Fishermen from Vieux Fort took protest action on June 7, 2013 after not been paid for about three months.
After months of unrest within the fishing sector due to late payments from the Saint Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation, fishermen are now relieved with consistent payments being made.
According to General Manager of the Saint Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation, Vaughan Charles, the recent steady flow of payments to fishermen have kept their quarrels at bay. This has been made possible due to the injection of capital from the government and sales of $3.2 million worth of fish that had been in storage.
The system of payment that the Fish Marketing Corporation has devised with the Laborie Credit Union whereby fishermen are paid by the Union and later reimbursed by the Corporation is one that saw much success.
The general manager hopes to implement the system with other credit unions on island.
To date, the Saint Lucia Fish Marketing Corporation has eliminated its debt having made payments to fishermen in the sum of $1.4 million.