Professor of Applied Ichthyology (Fisheries and Aquaculture) Indar Ramnarine says it is important to regulate fishing to improve dwindling local stocks. He made this comment at St Augustine Profesorial Inaugural Lecture, at Daaga Auditorium, St Augustine, on Thursday. The theme was Fisheries in Crisis: Is Aquaculture the Saviour? Among the scores of people who attended the lecture were Prof Terrence Seemungal, Chair Open Lectures Committee and UWI principal Prof Clement Sankat. They were joined by Prof Dyer Narinesingh, Dean, Faculty of Science and Agriculture and Anuradha Singh former M Phil (Zoology) student who delivered the vote of thanks. Quizzed on whether T&T’s stocks were depleted, Ramnarine said: “We are not in trouble as yet. But if we don’t do anything we will be. Most of the stocks are overfished. We have to move away from open access to regulate fishing. Fishing has to be managed.” But he said any action intended to revive the fishing sector had to be “done carefully.” Citing an example of the fishing community of Moruga, Ramnarine added: “You can’t go down to Moruga and say you can only fish for a few weeks. There is the socio-economic aspect of it. You are dealing with people and their livelihoods.
Globally, he also said fishing stocks were in danger. Ramnarine made reference to the work of Prof Holger Wormer which was published in Science magazine in 2006. He said: “By 2048, if we don’t seriously tackle fishing we would have nothing left.” But he was optimistic it’s not too late. “But we have to do it now,” said Ramnarine. He had based his data on simulations and models on the fishing industry. During the Q&A, Sankat queried why T&T has to purchase tilapia from China. In response, Ramnarine said it was important to work with stakeholders. “UWI has to be a leader in different types of food production systems. We have a responsibility to help in the development of the industry.”
Sharks important to ecosystem
During the lecture, slides of a typical Maracas shark and bake and the delicacy shark fin soup caused Ramnarine to further connect with the audience. But he sounded a warning knell. Ramnarine said: “Sharks play an important role in the ecosystem. Shark fishing has resulted in a sharp decline over a ten-year period. Sharks mature late in life. They grow slowly. When they reproduce, they produce two or three pups at a time. It could be unsustainable. We have to be careful about shark fishing.” Zeroing in on local stocks, Ramnarine added: “Our fishing stocks are in some danger. People who depend on fishing are going to be in problems with their livelihoods.” He noted trawl fishing which often takes place in the Gulf of Paria was “destructive.” “When it is pulled along the ocean, we have one of the highest bi catch happening.”He suggested bi catch reduction devices could reduce its negative impact. Ramnarine also spoke about the positive impact of aquaculture—aquaponics and biofloc.
“Fisheries is declining but aquaculture is up. Aquaponics is the introduction of intensive fish culture with the hydroponics method of growing vegetables. The biofloc system is an intensive method of rearing fish at fairly low costs,” said Ramnarine. In an nutshell, aquaculture refers to the cultivation and rearing of aquatic organisms under controlled conditions like animal, rice, dasheen, ornamental plants and watercress. “But we more consider things like fish and shrimp,” said Ramnarine. He noted one of the success stories was the rise in tilapia production per capita. “We went to Bangladesh twice and showed them how to grow tilapia.”
Stakeholders comments:
Prof John Agard, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Life Sciences
“I think it was a brilliant lecture. We have to look at the aquaculture aspect and its possibilities for T&T. I think the University would want to play its part to develop the aquaculture industry. I think we need to have the demonstrative will to make it happen. That has really been our problem. It’s certainly not the lack of knowledge. I am hoping we could translate it into an industry that produces employment and food and so forth.”
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