Senator Sarauw Says DPNR's 'Blanket' Fishing Moratorium Lift is Threat to Local Fishermen

Senator Janelle Sarauw in a statement Thursday said the V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resource's decision to lift a fishing moratorium poses a threat to local commercial fishermen.

Said Ms. Sauraw: "The blanket lifting of the moratorium on commercial fishing licenses poses a potential threat to our local commercial fishing community. Although there is a need for licenses to become available for non-licensed local fishermen and women to fully participate in the industry, an arbitrary lift is simply not the way to go about it.

"In June of 2021, my office hosted a series of townhalls throughout the Territory in this regard. The purpose of the townhalls was to glean the obstacles the fishing community faced within the industry and holistically address them. There were a myriad of issues presented by the fishers and helpers that attended. Some of those issues fell within the jurisdiction of the local government, while others required advocacy on the federal level.

“To hastily address one issue for the sake of short gains without putting in place measures to prevent the exacerbation of other issues is not responsible. Our penchant for acting without properly planning continuously puts the Territory in the precarious position of reacting to foreseeable errs that arise,” states Senator Sarauw.