Conch investors offer solutions
JAMAICAN CONCH interests must pursue creative and sustainable strategies if they are to cushion the impact of the one-year ban on harvesting the mollusc, a major seafood trader has said.
Those interventions could see Jamaica riding a massive wave of success from the blue economy – a mix of the aquaculture, fisheries, tourism and related sectors – said Roderick Francis, CEO of B&D Trawling.
It is for this reason that industry players in the conch industry are preparing a plan of action to present to the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (MICAF), Francis told The Gleaner.
“We have a lot of worries,” he stated. “This is what would be akin to a natural disaster, a tsunami, because Government actually forced, I would say, the industry to invest significantly and now that there is a suspension on harvesting, that is certainly going to have a damaging effect on those investments.
“So we are right now putting together a MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the MICAF to actually launch the industry in a new direction and learn from our mistakes, which would see an expansion of our investment in the blue economy in a more strategic and sustainable way,” the businessman disclosed.
As a first step in rightsizing, the industry will be asking the Government to put a freeze on conch quota allocations, as well as improving efficiency at the Fisheries Division. Enforcement of existing laws and access to more affordable fuel are other priority areas of concern.
COLLECTED REVENUE
It is estimated that the Government has collected almost US$10 million in revenue from the conch cess over the past decade, but there are still questions as to whether this money has been well spent.
Despite the recent passage of a revised bill to replace the Fishing Industry Act of 1976, Francis, one of the main exporters of conch and lobster, wants more specific laws to protect certain subsectors, as well as to curb poaching.
“We are going to ask for a specific kind of legislation to move the industry forward. The revised Fisheries Act doesn’t take into consideration several things, such as limited entry legislation, as well as capping of the licences for conch, lobster, sea cucumber, etc. All those licences need to come under a strict legislation regime.
“This is necessary because there is no limit to the amount of people entering the business, and only two years ago there was a shifting of the criteria in terms of how the conch quota was allocated, ”he added.
The conch clampdown took effect on March 1, 2019 and will expire on January 31, 2020. The shock close season could cause the investment spurt to backfire, according to the businessman.
“So instead of having two plants that were viable and working with everybody, now you have 10 plants, and none of them can work efficiently. The throughput is not enough, because you increase the number of players, increase processing capacity, spend all this money hoping to get back your money in five years down the line. Now you’re probably going to be out of business.”