A thick Maracas shark and bake on a Sunday morning, golden brown fried fish fillets on Good Friday and mother's piping hot fish broth, with that secret ingredient, for Saturday lunch.

The foods we've come to know as regular staples in our national menu are in danger of becoming rarities, affordable only by the large of pocket.

It may not appear that way from the heaps of kingfish and carite seen in the fish markets every week or the fat slices of seasoned shark wrapped in Cellophane in the supermarket's frozen section.

But fisheries experts and fishermen tell a different tale. Fish stocks have been depleted and some species like shark and carite are already under threat of extinction.

"It is clear that we are overfishing our waters," says Dr. Indar Ramnarine, fisheries biologist at the University of the West Indies Department of Zoology, " and if we continue as we are doing now we could see the complete collapse of our commercial fisheries."

Technocrats, biologists and fishermen here in Trinidad and Tobago have focused much of their attention in the last two years on developing a national fisheries management policy. It is part of a new Fisheries Management Bill expected to replace the outmoded 1916 Fisheries Act.

It may take another year to get to parliament but the policy envisages significant changes in how marine resources are managed.

"Trinidad and Tobago has always had an open access fishery from which no citizen is barred from exploiting. We have come to realize that we cannot sustain that system and the policy suggests a shift to a regulated fishery," explained Ann Marie Jobity, Director of Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Lands and Marine Resources.

Fishermen like Cecil McLean of Las Cuevas, Kiran Ramnath and Rampersad Samaroo of Carli Bay and even game fishermen will have to apply for fishing licenses stipulating when, where and what kinds of species they will be allowed to fish. Shrimp trawling is already regulated.

Even they realise that access to the resources needs to be controlled.

"We have placed great strain on the sea, with all the fishermen out there now. It cannot go on for much longer like that," said McLean.

The legislation will include a provision to refuse the renewal and cancellation of licenses and the placing of fines on those fishermen who do not comply with the terms and conditions of the licenses.

Some countries have gone even further and developed a quota system for their fishermen. But that entails determining the stock quantity (bio-mass) of commercially fished species and then deciding how much of a species can be fished annually.

"That would be an ideal situation because we could actually regulate the amount of fish that is hunted annually and it can ensure that the species is not overfished. But it takes a secure monitoring system in the division to ensure that fishermen stick to their quotas," he said.

Herrings and other short-lived fish, Ramnarine said, can be harvested at a higher bio-mass than carite and other commercial fish because of their fecundity and their lower position in the food chain.

"But you still have to be careful because they are the food fish for carite and if you fish those too heavily you could affect the bio-mass of the carite indirectly," he added.

However, once the bio-mass is determined, then the stock can be divided among the fishermen according to area.

The system works in theory, but in a country where fisheries resources are minimal, it could be anything but easy.

Jobity agrees. "It is hard to implement a quota system here although it has been set up with success in places like New Zealand. Because of our multi-species nature of our fisheries, it would take quite some time to quantify the species."

And manpower is a constant problem in the Fisheries Division. Right now there are six fisheries officers to deal with both Trinidad and Tobago.

While the Division recognizes the need for more research on commercially fished species in particular, they find it difficult just keeping up with their day-to-day work.

The fisheries policy also discusses making fishing equipment more efficient and less destructive.

"Gillnets, have become just as destructive as trawlers in some cases. With their small mesh size, they trap lots of very small fish before they have had a chance to mature and that helps deplete a fishery just as the by-catch of trawlers," Ramnarine said.

Ramnarine agrees with the suggestion contained in the policy document which calls for the increase of the net's mesh size from three and three-quarter inches to four and three-quarter inches. Gillnets, Ramnarine said, also trap young turtles in their nets.

"And even when fishermen bring in small fish people must not buy it and they must be fined for bringing in an undersized haul," insisted Ramnarine.

Fishermen have also suggested that the use of non-biodegradable monofilament nets be discontinued from use since the nets pose a long-term hazard to the seabed.

"We need to insist that the cages are built with materials that can break down in the sea after a while, because they cause significant damage over a period of time," Jobity said.

What will take some time to develop are protected spawning grounds. Unlike Trinidad and Tobago's closest neighbours, Venezuela, this country has not made much headway in establishing protected nurseries for local species.

Most of the inshore areas are natural nursery grounds, Ramnarine said, and the Gulf in particular, is suspected to be a natural spawning ground for most commercial fish.

Further research is to be done to determine the extent of the spawning area and the period when these areas serve as nurseries, so they can recommend closing them off to fishing activity.

"We need to understand the life history of some of these fish. The carite, for instance, migrate around certain parts of the island at certain times depending on the waters' salinity," explained, Christine Chan-A-Shin, fisheries officer.

Fishermen, trawler owners and other interest groups have identified several areas along the North Coast, which are natural nursery grounds.

Damien Bay, Morne Poui, Madamas and Grand Riviere, the fishermen have suggested, are carite and kingfish spawning grounds and the fishermen have agreed that fishing should be restricted in these areas.

"Although the agreement is not law, it is an understanding among the groups in the sectors and all have pledged to honour the terms contained in it," Jobity explained.

The document was developed from a report prepared by the North Coast fishermen, which was presented to Agriculture Minister Dr. Reeza Mohammed in January this year.

"Fisheries management is inextricably linked to the concept of responsible fishing activity. We must instill that sense of responsibility in fishermen," Ramnarine said.

The policy is based on promoting this concept of responsible fishing and, in some cases, of fishermen being their own guards.

The Division is currently visiting all the fishing areas and talking with fishermen on the new policy, soliciting their views on the management of the resource.

"We need to establish consensus with this policy because so many people stand to be affected," said Jobity.

The world has always considered the resources of the sea as a limitless resource, for everyone to enjoy. Global collapses such as the Peruvian anchovy fishery in 1971, the California sardine and Scottish mackerel fisheries and more recently the new Foundland Cod fishery, shook the world into the position that the resource, like any other, must be regulated and controlled.

"It is not too late for us," said Ramnarine, "but we must manage the resource."

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