Politics at Play in Lobster Issue with Fishers?

 About three weeks ago, the Ministry of Blue Economy was up north in Corozal, meeting with fishers from Sarteneja Village and other surrounding communities about the amendment to the fisheries act as it pertains to lobsters. Also attending that meeting was Corozal Southeast area rep Florencio Marin Junior. We did not get a chance to speak with him, but today, he spoke to News Five about his role in dialoguing with the fishers in his constituency and about the politics that was at play during the public meeting in Sarteneja.

Florencio Marin Jr.

Florencio Marin Jr., Area Representative, Corozal Southeast

“I do have a stake in it so to speak. I have committed to the fishermen over the course of this year to consult with them – consult with them individually, as groups, by association – to get a full grasp of the issues that they are facing. These issues didn’t just arrive lately; these are longstanding issues. So my hope is to hit the ground, talk with them one-on-one and have a frank discussion with each one of them for us to be able to come to some way that I can then speak to the minister – he sets the policy, so that’s not what I am going – but at least let him know this is what we are feeling in our division. It was clearly operatives trying to see how they could turn this process into what it is not. If you noticed, they picked up the issue just before the village council elections and have you seen them acting out at this moment in time? They’re not. So from their perspective, they took a very serious issue and tried to insert politics in it.”