Number of persons employed in the harvest sector

Interpretation of employment data is complicated by the fact that many small-scale operators fish part-time. This may be a seasonal pattern in which they fish full-time during the season for pelagics, then switch to other fisheries or other employment during the off-season. Alternatively, it may be that fishing only comprises a portion of their regular income, generating activity all year long. In this case, fishing may be mixed with other forms of employment throughout the year. In rural areas these alternatives may be agriculture-based. In urban areas the alternatives may be highly various, with tourism thought to be of increasing importance or potential.

From an economic point of view, simply knowing the number of full-time-equivalent positions in fisheries can be a valuable indicator of the relative importance of fisheries. Further information on how these positions are divided among full-time and part-time workers provides insight into how many families are partially dependent on the fishing industry. A scarcity of full-time involvement may present challenges for promoting pelagic fishing, as it is a major commercial undertaking requiring a constant and skilled labour force. However, a high proportion of part-time employment in fisheries (of either type described above) is not always necessarily bad, because it demonstrates the flexibility of the labour force and their potential to adapt. Both concern the mobility of labour into and out of the subsector.

Employment data may come from several sources: national census data (if appropriate questions are asked), target sample surveys or estimates (multiplying number of vessels by number of crew). Since fishing is generally considered part of the informal economy, only in recent times has attention turned to measuring its employment factor, if for no other reason than the relative difficulty of the task compared to some terrestrial occupations. In addition to determining if labour also owns the means of production, another important aspect of such data is determining if the fish harvesters are self-employed or are considered employees in the eyes of the industry and labour law.

^a Fisheries Management Plan 2001-2003.

^b Estimated from the 1998 census data as number of boats times number of individuals per boat. There are 943 full-time positions on vessels that target pelagic fish. Some may be filled by part-time fishers, so that more than 943 individuals may take part in the fishery.

Availability of input supplies and support industries for pelagic fishing

A wide range of input supplies is needed for pelagic fishing, even for small-scale fishing, particularly when there is the need to maintain fish quality to meet export criteria and obtain top prices. The unavailability or high pricing of input supplies can be a serious constraint on development of pelagic fisheries. Particularly in the initial stages of development, there can be problems in maintaining supply streams when the critical mass of users is low. In cases where other types of fisheries that depend on similar inputs are already established, the developing fishery can be supported by existing supply systems.

Inputs are met through a variety of arrangements, ranging from direct importation by fishers and fishing vessel owners to local production or construction. For certain supplies, local retailers that import and resell to fishers play an intermediate role. Private companies, cooperatives, associations and government institutions all play various roles in providing input supplies (Table 20).

Most countries have local boat-building enterprises to provide vessels for small-scale fishing, particularly when these are of wooden construction. A few countries produce fibreglass variants of indigenous wooden craft, e.g. canoes in Jamaica and pirogues in Trinidad. These may also be obtained from other countries in the region, e.g. Martinique and Mexico. There are few builders of the mid-size vessels used for pelagic fishing (generally longlining), especially fibreglass vessels (mainly Barbados and Trinidad). These vessels are commonly imported from the United States, and occasionally from Europe or Canada, most often as used vessels. In some cases, as in Barbados, some large imported vessels have proven unsuitable for the fisheries and difficult to dispose of, thereby creating a management and environmental problem for fishery authorities.

Gear (lines, hooks, lures, light sticks) is imported, either directly or by private or cooperative retailers. Private individuals or fishers themselves assemble the gear.

In most countries, bait is a mix of self-caught, purchased from food-fish fishers, or imported (usually squid). There are few instances of service industries that specialize in bait.

Vessel ownership

Patterns of boat ownership may reveal the extent of development of the industry and the propensity for non-fishers to see fishing as a potential investment. In CARICOM countries, typically, small-scale vessels are individually owned and owner operated (Table 21). Larger, more costly vessels, such as longliners, are usually beyond the investment capacity of average individuals and are more often owned by wealthier persons, small groups of individuals, registered businesses, companies and occasionally by cooperatives. In Barbados, however, there is a high degree of individual ownership of iceboats, probably because many were converted from dayboats. Individual ownership is also linked to the availability of credit.

Among those boats owned by non-fishers, it is useful to know who the owners are and what their arrangements may be with the persons fishing the boat. In some cases, vendors who receive and sell the catch also own the boat, providing small-scale vertical integration. As introduced previously, ownership has other implications for labour relations, such as whether fishers become employees and whether owners can decide to abandon investments, thus removing jobs from the sector. It also determines the potential for monopoly and the socio-political power base as it relates to the fishing industry.

A special case is where foreign ownership is allowed, either entire or partial. In some cases (e.g. Barbados), fishing vessels can only be owned by citizens, even in partnership, whereas other countries (e.g. Trinidad) allow partial foreign ownership. The main concern is that foreign entities may persuade citizens with no real, hands-on interest in fishing operations to “front” for them, thereby circumventing at low cost the barriers against foreign fishing and government desire to retain fishing revenues. Although gender in the work force has been investigated, it should also be examined in the context of vessel ownership. In the Caribbean, women are noted to be owners and operators of a wide range of small to medium-sized businesses. If this excludes fishing, as casual observation and data from Barbados suggest (Table 22), then - depending on the reasons for this pattern - women either constitute an untapped investment potential or any harvest-sector expansion of pelagic fishing should be oriented towards men. If the women in households perceive fishing investments as particularly risky, this may also influence male investment patterns. Although not a major point of issue, this would be useful information for planners.

TABLE 21

Vessel ownership

TABLE 22

Vessel ownership in Barbados by gender, number of boats owned and type

Source: Fisheries Division, November 1993, boat registry database.

Incentives and/or taxes for pelagic fisheries

Incentives (often more openly called subsidies in the past) may play a significant role in promoting the development of fisheries, and they can be targeted at particular subsectors. Many of the world’s major fisheries pursued by industrialized countries have become severely overcapitalized through the indiscriminate application of subsidies or incentives. As a result, there is a strong tendency to generalize this pattern and seek to constrain or eliminate all subsidies for fishing. The matter is a current issue in fisheries fora and other circles such as the World Trade Organization. Prior to this recent international engagement, the countries of CARICOM seemingly paid little attention to measuring the magnitude or impact of their incentives. Thus analytical data and information are still scarce. However, generally good records are kept on the types of incentives offered, even if the expected mode and ultimate objective of their implementation are not always spelled out.

Table 23 shows incentives provided for development of pelagic fishing by CARICOM countries and, in most cases, these apply to all types of fishing using the same inputs. Most countries provide some relief from duties on inputs imported for the fishing industry. Only four countries provide rebates or value-added tax (VAT) relief on fuel.

In addition to the incentives in the table, Trinidad and Tobago is unique in providing a variety of cash incentives for fishers involved in pelagic fishing. These include:

• 10 percent of the purchase cost of an imported multipurpose vessel (>40 ft in length), to a maximum of TT$ 50 000 to be paid in five equal annual instalments. Proposals include extending this incentive to used vessels and increasing it to TT$ 100 000;

• 15 percent of the purchase price of a new or used approved vessel, to a maximum of TT$ 15 000-35 000 depending on vessel type, to be paid in five annual instalments. A minimum number of vessels must be owned; and

• 25 percent of the purchase price for a pirogue up to TT$ 5 000.

It would be erroneous, however, to conclude that the availability of incentives is matched by their uptake by the intended beneficiaries. In some cases, the fishing industry may consider an incentive too insignificant or difficult to access to be worth the time and effort. The fishing vessel maintenance subsidy in Barbados is a case in point. An important aspect of considering the situation for pelagic fishing is to determine which incentives apply and to what extent they are, or would be, readily taken up. Misreading the situation could result in several problems for fisheries management and planning, both locally and internationally.

TABLE 23

Incentives and/or taxes for pelagic fisheries

^a See legislation and Fisheries Division leaflets.

Governments also employ various means of recovering revenue from fisheries. Income tax is one means that exists in all countries except Antigua and Barbuda. More direct means are licensing and/or registration fees for vessels (three countries), processors, etc. and value-added and export taxes. There may also be charges for the use of landing sites and other facilities owned and maintained by governments (four countries). No country indicated an export tax on finned fish.

At present, fishing is not perceived as a major revenue earner in most countries and does not attract government taxation attention. However, the high value of some exported pelagic species may change this perspective if expansion occurs. Questions will arise among planners as to an appropriate level of taxation that will capture some of the resource rent, but still permit sufficient profits to cover the risk of private and public investment in this relatively new area.

Share and salary systems

Information on share and salary systems provides an understanding of the interrelations among individuals in the fishing industry and the way in which fishing units are organized. This information is useful to the developer or investor seeking to introduce new types of fishing units (Table 24).

In most CARICOM countries, small-scale fishing units operate on a share system by which the proceeds are divided among owner (boat and engine may have different owners), captain and crew. The arrangements vary considerably among countries and even within a country.

For larger vessels, where crew are generally less close to the actual sale of the fish, crew members may prefer to be salaried. Following the American style, some owners also pay the captain a fixed or percentage bonus for the additional responsibility and skills of that lead position. For exported fish, payment may be delayed until the overseas price is determined, based upon the grades of the shipment upon arrival.

Where an exporter pays a fixed ex-vessel price, choosing to absorb overseas price fluctuations rather than pass them on to the vessel, fishers have become disgruntled if this price is, in their estimation, too far below the average overseas price. This illustrates the need for information exchange in those transactions that are less visible and transparent to the fishers, as occurs in highly commercial pelagic fishing. Given the almost universal propensity for distrust between harvest and post-harvest operations where profits are concerned, this element must be taken into account in order to ensure that such friction does not affect functional efficiency.

TABLE 24

Existing share and salary systems

^a For both boat types, when the owner’s cash expenses (i.e. excluding depreciation) are subtracted, there is little income difference between an owner and fisher in the short term. In the long-term for an owner/captain, and in both the short and long-term for non-fishing owners, income tends to erode to a level below that of fishers. Fishers do not seem to realize that an owner’s returns to equity can be negative (Burtonboy and Horemans, 1988), and the only financial incentive for owning a fishing boat appears to be short-term cash flow when fishing is good.

TABLE 25

Estimated fishing income and expenses - Barbados

^a After Oxenford and Hunte (1986).
^b After Bellairs Research Institute, McGill University (1994).
^c Includes loan, insurance, maintenance, operational and depreciation expenses.
^d Net of loan, insurance and maintenance expenses.

Vessel and crew insurance

Vessel and crew are seldom insured in small-scale fisheries. As development tends towards larger vessels, particularly when capital loans are required for vessel purchase, the availability and cost of insurance become important issues. Similarly, when crew become employees, the availability of insurance for themselves is of concern. Furthermore, larger more sophisticated vessels may attract younger, better-educated crew than is typical of small-scale vessels, and these individuals may demand benefits such as insurance.

In most countries, vessel insurance was available for larger commercial vessels and was inevitably required by lenders (Table 26). However, insurance was not thought to be available for small-scale vessels. Where it was readily available, as in Barbados, both insurers and the insured agreed that the rates tended to be high and hence premiums expensive, owing to the high cost of reinsurance, which was typically done outside the region. Although some are large in the Caribbean context, the pelagic vessels of the region are quite small by international standards and hence considered high risk. Other factors also contribute to the high cost of insurance, such as the small portfolios carried by most companies. Although vessel insurance factors are unlikely to be major barriers to harvest operations, they can affect profitability and investment in pelagic vessels.

Commercial insurance is rarely available as a standard provision for crew, even though insurance companies state that arrangements can be made on an individual or group basis. The latter possibility was thought by insurers to be appealing to cooperatives and associations, but the evidence suggests that this is not normally the case. It is perhaps merely symptomatic of the low levels of organization of most of these groups, rather than an indication of disinterest. Nevertheless, in most countries there exists a national social insurance (NIS) programme that allows for the participation of self-employed persons. In many cases, fishers may be perceived as self-employed and could therefore avail themselves of this facility. However, it appears that they seldom do so.

Determinants for entry or exit of vessels and fishers into or from the fishery

Understanding the factors that determine long-term entry or exit of vessels and fishers into or from the fishery can be important both in promoting development and in designing measures for effort control if needed. Open access, a perception that pelagic fishing is profitable, and depleted inshore demersal resources were the most common reasons given for entry into pelagic fishing. Few countries reported that vessels exited the fishery.

TABLE 26

Vessel and crew insurance

However, there is also short-term entry or exit due to seasonal availability of species or more attractive, alternative employment. Since multipurpose or potentially multipurpose vessels tend to be the norm in most Caribbean countries, short-term mobility between fisheries is usually not problematic. This flexibility is often desirable unless the alternative fisheries are overexploited. Switching from commercial fishing to another use such as passenger or cargo transport, or tourism-related activities, is less common but is sometimes suggested as a means of efficiently using the available capacity year-round. With larger and more expensive vessels, the seasonality of fishing can be a serious constraint on profitability unless other uses can be found. One of the attractions of longlining as a method of pelagic fishing is that most fishery interests see it as a year-round activity, unlike other fishing methods for pelagics.

An important question for development of the fishery is its profitability - by country and by vessel or fishery type - and the potential for change with increased effort. The fact that pelagic fishery is growing indicates that it is still profitable, but the question remains, especially for coastal species, of how much effort can be introduced before it ceases to be profitable? In addition, a comparison of the social and economic performance of different vessel/fishery types would be helpful to governments in planning which sectors should be encouraged or discouraged. Until this information becomes available, there is a need for caution in developing fisheries.

Sources of new vessels

Expansion of large pelagic fishing may involve an emphasis on upgrading an existing small-scale fishing fleet, as well as the addition of larger commercial vessels built for this specific purpose. In the Caribbean situation, the latter will usually be mid-sized longliners (12-25 m range). The availability of new and used vessels can help determine the rate and extent of development of a large pelagic fleet and hence trends in fishing capacity.

There is boat-building capacity in many CARICOM countries, but mainly for vessels appropriate for small-scale fishing (pirogues, canoes) and wooden-hull boats, often originally designed for sail power. Only Barbados has a builder of GRP longliners towards the small end of the mid-sized range. Trinidad did build such vessels in the past, but the present status of these builders is unknown. Thus, as noted earlier, in many countries mid-size longliners are imported new or used, primarily from the United States. Smaller fibreglass vessels are also often imported, although most often from builders within the region, e.g. from Martinique, Mexico and Trinidad.