FISHERFOLK TO RECEIVE A FURTHER 1.8 MILLION IN SUPPORT
Minister of Finance Hon Camillo Gonsalves said Government remains committed to the development of the Fisheries sector in this country.
Addressing the 2025 Fisherman’s Day celebration, Minister Gonsalves said this commitment is demonstrated through a further 1.8 million dollars to be distributed over the next two weeks to fisherfolk impacted by Huricane Beryl.
“There is no other country in the world that has provided per capita as much support for fisherfolk over the period of Covid, la Soufriere eruption and Hurricane Beryl than this government,” Minister Gonsalves remarked.
The Finance Minister added that with another 2.5 million dollar investment through the World Bank, for the purchase of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADS), which have been deployed throughout the waters of the country, fisherfolk continue to see real, tangible benefits.
He said the goal is to go beyond subsistence fishing and to encourage every Fisherman to embrace commercial fishing because that is the future of fishing in SVG.
“We can use our abundant sea wealth to help make this country richer, to help make this country more resilient and help develop St. Vincent and the Grenadines,” the Minister added.
The Finance Minister also encuraged Vincentians to support and buy local in order to maintain food security. He noted that imported food will soon become more expensive especially with recent tarrifs imposed by the US administration.
“Everything that has a tarrif, you will feel it in your pocket, every piece of chicken from Brazil…., every supermarket order that comes from the United States, you will feelnit in your pocket …where you won’t feel it, is in the fish and the Tania that you grow right here in St Vincent and the Grenadines,” Minister Gonsalves said.
Minister Gonsalves stressed that “the best way for us to insulate ourselves against the challenges of the global environment is to grow and produce our own.”
