Deputy Premier Honourable Eric Evelyn

Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives

in the Nevis Island Administration

World Fisheries Day 2025 Address

Good day all.

I am pleased to address you on the occasion of World Fisheries Day 2025.

World Fisheries Day celebrates the efforts of small scale fisheries, that is, the industry linked to the activity of fishing and harvesting aquatic food from ponds, rivers, lakes and oceans. The industry has crucial importance in the food system for a healthy and diverse diet. Globally the sector employs 120 million people.

World Fisheries Day also highlights the importance of sustainable stocks of fisheries in the world, of strengthening human rights for the small-scale fishing communities, making a difference in the working conditions of fishing communities, and eliminating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.

We are delighted here in St. Kitts and Nevis to join in this international observance as we pay homage to the industry and our hard working fishers. The theme that we have adopted here in the Federation for World Fisheries Day this year is “Sustaining Our Seas, Supporting Our Fishers”. This theme is very timely as we pursue efforts at sustaining our oceans and we continue to support our fishers.

The fisheries sector here in St. Kitts and Nevis and throughout the world has come under immense pressure in recent years in the face of climate change and its impacts. Climate change has caused our coral reefs to degenerate, leading to a considerable reduction of fish stocks. We have also seen the impacts that indiscriminate dumping has had on our oceans as well. Less fish in our oceans could mean less profits and therefore less money in the pockets of our fishers.

Sustaining our seas is extremely important if our fishers are to maintain a profitable livelihood. The Ministry and Department of Marine Resources will endeavor to continue our efforts to sustain our ocean. We have assisted fishers in deploying fish traps with biodegradable twine to reduce ghost fishing and we encourage fishers to do their part in the reduction of ghost fishing in our waters.

We recognize that a clean ocean leads to a sustainable ocean and therefore we have assisted in organizing and spearheading beach clean-ups, one of which was hosted on Friday, November 14, 2025, at Jessups Beach. We continue to encourage all to participate when these opportunities present themselves. Individuals and other organizations are also encouraged to organize similar initiatives.

We have also assisted in the deployment of Fish Aggregating Devices or FADS in an effort to regulate our fisheries and promote responsible fishing practices.

Our efforts have also included the establishment and installation of artificial reefs to augment the badly damaged reefs that are within our waters.

Our fishers must bear some responsibility in sustaining our seas. In light of this I would encourage all fishers to fish responsibly and resist the temptation to overfish. I also encourage our fishers to utilize the correct mesh size for fish traps and to desist from catching undersized and immature fish, lobster and conch.

I take this opportunity to also encourage our fishers to respect all closed seasons that are a part of the fisheries regulations here in St. Kitts and Nevis.

The Nevis Island Administration is pledging its continued support for our fishers who have to brave the seas, which are at times very treacherous. We will continue to support our fishers with technical assistance through numerous training activities. Our fishers will continue to benefit from concessions, and when and where possible, through other tangible ways.

Supporting our fishers is not only the responsibility of the Ministry and Department of Marine Resources. It is our collective responsibility. We can all support our fishers by immediately ceasing all indiscriminate dumping practices in our ghauts and waterways. We must remind you that whatever is dumped in these waterways ends up in the ocean, which could eventually damage and kill our coral reefs. They also contaminate marine species that we in turn consume. In essence then, support for our fishers should come from all of us!

Sustaining our seas and supporting our fishers is an all hands on deck responsibility and all stakeholders must take that responsibility very seriously. Each player must be cognizant of the specific roles to be undertaken and endeavor at all times to do their duty.

The Ministry and Department of Marine Resources is once again committing to doing its part. We are hopeful that a similar level of commitment can come from our major players– the fishers themselves, vessel operators and all who ply their trade on the ocean, and of course every member of the general public.

I encourage members of the general public to support the other activities that will be hosted as part of Fisheries Month 2025. I speak specifically of the Fishing Tournament that will be held at Old Road, St. Kitts on Saturday, November 22, and the Fish Fry on Friday, 28th at the Nevis Fisheries Complex.

I take this opportunity to wish all fishers a Happy World Fisheries Day 2025.

Together, let us continue to sustain our seas and support our fishers.

May God continue to bless us all.