Decolonization Models for America’s Last Colony: Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico: An Archipelago Without Fresh Seafood?

178 Puerto Rico: An Archipelago Without Fresh Seafood? July 26, 2007 One of the biggest surprises for visitors to the archipelago that is Puerto Rico is the lack of a healthy and well-developed fishing industry, such as exists on every other island or country with a coastline. The main restaurants in San Juan import seafood or offer fresh conch or deepwater red snapper as delicacies when they can find them. Otherwise, we have to take visitors to colorful restaurants in the coastal areas, where “fresh” seafood is sometimes offered, though knowledgeable folks realize it is frozen. There are historical reasons why the fishing industry has not been as important as it was at one time for the Taíno Indians. For the countries that invaded Puerto Rico—Spain and the United States—its role was as a military bastion. The powerful military structures built by the two empires are evidence of that (El Morro Castle, San Cristobal Fort, Roosevelt Roads, Ramey [Air Force] Base, and so on). During the hegemony of the US Navy over Puerto Rico, marine conservation was an enemy of weapons practice in the Puerto Rican archipelago . Under Operation Bootstrap, the priority was industrial development and the establishment of petrochemical operations—both also enemies of marine conservation—on the coasts of Puerto Rico. Teodoro Moscoso himself, in the last years of his life, spoke to me about the huge mistake of not giving the development of our food sources the priority they deserved. In 1988, there were 1,731 commercial fishermen selling their fish in fifty fishing villages. By 2006, that figure had declined to 1,163 commercial fishermen, a reduction of 33 percent. At the same time, it is estimated An Archipelago Without Fresh Seafood?  179 that nearly 200,000 recreational fishermen navigate in the waters off Puerto Rico. In 1979, some 7,400,000 pounds of fresh fish were hauled ashore. In 2006, the catch was some 1,339,000 pounds, a reduction of 82 percent. Of the seafood consumed in Puerto Rico, 90 percent is imported. Only 10 percent is local, and because there is no developed fishing industry, the price of the local product is higher than that for imported seafood, and its distribution is limited mainly to the fishing villages. Though there have been projects such as the Luis Peña Canal Marine Reserve in Culebra, they are isolated efforts and are not part of a master plan under the government’s guidance. Marine conservation, with an orderly plan for the cultivation of fish, is one important step that would promote development of a healthy fishing industry. Such a plan should be accompanied by an educational plan aimed at commercial and recreational fishermen, the citizenry, and the rising generations who will eventually be the ones to enjoy our marine resources—or pay the consequences of their destruction. Another important issue is the conservation of our coral reefs, which provide great diversity and many habitats. As Dr. Álida Ortiz-Sotomayor, the country’s authority on marine biology, would say, “It is like a huge supermarket.” Of the seafood we consume, some 90 percent come from the coral reefs. Fortunately, there is an environmentally friendly, high-technology aquaculture project (Snapperfarm, Inc.) that cultivates cobia in Culebra. [The company recently moved its operations to Panama owing to lack of support from the federal and local government.] It was reviewed recently in National Geographic as a world-class model for the future of aquaculture. This private initiative is an indicator of the industry’s enormous potential, and experts say it is the future of the industry. The government should get involved in innovative projects such as the Culebran Cobia Project and promote investment and the training of personnel. The Hawaiian government is already immersed in developing an aquaculture industry, which is cultivating fish from other areas. Marine conservation and the development of fishing constitute an important industry in Singapore, New Zealand, Greece, Bora Bora, the 180  Newspaper Columns Canary Islands, and the coasts of Australia, France, and Spain. Countries such as Israel have managed to become food self-sufficient by harvesting fruits and vegetables in an arid desert. But Puerto Rico is not able to make full use of the resource that surrounds it. None of Puerto Rico’s administrations has seen the potential of the fishing industry as a source of food and economic development. Can that be because it is much...