T&T: Round-up on fishing dispute in T&T papers

The fishing dispute has become one big bassi-bassa between T&T and Barbados. In a little while, fishing season will be at an end, perhaps cooler heads will prevail then.

PRIME Minister Patrick Manning said yesterday that the Government intended to protect its natural resources while the Coast Guard warned it would arrest Barbados fishermen found carrying out their trade in this country's territorial waters.

And while the Coast Guard says it does not intend to escalate the raging dispute between the two Caricom member states, it stands ready to defend the territorial integrity of Trinidad and Tobago.

At yesterday's post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall, Manning initially refused comment on statements made by Barbados Attorney General Mia Mottley to her country's fishermen to catch flying fish on their migration path off the coast of Tobago, but said: "Our intentions are clear. We intend to protect our natural resources."

Meanwhile,

TOBAGO House of Assembly Chief Secretary Orville London yesterday advised Tobagonians to be careful when at sea in the wake of the current fishing dispute between Trinidad & Tobago and Barbados.

Here's more light on the whole debacle.

Former Independent Senator Julian Kenny has said that Barbados has no fishing rights to Trinidad and Tobago waters.

He said it was important to remember that Trinidad and Tobago was signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) (UNCLOS), and this treaty recognised Archipelagic Waters, Territorial Seas and EEZ.

"In these areas the state has sovereignty. With the EEZ the state has exclusive economic rights. However, provision is made for any state to make bilateral agreements but retains the sovereign right to determine the terms of agreement," he told a public lecture on the current fishing dispute between Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados that was organised by Environment Tobago last week.

Kenny was a former Government Fisheries Officer in Tobago and was witness to the first flying fish catch many years ago.

Kenny noted that UNCLOS also made provision for "historic fishing rights" [see here where Barbados's AG Mia Mottley claims historic fishing rights for Barbados]; this was for countries that have long histories of fishing in the areas of the oceans in areas that would fall under the EEZs of other coastal states.

He said that Barbados couldn't use this argument because its incursions were recent and they were not geographically disadvantaged. "If they did then there would be no need to negotiate a treaty.

Then, to top it off, Barbados's PM Arthur cancelled his visit to T&T. Also, St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington are calling for clearly demarcated Caribbean boundaries.

Somebody else thinks the dispute is about a lot more than fishing.

Once this whole fishy story is eventually told, we'll find that a lot, lot more than fish is at stake... people's livelihoods and other "vital interests" are involved and there is the risk that at the end of this tussle, Caribbean people will have been torn much further apart.