President of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud wants the draft Fisheries Management Bill of 2011 to be made a law to help alert fishermen of potential dangers at sea.
Aboud’s comments came after a rough seas bulletin was issued by the Meteorological Office which remained in effect for several days.
The rough seas warning has since been discontinued, according to a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological office.
In an interview yesterday, Aboud said the draft Fisheries Management Bill 2011 was circulated for consultation to fisherfolk and stakeholders and yet the bill was not been laid or passed in Parliament.
“The Government has not done their work to pass legislation to restore safety at sea. The bill has been out for public consultation since 2011 and the document creates infrastructure at sea,” he said.
Aboud said messages or broadcast by the Meteorological offices possibly did not reach various areas.
“They are not are not broadcasted. Matelot may be completely unaware of the rough seas and we asked the government and especially the Fisheries Division that they should contact fisheries representatives in each community,” he said.
He said it only takes seven or eight phone calls and there should be some mechanism to communicate with the fishermen rather than put it on the radio which might not be heard.
“There is no specific mandate for captain’s licences. In other words, any person of any age whether three or 103 can captain any vessel at any place, any time, anyhow, whether drunk, blind or in between. So there is no regulatory regime to ensure safety at sea and to date we estimate 25 per cent (of fishermen) cannot swim and they don’t have life jackets. There is no stipulated regulation but fishermen don’t report their whereabouts at sea or expected time of return from sea,” he said.
Another issue was that there was no regulation regarding potable water capacity for any vessel.
“They (fishermen) must have a capacity to carry water and they go without water and can’t drink salt water,” he said.
Aboud said every year we lose fishermen and life was precious.
