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Hon. Lennox Andrews remarks on the US Fish Ban
Good morning to all.
Greetings to the people of Grenada, and in particular to the fisherfolk of our country.
In August 2025, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) informed Grenada that, beginning in January 2026, it would no longer be allowed to export fish and fish products to the United States. The reason given was that Grenada had not taken adequate steps to protect sea mammals in a manner comparable to the protections in place in the United States, requirements that had first been communicated to Grenada in 2016.
Having received that ultimatum, Grenada established a Task Force to address the areas where improvements were needed. Specifically, we updated and passed the 1986 Fisheries Act in Parliament to include protections for sea mammals. We also enacted new regulations to accompany the Act and took steps to improve vessel monitoring, including the intended placement of video cameras on our long-line vessels.
Having completed those tasks, in December 2025, we reapplied for permission to export fish to the United States. NOAA acknowledged our reapplication and commended us for the efforts made to ensure the safety of sea mammals. At the same time, NOAA indicated that it would provide a response to our request to resume exporting fish as soon as possible.
In effect, NOAA’s response means that since January, we have not exported fish to the United States. This decision does not mean that we are no longer able to fish in our waters. We are still fishing, and our fish remains available in our local markets. However, the decision has affected long-line commercial fishers, who mainly harvest yellowfin tuna, which is typically exported to the United States.
These long-line fishers exported 1.6 million pounds of fish in 2022, with an export value of EC$22.9 million. In 2023, they exported 1.7 million pounds, valued at EC$24.4 million. In 2024, they exported 1.4 million pounds, earning EC$18.5 million.
With the ban in place, their livelihoods have been disrupted. As a result, the Government has taken steps to help restore their livelihoods so they can return to the sea as quickly as possible.
This press conference is therefore being held to inform the nation of the actions the Government has taken, working with private individuals and the fishermen themselves, to restore their livelihoods as quickly as possible. Essentially, our efforts have focused on identifying alternative markets locally, within the region, and beyond.
In this regard, I am joined today by the following individuals:
Mr. Adrian Welch
, who will speak on the domestic response;
Mr. Nigel Gibbs
, who will address our efforts with Guyana;
Mr. Trevor Bishop
, who will speak about our efforts in Canada, and
Mr. Hoyte Olliviere
, who will provide details on exports to Trinidad.
I am also joined by other staff of the Ministry of the Blue Economy, as well as some of the long-line fishermen who have been affected by the ban.
Finally, I would like to add that, in addition to our efforts to find alternative markets regionally and internationally, we have also taken other measures to ease the burden on our affected long-line fishermen.
One such measure is that we have written to financial institutions that have provided loans to these fisherfolk, requesting that they offer a
moratorium on debt servicing
. Additionally, we have requested that the OECS Economic Affairs Council help identify regional markets and place Grenada on the agenda for a proposed meeting with the Canadian Prime Minister.
Discussions are also ongoing with the People’s Republic of China, which, through the work of our Ambassador in China, has given permission for Grenada to export fish to China. Discussions are also underway with the Government and people of Japan regarding the export of our fish.
The Government considers the present situation an opportunity to take further action to develop a sustainable fishing industry that meets international standards and can withstand future external shocks. In that regard, we are considering constructing a modern fish processing plant to produce value-added, “Made in Grenada” fish products such as sardines, dried fish, mackerel, fish burgers, and other products. Bilateral and multilateral discussions have already begun regarding financing for such a venture.
With these opening remarks, I will now ask Mr. Welch to detail the actions taken to find a local market for our fish.
As reported by Mr. Hoyte Olliviere, Head of the Long Liners Association, we are about to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a Trinidadian company that would like to purchase 20,000 pounds of tuna every two weeks. The MOU should have been signed on Friday so that our fisherfolk could have gone out to sea this week for the first shipment planned for the end of this month.
The fisherfolk have agreed to a minimum price of US$5.00 per pound (this information is not for public consumption).
In addition, local supermarkets such as Real Value have indicated that they will substitute imported tuna from Jamaica with locally supplied tuna now that it is available following the ban.
Thank you very much.
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