Photograph: robertharding/Alamy. Retrieved from theguardian.com
Excerpt from theguardian.com
As prized shoals of flying fish move away from Barbados and closer to Tobago, decades-old tensions between the islands are growing over fisheries, sustainability and territorial waters
Andel Daniel has been fishing in Trinidad and Tobago’s territorial waters for more than 30 years. During that time, he has seen a significant drop in the number of flying fish within his patch of the Caribbean Sea.
Cleaning his catch on the quayside of Buccoo after an early morning fishing trip, he blames the shortage on fishing boats from Barbados and Venezuela moving into Tobago’s waters.
“What one Bajan boat can carry, it would take 10 Tobago boats to carry,” says Daniel, using the Caribbean term for Barbadians as he warns of what he considers their unsustainable practices.
“Barbadian fishers freeze their catch while at sea and return to Barbados only when they are full,” he says, referring to the flying fish season from November to July. “Our fishing practices in Tobago are sustainable and don’t kill the fishing grounds.”
