Abstract

Based in Barbados, I have been a fisherman for the past thirty-three years in various small-scale fisheries. In that period I have become what some in northern areas call a ‘high-liner’. My catch rate is high, but so is my interest in fisheries management and conservation out of respect for the environment from which I earn my livelihood. I am the product of a fishing family in which the sons of several generations have gone to sea. However, never in the past have there been so many unanswered questions concerning patterns of fish behaviour and the fishing environment. Climate change, shifts in the typical patterns of sea currents and temperature, coral bleaching, changes in sea water colour and other phenomena are investigated by scientists. However, the information of science seldom makes its way into the conversations of fishermen except in speculation. Some observed changes in marine resources and their use patterns in recent decades are described in this paper. Emphasis is on the pelagic fisheries of Barbados and the eastern Caribbean and how the changes impact upon fishing. Questions are posed to seek answers about the causes underlying these observations. Recommendations are made on how fishermen should respond to their observations.

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