Authors: Corrine Aldred
The Blue Belt Programme is unique in facilitating learning exchanges between UK Overseas Territories. In October 2024, marine enforcement officers from St Helena had the opportunity to shadow the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resource Management (DFMRM) in Turks and Caicos.
Kelly Jonas, a Marine Enforcement Officer and Peter Young, a Marine Compliance and Enforcement Officer from St. Helena joined members of the Blue Belt team to visit the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resource Management (DFMRM) in Turks and Caicos (TCI). Through this trip, fisheries officers from both Overseas Territories gained insight into how fisheries enforcement officers from other Overseas Territories conduct their day-to-day work.
Kelly and Peter had the opportunity to observe how practical enforcement tasks are carried out within other small communities. During this visit, they determined whether processes in St Helena could be improved and shared their knowledge and experience with officers from DFMRM.
Insights from the Visit
We spoke to Kelly Jonas as she reflected on her time spent in TCI and the insights she’s gained.
Can you tell us a bit about the day-to-day activities of a marine enforcement officer in St Helena?
We engage with fishers to provide advice on regulation in order to help improve understanding, change behaviour and develop a culture of marine compliance. We undertake inspections and monitoring of fish landings, checking logbooks and ensure that the fishers are complying with marine regulations and use our powers to inspect vessels and seize any evidence of marine crime. When required we conduct investigations which requires us to build case files by gathering evidence and providing witness statements for prosecutions when infringements are suspected.
What compliance and enforcement similarities exist between St. Helena and Turks and Caicos?
We both conduct landing inspections and sea patrols. One major difference is in St. Helena we have no powers of arrest like they do in TCI, but our powers to seize in both countries are similar and would get the same result.
TCI are quite strict with their regulations, and it was good to see the confidence of the officers when enforcing offences that lead to product seizure. It has provided me with a better perspective and more confidence when using my own powers.
It was really interesting to observe the restaurant inspections as we don’t conduct those in St Helena, as the majority of our inspections happen during vessel landings. This could be a potential enforcement approach for us to use in future.
Did you get the opportunity to share with TCI fisheries staff how you do things in St. Helena?
Yes, whilst observing we compared how we would do the same process in St. Helena. The inspections at sea that we observed were different to how we would conduct ours, as the TCI Fisheries Officers had a very specific focus for the inspection due to the fishing method used, which is not used in St. Helena.
Which of Turks and Caicos’ three islands was most similar to St. Helena? Providenciales, South Caicos or Grand Turk?
Grand Turk, due to the smaller community. It has a similar population size to St. Helena, and they have a small number of vessels fishing daily compared to the other two islands.
Prior to your visit, you wanted to understand how enforcement is conducted in a small community. Do you believe you have gained this knowledge during the exchange?
Yes. The officers are passionate about their jobs and the marine environment, and they know the importance of developing relationships with fishers and restaurant staff to enable them to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. The fishers and restaurant owners/managers know that the officers have to do their jobs, and from what we observed are cooperative with the inspections. The officers treat the fishers with respect, and they get the respect in return, they are friendly yet professional and believe in education then enforcement.
After observing enforcement actions in TCI that are similar to those of St. Helena, does it give you confidence that you are doing things correctly?
Yes, it does give me the confidence that we have been doing things correctly and seeing it happen elsewhere gives me the confidence to continue doing what we are doing.
Do you think a similar learning exchange would be beneficial between other Overseas Territories?
Yes, it has helped to build working relationships and share knowledge between colleagues from the OTs directly, and we can go to others for assistance if we encounter something we haven’t dealt with before. Having staff from other OTs visit and shadow work would be better received by the community and fishers than staff from the UK, due to the similarities in our day-to-day work and the challenges that we face. In an ideal world we would have liked to spend longer on each island to be able to see the whole enforcement process from seizure to conviction.
What was your highlight during your time in TCI?
Seeing the work ethic of someone in a similar position to myself. It makes me excited about my job and I have found more confidence in myself.
Moving Forward
We are delighted at the success of this initiative, and we will be exploring opportunities for further knowledge exchange between the UK Overseas Territories. This recent trip is part of our broader mission to assist the UK Overseas Territories in managing and regulating their marine environments. Our support includes providing training, innovative technology and the use of satellite imagery to detect and deter possible illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
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