Bad weather blamed for poor Fishermen's Day participation
"The water was rough [that] even the toughest of fishermen decided that they weren't going out today, but to those who went out we are still happy and want to congratulate them on their bravery," said Hon Pickering.
Noting that every year this time it's likely that the weather is going to be rough, Hon Pickering said, "so you'll (Conservation and Fisheries Dept) have to either put in a request for better weather or you'll have to change the day."
The event held at the Long Bay Beach, Beef Island, was one highly anticipated and attended by residents who turned out in massive numbers as they fully participated in the cooking and eating of some of the best fishes caught in Virgin Islands waters.
But the disappointment came as a number of persons looked forward to the weighing of catches, something that did not happen because of the lack of participation of fishermen this year.
Robin Smith gets a big catch
It was not very clear if the two who were awarded trophies were the only two in the competition this year but Mr Smith Robin received a trophy for his catch of 429lbs hard nose fish caught and the other trophy was for Mr David Smith aka tiger, who caught 35lbs from off reef fishing.
Mr Smith is known to dominate fishing tournaments in the VI and was only dethroned last year after winning the tournament some six times.
The event has been an annual feature of the Conservation and Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour.
Get more involved in fishing!
Hon Pickering took a few seconds of the social evening to challenge all fishermen to get more involved in the fishing industry because the industry, he said, is proving to be very lucrative. "And the Government is doing all it can to ensure that we put a system in place to encourage all who want to be involved in this industry."
He added, "The fish are out there, you just need to go and bring them in and we would do our best to make it happen."
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19 Responses to “Bad weather blamed for poor Fishermen's Day participation”
Sending us to the Small Business Bureau is not an adequate solution. The process is too complicated. We need a simpler process. We need access to Grants and low interest loans so that we can afford bigger boats. We also need access to training so that we can learn new fishing techniques, especially for the type of fish that he is encouraging us to go after. Come on Dr. Pickering, put your money where your mouth is. You said you are more interested in Fishing than Farming, but honestly, you have not done very much for fishing either....
You have some good points, however do not expect and or want government to do everything. The SBB is there to help, if you prefer not to deal with them that is another issue. Here is my advise, start a corporation and sell shares to raise the funds needed to purchase a larger boat and equipment. There are many people in the BVI who may be interested in purchasing shares in such a venture.
b. Bad Planning
X c. Bad Government