Daraine Luton and Michelle-Ann Letman, Staff Reporters

Proposed revisions to the 32-year-old Fisheries Act will require fishermen to take safety at sea more seriously, says Minister of Agriculture, Dr Christopher Tufton.

Tufton, who is the member of parliament for South West St Elizabeth where the search continues for four fishermen missing since Friday, told The Gleaner last night that the legislation would require boaters to have communication equipment and life vests before setting out to sea.

"We have to move in a direction where greater caution is exercised when we confront the high seas. It's fraught with opportunities but fraught with dangers also," the agriculture minister said.

Tabled by November

Tufton said the reviewed legislation, which will replace the 1976 Fisheries Act, would be tabled by November following a final round of consultation with key stakeholders.

He is mindful, however, that laws on the books are worthless if not enforced.

"What is going to be required after the policy is articulated and the legislation comes into being is enforcement," Tufton said. "You can have all the laws you want, but they are no use if you don't have enforcement."

The four fishermen disappeared at sea Friday morning after a tropical wave affected marine conditions. The men are all from districts in the Pedro Plains area.

A team from the Jamaica Defence Force Coastguard went out in search of the men yesterday via helicopter. Tufton said a coastguard vessel would assist in the search today.

Reports from the Constabulary Communication Network are that the four men left Calabash Bay last Thursday in a 36-foot blue and white fishing boat marked 'God a God'.

"I have said to them over and over, they need to be effective when they go to sea and also be in possession of an effective communication device," Tufton said.

Capsized

The men were last seen by another crew out at sea early Friday morning. Thirty minutes later, the men and their boat could no longer be seen.

Some fishermen theorise that the boat might have capsized in the poor weather conditions.

Family members and some of the fishermen's colleagues are still hopeful that the missing men are still alive.

The MP has visited the families of the missing men and has described the ordeal as devastating.

"Our hearts go out to the family of those people. Having visited them today, it is really a distressful situation," Tufton said. "They (the missing men) have wives, mothers and fathers and they have children. What I saw today was a lot of grief and we pray that the men would be found."