The spiny lobster fishery in the Bahamas was set to become one of the most lucrative in recent memory, but Hurricane Dorian’s impact will set the industry back severely.
An estimated 95 percent of fishermen in the northern Bahamas have lost their boats after the Category 5 hurricane slammed the islands from 1 to 3 September.
It’s going to be a big setback for the industry, Keith Carroll, vice president of the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance, told Eyewitness News.
Before the storm, Carroll told The Tribune newspaper that more access to foreign markets has resulted in higher demand and prices for crawfish and spiny lobster.
We can ship our lobsters all over the world and they would be accepted. We have more markets. We don’t just have to depend on Europe and America, Carroll said.
Fishermen were bringing in the highest price ever for crawfish at the beginning of the season, ranging from USD 14 to USD 15.50 [EUR 12.69 to 14.05] per pound, according to Carroll.
However, Carroll now predicts that the Bahamas fishing industry will lose 30 to 40 percent in revenue. Fishermen in the northern Bahamas who can salvage their boats will likely not be able to do so in time to capitalize on the crawfish and spiny lobster season, which started on 1 August.
Meanwhile, some seafood companies in the United States are helping to aid victims in the Bahamas.
StarKist is matching the first USD 25,000 (EUR 23,000) raised in donations through Feed the Children to assist in recovery, as well as sponsoring a semi-truck filled with food and supplies that will soon be deployed to the Bahamas.
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