A group of young Bahamians were given the opportunity to excel within the commercial fishing industry to curb the vast amount of foreigners within the industry, as part of a program called ‘Round One Fishing for a Future.’
Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources V. Alfred Gray brought remarks at the official launch on Monday at the ministry.
Following complaints by proprietors and fishing vessel owners that there is a noticeable lack of Bahamians to fill specific commercial fishing jobs mostly occupied by foreigners , Minister Gray said the ‘Round One Fishing for a Future’ program has come at a crucial time and is one that is needed.
“Round One Fishing Company is designed to train Bahamian fishermen and fisher ladies, fishers to be exact, in the art of fishing,” he said.
“This program is headed by Mr. Peter Gilcud, who is the coordinator, and in fact the driving force behind this program dubbed Round One Bahamas.”
Minister Gray also said he would be seeking financial assistance from the government in the future to assist those young persons within the training exercise.
Program head Mr. Gilcurd welcomed the partnership with the government and said he too looks forward to eliminating the lack of Bahamian presence within the industry.
“I do not believe no nor did I ever believe that Bahamians don’t want to go into sea,” he said.
“As a consequence of that we met with a segment of the industry that put together the Sustainable Fisheries Development Group headed by Mr. Andrew McKinney and Mr. Davis.”
The annual program that commenced in January of this year has so far assisted 80 young persons in a number of certifications.
“It is our intention that based on research that shows there’s still about 450 Bahamian jobs in the fishing business now.
It requires that we train possibly about 1,000 persons,” he said.
“We’ve aligned ourselves with competent people, Captain Ian Gilbert, Mr. Smith just to name a few and a whole lot of other persons who have come together to effect the training.”
Other partners include Paradise Fisheries, Geneva Brass of New Providence and Broadwalk and GML Seafood of Freeport.
