Jamaica’s Agriculture and Fisheries Minister Roger Clarke says the new Fisheries Act will be tabled in Parliament during the next financial year.
The financial year begins on April 1.
Clarke says he is now waiting on the chief parliamentary counsel to sign off on the new legislation.
Among other things, the agriculture minister explains that the act will address fishing activities on the Pedro Cays, fines for breaches, how to dispose of illegal boats, and the use of dynamites at sea.
The existing Fisheries Act dates back to 1976.
Meanwhile, Clarke says his ministry has not yet conducted the census it said it would to determine the number of persons living on the Pedro Cays.
The ministry announced that it would be conducting a census following reports in September highlighting the unsanitary conditions at the Cays.
The census should have been completed by December 31, but Clarke says it was not done because most of the people living on the Cays were not there at the time the data collectors had planned to go.
However, he says it will be done soon.
He says the government plans to put a limit on the number of persons who are allowed to live on the Pedro Cays.
The agriculture minister says measures will also be implemented to ensure that the infrastructure meets the needs of the fisher folk on the Cays.
Jamaica Gleaner 2009