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Posted: Wednesday 17 February, 2010 at 11:13 AM

Ken again warns about depleting marine resources

Kenneth Samuel - A concerned citizen
By: Terresa McCall, SKNVibes.com

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Although his 20-plus years of issuing complaints and warnings seem to have fallen on deaf ears, Kenneth Samuel is unrelenting in cautioning against continued neglect of the Federation’s marine resources.

     

    Samuel, owner and director of Kenneth’s Dive Centre, for the past two decades has observed the depletion of marine life and the degradation of the different marine habitats around St. Kitts-Nevis due to overfishing, among other things. 

     

    In previous interviews with SKNVibes, Samuel explained that back then, he envisaged the devastation which would follow should nothing be done to remedy the problem. He noted that decades later, because nothing was done, the better part of marine like around St. Kitts-Nevis has been depleted and advises that continued abuse of marine resources would lead to further depletion.

     

    Samuel’s most recent complaint was lodged a couple of days ago after discovering a dismembered lobster, which he estimates to have weighed somewhere between six and eight ounces. He lamented that lobsters of this and lesser size should not be harvested but left to grow and procreate.

     

    “Today, I was very upset about what I’ve seen on the wreck, the MV River Taw, which sank over 20 years ago. What struck me is the size of lobster that are there and I want to ask my Minister of Fisheries and the Prime Minister if this is legal for fishermen or any individual to be taking lobsters of these sizes. This lobster is only about six to eight ounces, if eight ounces at all.  You tell me honestly, citizens of St. Kitts and throughout this world, does a six-ounce lobster or an eight ounce lobster have enough meat for us to be eating? If we are going to continue talking them at that size, what are we going to do with ourselves?” 

     

    The dive shop operator indicated that he knows the person who committed the act but prefers not to reveal their identity. He issued an appeal to the general public and ministers of government to focus some of their attention on the preservation of the Federation’s marine resources.

     

    “I am appealing to the general public and our Ministers of government on St. Kitts and Nevis, now that the elections are over and the dust has settled, to pay more attention to the ocean…and my reason for that is because of the different types of marine life which are now dying out. And what I’ve seen within the last year and a half or so has really hit home hard because a lot of the marine species are no longer around, mainly because of overfishing and because the laws are there, but they are not being enforced. Therefore, I don’t think that the fishes are doing the job that they were set out to do.

     

    “I am going to say what I have to say with no fear or favour and I know that some people might feel offended, but they have to understand where I am coming from. This is my livelihood and this is also our food source. And when we deplete the stock, what will we be doing to feed ourselves? Again, the question is asked several times by other people and myself, what is government doing? I can’t do anything of myself; all I can do it just talk, say what I see and express myself via radio, internet or the newspaper.”

     

    Yet again, the seasoned fisherman/diver warned that without the implementation of a plan of action to deal with this potentially devastating situation, the Federation and its inhabitants would suffer immensely.

     

    “So I am asking the entire world for help because maybe it’s time to reach out to the outer world to let them know that we need help on St. Kitts to protect our reef, because nobody on St. Kitts seems to be doing anything about it and the only person who is talking about it is Kenneth Samuel. I think it is high time now that my government takes the initiative and start to penalise people who are destroying the reef, who are taking out all the small lobsters and conchs out of the rosters, who are destroying the habitats by throwing ship anchors on the reefs.

     

    “I would like to see something drastic being done, something more, in terms of protecting the area that we are now diving in. I don’t think it is too hard for government or fisheries to sanction one or two areas so that people could dive and have and see fish.”

     

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