Fish market upgrades needed to meet 21st century needs, export requirements

THERE is the view that the two major fishing markets in Barbados in Oistins and Bridgetown have served their usefulness and need to be upgraded.

Barbados Labour Party Leader Mia Mottley made the call while delivering remarks at the official opening ceremony of the Oistins Fish Festival on Saturday.

While thanking former BLP leaders Sir Grantley Adams and Sir Harold St. John for the vision and transformation of the fishing industry in Barbados, she stated that more needs to be done.

“We thank Sir Harold for the vision and construction of the fishing market, but this fishing market built more than 30 years ago is no longer appropriate to the needs of a modern Barbados on the cusp of the third decade of the 21st century. Nor is the one at Bridgetown. Nor is the Bridgetown fishing market capable of meeting the needs of the many boats looking for berthing facilities, and we are waiting for a disaster to happen if we don’t treat it like a priority.”

She said this links to Barbados’ inability to export fish to Europe. “Other countries with less resources and less capacity in this southern Caribbean can do so; it is something that offends the spirit of pride in each of us who know the circumstances of why we cannot do it.”

“It is too simple an issue to resolve and the issue relates to making sure that the best phytosanitary conditions exist in this market. It is something that is easily understood by all if you have tiles with grout inbetween, bacteria will stay in the grout.”

“If you have a surface that is smooth and that can be wiped off and kept clean and sanitised then you don’t have the same risks with respect to bacteria in the fish. If we know that, then why do we continue to limit the opportunities of the vendors and the fisherfolk in this country by failing to undertake the most basic of reforms, which is to rehabilitate the counters and the areas within which fish are kept in our markets?” she queried.

Additionally Mottley believes that there is an opportunity to provide training and create the required laboratories needed to take the industry forward.

“We have seen other labs built in this country, recently opened, but why is it that we cannot do what is necessary to get the phytosanitary conditions done? It is too simple a matter and for us to move forward, Barbados must commit to making things right within our fishing industry so that we can create new opportunities for them and their families,” she said. (JH)