“We are coming into a period which is bringing us closer to the winter season, and there is not a lot you can do in the winter season because cold fronts come through and negatively impact your ability to work. We are keeping our fingers crossed that this storm will move out quickly,”