T&T: Territorial rights and the fishing debate

This is a good thoughtful article with some background history that illustrates the complexity of the problem.

There is no doubt that the Barbados fishing industry is over capitalised. Were it not there would be no need for fishing vessels to venture far offshore. They would remain within that area they expected to be their EEZ. The conclusion is inevitable - it is simply uneconomic to fish within their territorial sea and that part of the ocean that would become part of their EEZ according to UNCLOS median line delimitation principle. The irony of the situation is that the Tobago fishing industry actually parallels the Barbados industry at an earlier stage of development and is dependent on flying fish that is the main resource supporting a complex community of oceanic pelagic fish such as dolphin, wahoo, tuna, marlin, sailfish and swordfish. Deplete the flying fish and these collapse.

There is nothing "contentious" about the fishing issue nor is there anything "contentious" about delimitation of our Exclusive Economic Zone. UNCLOS procedures can be applied. Government must necessarily put Tobago's interest first and seek delimitation of maritime boundaries with Barbados and Grenada, before any consideration of exploitation of resources, either fish or mineral. The Tobago House of Assembly is taking the only rational approach-caution and serious scientific assessment. There is no need whatsoever for Caricom intervention. The issue is sovereignty over our EEZ.