Ag secretary, Ceiba fishermen reach preliminary agreement that they won’t be evicted from fishing village

Fishermen in Ceiba are said to be “with some hope, but above all, with caution” following a meeting with acting Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres that culminated with a preliminary agreement to halt the fishermen’s eviction from the Los Machos Beach fishing village in the eastern town on Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day.

By THE STAR STAFF

A meeting between the fishermen of Ceiba and acting Agriculture Secretary Irving Rodríguez Torres culminated in a preliminary agreement to halt their eviction from the Los Machos Beach fishing village in Ceiba on Nov. 27, Thanksgiving Day, as the mayor of that municipality had informed them in writing.

The Puerto Rico Fishermen and Defenders of the Sea Federation (FEPDEMAR) charged last week that former Agriculture Secretary and current Economic Development Bank President Josué Rivera Castro betrayed the fishermen by handing over control of the Los Machos Beach fishing village in Ceiba to the municipality. The municipality communicated in writing that it intended, as early as Nov. 27, to evict the group of fishermen who had managed to rehabilitate and reopen the fishing village after Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

Given the situation, which FEPDEMAR said is a violation of regulation 7626 for fishing villages, a meeting was arranged for Tuesday between Rodríguez Torres, and FEPDEMAR.

Following the meeting, Juan Capella Noya, an attorney with FURIA, a non-profit organization that supports fishermen, stated that the fishermen left “with some hope, but above all, with caution.”

“The acting secretary indicated that we will meet with the Department of Agriculture and the municipality to ensure justice is served and that Regulation 7626 is enforced,” the lawyer said. “This regulation stipulates that municipalities can request to manage fishing facilities, but only when there is no fishing group capable and interested in doing so. In this case, the disrespect shown to the regulation and the fishing group is also a lack of respect for the people who, with their money, sweat, and effort, managed to reopen the fishing village facilities, including the restaurant, after Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We hope that the acting secretary will rise to the occasion and enforce the clear letter of Regulation 7626 without further excuses.”

FEPDEMAR President Miguel A. Ortiz Serrano stated on behalf of the fishermen that “so far we are satisfied with the agreement reached with us by the acting Secretary of Agriculture.”

“The Secretary told us to give him until November 27th to take the necessary steps to enforce regulation 7626, which was violated when the contract with the municipality of Ceiba was made,” Ortiz Serrano said. “Regarding the mayor, after our complaints, he offered to give us the fishing village for $1 rent, but added that the village restaurant was not included in the rent. I don’t know why he’s saying that now, since he had previously ordered us to vacate in writing. And the restaurant isn’t an option because it’s part of the fishing village. We discussed this with the Secretary of Agriculture, and he agrees that the entire village, including the restaurant, should be transferred to the fishermen. Now the contract would be directly between the Department of Agriculture and the fishermen’s association, and the mayor can no longer obstruct the fishermen’s work.”

The fishing cooperative ANSI LLC, which currently occupies the village and which the municipality sought to evict, was the entity that rehabilitated and reopened it after Hurricanes Irma and Maria, contributing $60,000 as part of the effort. Ortiz Serrano had stated that the funds supposedly provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the village’s rehabilitation were unaccounted for, so the fishermen repaired it with their own money.

Section 6 of Regulation 7626, which governs fishing villages in Puerto Rico, establishes that a municipality can request the administration of a fishing village from the Department of Agriculture, but only when there is no fishing cooperative interested in managing it. When, according to the decision of former agriculture secretary, Rivera Castro, the municipality of Ceiba was granted control of the Los Machos Beach fishing village, the mayor, by subletting it to the fishing cooperative ANSI LLC, doubled the rental cost for the fishermen.

“We trust that this time the Secretary of Agriculture, Rodríguez Torres, will truly do justice for the fishermen,” Ortiz Serrano said.