Government of Jamaica
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Fishing, whether artisanal, commercial or recreational, is a natural and popular activity for islanders of all ages.
As such, ensuring that the practice is done legally is critical to preserving livelihoods, traditions and the sustainability of the fisheries resource.
This is why the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) is reminding persons to register with the Authority for a licence to fish.
With more than 40,000 estimated fishers on the island, it is important that the Authority know the true number for the effective management of the sector.
Principal Director, Fisheries compliance, licensing and statistics at the NFA, Dr. Zahra Oliphant, said using the new IrieFins online platform, persons will first be asked if they are operating as an individual or a company.
She outlined to JIS News in a recent interview what would be needed if a person is registering for an individual licence.
“You will be asked if you have a Taxpayer Registration Number (TRN), which is a yes or no question. If you don’t have one, that does not stop you from moving forward. You are also asked if you have an NFA registration number as well,” she said.
Dr. Oliphant pointed out that the registration process asks for standard biographical information.
“This includes your nationality, full name, country of origin, gender and date of birth. You are required to upload picture identification. We accept government-issued identification, passport, driver’s licence, voters’ ID, and when it comes around, NIDs will also be accepted,” she said.
Persons within the fishing community who have fishers’ IDs can also use it for the registration process.
In the event someone registering does not have an ID, the National Fisheries Authority has created an option where persons can upload a copy of their birth certificate as well as a passport-sized picture.
“Persons will have to upload both the front and the reverse side, because the reverse side will need to be certified by a Justice of the Peace to say that you are the individual whose name would match the birth certificate. So, those really are what are required for applying for an individual licence,” Dr. Oliphant said.
Both fishers and vessels must be licensed.
A person applying for a vessel licence is required to upload his/her identification as well as proof of ownership for the vessel.
Proof of ownership can take several forms, including a bill of sale, receipt received upon purchase or a transfer of ownership form.
However, a number of stakeholders actually built their boats themselves.
“If you built the vessel, you can have a Justice of the Peace write to certify that you are the one that built the vessel and also provide, as part of the supporting documentation, any receipts related to the purchase of material used to build that vessel,” Dr. Oliphant explained.
For persons to register their vessels with the NFA, they must have a licence.
If persons go on the platform to get a vessel licence, it will request the NFA registration number.
If an applicant does not have one, the system will prompt them to go to that module to apply and get registered.
“If you have a registration pending, you just put the transaction ID in for the registration that’s pending for the licence, because some persons, they have a vessel and they come to do the two things at once – get themselves registered and get the vessel registered. So, start off with registering yourself as an individual and then you register the vessel, because you’ll need to reference that transaction ID,” she said.
Regarding their vessels, fishers are expected to indicate what they’re fishing with, the type of gear that will be on the vessel, where they will be fishing and, also, to include pictures of the vessel itself in its current form.
At the point of completing and submitting an application, an NFA extension services officer will schedule an interview with the applicant to examine the vessel, and at that point, if the pictures need to be updated, then the extension officer will take new photographs.
“When you are registering a vessel for the first time, you will get a vessel registration number from the NFA. You are required to place that number on your vessel on both sides. In the case of an artisanal canoe, on both sides of the bow, and it should be readable and sufficiently large enough to assist with search and rescue. If, God forbid, something should happen, we should be able to see the number at the side of the vessel and also, of course, to assist with enforcement,” Dr. Oliphant said.
Although the vessel registration is longer than the individual registration process because of the need for numerous documents, the good thing about the platform is once someone has registered on the platform, they have registered for life.
Dr. Oliphant is imploring persons to remember their login details for ease of access to the site.
“Register on IrieFins, get the process out of the way so you can login, and then you’ll be able to apply for the different licences that are available, which, right at this time, it’s applying for an individual licence to fish and applying for a vessel licence. We have a few other modules that we are going to be implementing very soon. We are just fine-tuning some areas, and those are going to be coming before the end of the financial year,” she said.