St Thomas fishermen won’t lay like ‘lambs to the slaughter’

One of the strongest pillars of the coastal economy in St Thomas is fishing. But what happens when fishermen can no longer find safe harbour? That is the conundrum facing fishermen at Prospect Public Beach in St Thomas.

According to them, they have been informed that the sliver of land adjacent to the once-popular bathing beach, which they use to dock their boats, has now been sold.

“The land sell,” **Roy explained. “Them sell out the fishing beach. It buy by private sector or private people.”

He said that, though he doesn’t know when exactly the land would have been sold, the anglers who frequent the beach were told that they need to vacate in short order.

Verification attempts at the St Thomas Municipal Corporation went unanswered.

the Prescription Act

After bringing the matter to the attention of the Beach Control Authority, which operates out of the National Environmental and Planning Agency, and asking what options are available to these fisherman, the agency said, “Where a beach and a route leading to it have been continuously used by the public, or a class of the public, for fishing for at least 20 years, rights may arise under section 4 of the Prescription Act, subject to the conditions set out in that Act. Section 14 of the Beach Control Act allows the NRCA (Natural Resources Conservation Authority), following a petition by at least five persons concerned in a dispute over beach use or access, to initiate proceedings to establish such a right.”

The legislation works alongside common law and the Beach Control Act to address customary rights, in particular, access to beaches.

With the fishermen at Prospect Beach having been there for well over 20 years, any future legal battle would likely focus on whether the terms of their use fit the criteria to seek this form of recourse.

Rose-Marie Shaw, member of parliament (MP) for St Thomas Eastern, said while she is not aware of any sale, she would be conducting her own investigation.

“That would definitely be a problem because I am not seeing an option [for relocation] there based on where the beach is situated,” she pondered aloud. “I’ll have to do some investigation myself as it relates to that.”

Preparing for a similar possibility, the fisherfolk at Rocky Point Beach believe it is only a matter of time until their beach is sold.

Speaking with a fisherman who wished only to be identified as Greg, he told The Sunday Gleaner that Rocky Point is too much of a paradise to remain public.

“A paradise this enuh, and everybody want paradise,” he said matter-of-factly. “This, a years white people a come yahso and a say ‘Wow’.”

In 2022, the then MP for the constituency, Dr Michelle Charles, alongside Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett, shared their intention to use Rocky Point Beach to kick-start the tourism transformation of St Thomas. The plan would see the addition of basic amenities such as running water, electricity, sewage treatment facilities and safety features.

While the new MP has not given details about her development plan for the beach, she has stated clearly that development will come and the beach will not be privatised.

“I have spoken to a Mr Bailey from the TPDCo (Tourism Product Development Company Limited) and he was showing me a booklet which entails Rocky Point. We have had numerous discussions, but to date nothing has come to fruition. But we certainly had discussions.”

properly maintained

Shaw went on, “You have the fisherfolk there so I am not one for privatising that beach. As long as it is properly maintained, it is a part of the public’s asset.”

“For years that [fishing] has been a lifeline of the people of St Thomas, in and around those areas. Fishing is a big boost to the economy and that in and of itself will propel the economy of St Thomas. Many people depend on fishing to sustain their family and also to feed a large population.”

Despite the assurances, Greg is not convinced or at ease.

“A wull heap a people deh here a fret enuh but them just nah talk, them only a show the happy face. Mi a tell yuh, one time a go come when we cyah come down yahso.”

Expecting this, Greg says he has long since diversified his income.

“Me doe try fi keep fishing alone inah my head,” he began. “Because sometimes sea rough fi four months, the money weh you make a it you affi sidung and eat out. And if you nah work fi four month outta one year, you a idiot. So me have goat, mi have cow cause round yahso hard.”

Similarly, the fishermen in Prospect have also resigned themselves to making money in other ways.

Roy explained, “As mi tell yuh, me sweep yard enuh. So once we see seh it come to a certain standard weh me see seh it restrict, you just go sweep some yard and chop some land and start do some farming. ‘Cause you cyah lay lamb to the slaughter.”

“We have to survive, we Affi try we best to survive. No matter what we face, and no matter the struggle we go through. People might say the country hard enuh. But you have to get up enuh and shake up your feathers.”

shanel.lemmie@gleanerjm.com**name changed to maintain anonymity