Red Drum Fish Harvest Showcases Jamaica’s Mariculture Potential

Following the successful harvest of more than 5,000 lbs. of red drum fish from a marine cage culture project in Bowden, St. Thomas, stakeholders are hailing the practice as a viable option for the future of Jamaica’s fisheries sector.

The result of the seven-month initiative were realised on October 8 during a major harvest exercise led by the National Fisheries Authority (NFA), with support from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) Coast Guard.

Acting Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NFA, Dr. Zahra Oliphant, who witnessed the harvest, is optimistic about the project’s potential impact on the economy.

She notes that, because of climate change and other environmental challenges, fishers are being forced to go farther out to sea to catch fish, while global fish stocks continue to decline.

“When you think about our fishers going out at sea, having to go farther, spending money on fuel [and] all the inputs that they put in – it’s costly,” the Acting CEO tells JIS News.

Dr. Oliphant points out that, globally, fish produced through aquaculture and mariculture systems has outpaced fish captured in the wild.

“So, the potential for this [is tremendous]. We’re looking at food security, we’re looking at the economic benefits when our fishers and fish farmers can now look at this as an alternative to regular wild-caught and inland fishing,” she adds.

Dr. Oliphant assures that the NFA is not “abandoning” traditional fishers, but is instead showing that there are other ways for them to produce fish.

“So, you still have regular wild-caught fish… and we’re supporting that. But we’re adding another option to the mix, and that is mariculture, cage culture activities, to grow the sector,” the Acting CEO explains.

Chief Executive Officer of B&D Trawling Limited, Roderick Francis, was also present during the harvest of the red drum fish.

The company is the first purchaser of commercial quantities of the species, and will be introducing the product to the Jamaican market through various product offerings.

Mr. Francis notes that red drum is only the beginning of what can be done through mariculture in Jamaica.

“The hope is to eventually grow red snapper as well, using the same system. So, it’s a very, very exciting project for Jamaica and the future of not just the NFA, which is undertaking this pilot project, but also fishers and young entrepreneurs who may come together and perhaps even use smaller cages and see this model develop throughout Jamaica’s fishing beaches and coastal communities,” the CEO tells JIS News.

He adds that the company also assisted the NFA in procuring the seed stock (fingerlings) and has been present since the inception of the project.

“It’s quite exciting. I think cage aquaculture has proven itself all over the world as a viable mechanism for people to grow fish. They don’t need to maintain their ponds. They can maintain their nets in, maybe, smaller cages than these, and can make a different income. So we’re looking at this being a scalable solution for food security in Jamaica. I think it’s an amazing project, and I think the future is going to be bright for this,” Mr. Francis says.

The red drum project was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

Through the initiative, fry were grown to a certain size using a recirculating system before being placed in cages at sea and fed high-quality feed.

The project is expected to play a significant role in enhancing Jamaica’s food security and reducing the country’s food import bill