Jamaica‘s Position within the ornamental fish industry, responding to Shane Willis Article

Responses to article, indeed the level of industry players within the Jamaican Ornamental fish industry is minute compared to other similar industry. It is a fact that Jamaica is located in the tropics. Facing numerous natural disasters ranging from flooding , tropical storms and hurricanes. Ornamental fish farms not re-established after natural disasters are poorly planned and structure. Lets look at Florida, It faces numerous tropical storms yearly, with thousands of persons loosing homes, assets and investment within the pan angle alone. Yet one of North America’s largest fish farming Industry is able to manoeuvre through these challenges.

 

Some of their pond setups are as large as half a football field, some might even be larger. Steps are taken to manage excess water flow as a result of flooding .  The absence of proper planning within an industry such as this will result in much disaster. In addition, their systems are so designed to have automation should in case the human element is not able to manage due to natural disasters. Backup generators are installed. They have thousands of fish stock being shipped in and out of their facilities on a daily basis. These fish stock cost millions of dollars and are considered valued assets when compared to our local ornamental fish industry’s valued assets.

To me personally  , the ornamental fish industry in Jamaica is built or designed around a temporary framework. One which  is positioned just for a time and not one which is poised for growth and a permanent fixture within Jamaica’s industrial and economical landscape. Systems are setup in a temporary fashion. Ornamental fish farmers in Jamaica will gladly share that their system are mobile and that they cane move their physical structure based on their own desire.

The selfish nature of Ornamental fish breeders and traders can be seen in the article written by Shane Willis. Shane in his article shared that the largest exporter / trader of ornamental fish in Jamaica died in 2009. The trade is now considered dead with his death.  This is interesting, as was mentioned in a few post I shared earlier, many skilled ornamental fish farmers have horded their  “know how” not willing to share how the trade is organized and how to reap benefits with others. To these industry players , doing so would probably decrease their market share within the industry. They have over the years failed to recognized that the sharing of knowledge skills and know how, fosters the longevity of the industry in Jamaica.

The position of Jamaica within the Caribbean is considered an excellent hub for ornamental fish breeding and trading to regions such as Europe , Asia and even our neighbours North America. In reality this would be a cheap or cost effective avenue for traders to access much desired fish stock. This however is just a piped dream. Both companies presently shipping fish from Jamaica to these region are considered disingenuous.  I know this based on a research and active observation done with an active participant ( fish farmer), a few years ago with the competitive company.  Farmers are not compensated according to the volume of work done to keep and care for fish stock.  To me personally this is considered as a strategy to keep the inner city young people active but economic dependent on the system of governance. I reached out to the company via email but received no response.

Both companies collects huge sums of monies from their overseas partners and only remunerate a fraction of this sum to their local partners.  This is just a sad state of affairs. This effort is done under the guise of providing employment for the unattached youths within vulnerable communities. In some cases they do furnish the vats, pump and all including fish stock. The individual is responsible for feeding , water changes, and electricity.  At times they would give you stocks of fish considered in low demand example “ Pink Convict Cichlids”. How do I know this, as I said, I did a piece on this very same process years ago. That is how I ended up with convict cichlids in the first place. You guessed it, they are very difficult to sell to even the locals.

Training and funding are facilitated through Non-Governmental agencies that is so true, however the bulk of the funding goes to the management of the programs with the actual field task individual struggling at times to manage simple issues. I believe that it would be more economically prudent to have persons managing the process whom have no vested interest in the outcome. Having the farmers work, work hard producing excellent stock and as agents stock are sold externally , the middle managers receive their payments and the farmers are paid accordingly and equitably based on their individual work done.  The questioning of the programs initiated by these companies is usually never done, this is primarily based on the fact that they tend to target unattached youths just wanting a sense of economic thrust. These youths never usually continue within this realm, a few months after training and investment in vats and fish stocks by the companies , they just opt to try other things. Practically, they view their voice as muted so why complain.

 

Having 150 modeled farms  seems to be great in addition having a curriculum which guides these farmers during training is even more greater. To me this is an awesome move. The sad thing about these initiatives is that no real permanent inclusion of these same farmers into the  position of entrepreneurs capable of managing their very own finances one day, this is just absent. In addition, structures facilitated by these companies are usually temporary, this results in many fish farmers in Jamaica becoming discouraged with the process of farming fish,  after a natural disaster. Imagine you were granted a few vats a small green house covering a  few  stock of fish, a hurricane comes and just destroys the entire infrastructure. Here is where the motivation for this industry decreases.  Permanent solutions are needed.  Lands should be leased, large ponds built, farmers offered the opportunities to keep and care pond. Breed fish stock when harvested, sold to a given group at a price that is agreed upon, then the cycle continues. The allowance of the feeling of partnership goes a long way. The idea of ownership prescribing  what to keep, and costing is just so disingenuous and redundant.

Willis went on to separate the commercial fish farmers from the small inner-city ornamental fish farmers. While not done vividly ,but in a subtle manner it points to the value being placed on small ornamental fish farming projects  found in inner city communities. How are we to position these? Are they of same value as lets say, those deemed as commercial  production.  This is why I suggest that The idea while seems great, that of training folks within the inner-city to be apart of the industry, it merely plays on the willingness of the unattached youths to just find an income stream just to cover financial bases.

One of the main limitations I have seen in the thrust of these ornamental fish keeping and trading companies in Jamaica, is the commonality of fish stock.  To me personally too much thrust is being made to breed specific type of fish.  What this has done is to, decrease in value the cost of some fish stock due to the availability of the same fish stock at every single localized fish farm.  A more innovative approach is needed to breed and trade fish species which fetches great prices on both the local as well as regional and international ornamental fish trading market. Angels, Convicts cichlids, Mbuna cihlids are great, but there are other fish species which can turn heads making persons wanting to get that fish stock.

Indeed, ornamental fish keeping can encourage good health. It helps to sooth the nervous hands, relaxes the mind, decreases instances of high blood pressure and  do help with depression. Many more advantages of ornamental fish keeping  can be seen in addition to the above listed. This post is not an indictment on the thrust to re-establish the ornamental fish keeping industry in Jamaica. In fact, this post seeks to highlight the grey areas needing much attention by those set in charge. Should these suggestions or pleas falls on deaf ears, then indeed, the industry will eventually be manipulated by the heavy investors, or larger industry players and the impetus to continue as a small fish keeper and trader will eventually die.

 

Regards

Raliegh