‘More than just talk’ – Hon Pickering on Fisheries as 3rd economic pillar
The Minister’s remarks came during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Secretary of State for Environment of the Government of the United Kingdom through the Center for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour of the Virgin Islands.
The signing ceremony took place at the Number 10 Conference Room in the Government Administrative Complex, on Wednesday, November 9, 2016.
The agreement aims to further foster collaborative opportunities and co-operation which may consist of exchanging technical information, visits, training, and cooperative research and projects which are consistent with the development of the fisheries sector.
The project is a three-year one.
“Many of us have heard over and over both on the campaign trail that we in the Virgin Islands should be thinking of building fisheries as a third economic pillar. But we are not only talking about it. We are actually endeavoring to make it happen,” Pickering said.
Proper scientific backing needed
“We have done significant work in terms of advancing the overall fisheries sector,” he stated, adding that proper decisions cannot be made without the proper scientific backing.
“If you are going to have regulations and ultimately protect the fisheries sector, it has to be with the relevant scientific data that tells us what is and what is not. Otherwise, we will be fishing like the olden days and just go out and drop your line hoping you catch a fish.”
This MoU is being jointly undertaken in the United Kingdom’s Overseas Territories-Turks and Caicos, Anguilla and the Virgin islands with the objective of strengthening the fisheries zone and further cementing the bond.
Just last month, the Fisheries Advisory Committee which consists of fishermen, public and private sector representatives, was formally established with the objective to advise the government on the matter of pushing the sector forward.
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how he thinks and behave.