National report of Trinidad And Tobago

Harnarine Lalla
Fisheries Division
Ministry of Food Production and Marine Resources
St. Clair Circle St Clair, Port of Spain
Trinidad, W. I.
Tel: 868 623 6028/ 868 623 8525
Fax: 868 623 8542

The fishing industry in Trinidad is largely artisanal, but includes multipurpose vessels, semi-industrial and industrial trawlers and is characterised by multi-species and multi-gear fisheries. Most vessels operate out of the west coast of Trinidad, but some operate on the other coasts. It has been estimated that 13 000 persons are directly involved in the fishing industry with 50 000 persons indirectly involved.

ON-GOING FISHERIES

Types of Fisheries

A. Coastal Pelagic Fishery

The vessel most commonly used in this fishery is the pirogue. This is a wooden, fibreglass or fibreglass-coated open boat 7-9 m in length, propelled by outboard engines usually between 45-75 HP. The principal species targeted by the coastal pelagic fishery are carite (Scomberomorus brasiliensis), wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri), kingfish (Scomberomorus cavalla) and sharks, such as hammerhead shark (Sphyrna tudes), sharp nose shark (Rhizoprionodon lalandii), small tail shark (porosus) and black tip shark (Carcharhinus limbatus).

The major fishing gears used are gillnets and lines. This fishery is also known as the gillnet fishery, as this is the principal gear used. Artisanal gillnets are either multifilament or monofilament nets. The multifilament net is made of cotton, although nylon and other synthetic twines are more common now and is heavier than the monofilament net, which is made of transparent nylon. Line methods include "a-la-vive" (fishing with live bait using hooks and nylon twine line), switchering (handline with baited hooks deployed while vessel is stationary), trolling/towing (4-6 lines are towed from bamboo outriggers off vessel) and target kingfish, with other species being caught.

The principal line fishing areas are on the west, north and east coasts and around off- shore structures such as oilrigs. Three to five Fishers per vessel go out on a daily basis. The time would vary with area fished, tides and moon phase.

B. Oceanic Pelagic Fishery

Industrial longliners, semi-industrial multi-purpose commercial vessels and recreational vessels are involved in this fishery. There are currently eight longliners in the national fleet. These vessels are from 14-23 m in length with diesel engines of about 180-350 HP and are equipped with echo sounders, fish finders, GPS, communication equipment and hydraulic equipment for setting and retrieving gear. The usual crew size is approximately six persons.

The principal species targeted by the oceanic pelagic fishery are tunas: yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares), bigeye tuna (T. obesus), albacore (T. alalunga), blackfin tuna (T. atlanticus), swordfish (Xiphias gladius), dolphin fish (Coryphaena hippurus) with sharks and carite being considered as the bycatch.

The pelagic longline gear used by this fleet comprises 300 to 1 000 hooks attached to a main line 24 km to 88 km long and set at about 30 to 50m below the surface of the water. The fishing areas are off the north and east coasts of Trinidad. Those larger vessels also venture into the Exclusive Economic Zone.

Most long liners stay at sea for periods ranging between 7 and 15 days. They operate all year round with peak activity between November and April. Due to a catch quota system implemented by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas and Tuna-like Species (ICCAT) of 42 tonnes for swordfish per year, the peak period for targeting swordfish is from January to March when the quota limit is reached.

Landings and Catch and Effort Data

In Trinidad the existing system of landings and effort data collection targets only the artisanal fleet. Landings and effort data are recorded full-time at 17 landing sites out of 65 landing sites in Trinidad. These data is collected by catch and effort data-collectors, who live close to the landing sites and record information on fishing vessels daily, as the vessels return from fishing. The data collected from each vessel include: vessel registration number, times departed and returned, number of crew, gear type used, weights of "species" landed (may be grouped by local names), ex-vessel price per species and area fished. Data is collected on all landings but are not collected on discards.

The data is initially recorded by the Catch and Effort Data Collector in a notebook and later are transcribed onto a "Return of Fish Landed Form". Both the notebooks and forms are submitted to the Fisheries Division Statistical Unit.

Catch and Effort Data Collectors record the above data for at least 20 days (selected at random by the Collector himself/herself) in a month. The Data Collector also records the number of active boats (by fishing method) on a "Boat Activity Sheet", on each day of the month. This sheet is used to determine: whether or not the Collector was able to record data from all the fishing vessels on each of the days on which he/she worked; and the total number of fishing days at a particular site. The Collectors also submit these forms to the Fisheries Division.

The coast of Trinidad and Tobago is sectioned into zones based on similarities in fishing operations. Each enumerated site is assumed to be representative of artisanal fishing activity within a zone. Data collected at an enumerated sit are raised to obtain estimates of landings and effort at the sit for all fishing days in the month (including non-enumerated fishing days). These raised data are then used to estimate the total artisanal landings and effort for enumerated as well as non-enumerated sites in a zone. This second raising is based on results of a census of fishing vessels conducted periodically to determine the number of boats at each landing site.

Landings from the recreational fishery are partly captured by this data collection system since some recreational Fishers are part-time commercial Fishers and, therefore, their vessels are registered as commercial fishing vessels and are included in the census of fishing vessels.

A system is being developed for collecting catch and effort data from the semi-industrial/industrial long line fishery. With technical assistance (obtained in April 2000) from ICCAT, it was determined that in the absence of a logbook system the best available sources of data to estimate historical landings would be export data and domestic sales. Total landings for the period 1993 - 2000 were determined by summarizing total exports and domestic sales. This information was accessed directly from each local owned local flagged vessel and from data collected by the Fisheries Division. By-catch data were also collected and included in the estimates of historical landings. The data derived from the technical assistance program represent revised historical landings for the Trinidad and Tobago longline fleet for the period 1993 - 2000. Catch data are listed in Appendix I, table1.

Biological Data

During 1992 and between 1995 and 1997 length frequency, maturity, and age and growth data were collected for kingfish (Scomberomorus cavalla) and carite or Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus brasilensis) and some species of shark (Carcharinus porosus, C. limbatus, Rhizoprionodon lalandii, Sphyrna lewini, and S. tudes). The data were captured monthly for the major gears of the artisanal fishery that catch and target the two mackerel species (gillnets and pelagic handlines). These biological data are soon to be computerised. Currently, no length data are collected for the semi-industrial/industrial longline fishery.

MOORED FAD FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT

There are no FAD fisheries existing in Trinidad and Tobago presently, with the exception of coconut branches used in the flyingfish fishery of Tobago (a more complete description follows).

However the technology and know-how exists and in 1999 there were trials in Tobago by the Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute (CFTDI). Three bamboo raft FAD were deployed in 1999. Results in terms of ease of capture of fishes, time spent fishing and number of fish caught, from all reports appeared highly encouraging, but Fishers were not forthcoming with information. They were apparently very sceptical of what the information would be used for, despite being coaxed and given prepared forms.

This would have greatly assisted in ascertaining maintenance regimes, management, efficiency and effectiveness of the FAD, probably leading to the deployment of more and better FAD for their use. Partly because of this "non co-operation" and other commitments, no other FAD was deployed. The three bamboo FAD eventually deteriorated and were not replaced.

Improved and better technology also exists using more expensive and durable materials and CFTDI is capable of delivering training and workshops on the concepts, construction and deployment.

In Trinidad there is also considerable interest from coastal fishing communities in the establishment of artificial reefs. The ideas are not only for attracting fish, but for conservation and sustainability issues of other fisheries as well.

When vertical structures are introduced into otherwise featureless marine environments, flora, associated micro fauna and later fish establish niches and habitats there. Fish and shellfish would probably be initially attracted for the “shelter” provided. Besides providing additional marine habitats, it is with the fervent hope that these reef structures if strategically placed would not create “obstacles” to trawling and shrimp trawlers would now not be able to trawl in these areas.

However monitoring of the areas before, during and after establishment is necessary as well as not creating hindrances to marine navigation. Necessary government approaches and maritime permissions must be obtained.

Table 1: Regional synthesis on high sea pelagic fisheries Year and landings (metric tonnes)

NB Data from Tobago fishers not available at this time.
u: unknown or unavailable at this time
N/A: Not applicable
* Dressed weight
A: artisanal vessels (pirogues); MP L: Multipurpose vessels and Longliners

Table 2: Regional synthesis on high sea pelagic fisheries Year and landings (metric tonnes)