Since the tourist and fishing seasons coincide there is considerable potential to develop the market for recreational and commercial fishery. Pelagic species such as Dolphin, Swordfish, Tuna, Wahoo and Kingfish are often in demand. There is a high domestic demand for fish that is partly met by increasing imports of seafood. Most of the high import value is accounted for by the demand for delicacies like Lobsters and Conch by the tourist industry, in response to the declining catch rate of this fishery. Its performance has been hampered by such constraints as inadequacies in existing policies, legislation's, lack of capital, fishing practices and coastal development activities.
Conflicts also exist in the use of traditional fishing grounds for tourism.
The urge for diversification of the economy could be met by increased government investment in the fisheries sector. New areas with high yield potential could be exploited. These include commercial fishing for Tuna and exploitation of those species as Crevalle jack which is not locally preferred. Finally it should be emphasized that the sustainability of any development project for the fishing industry would be largely determined by an effective data collecting and management system as well a realistic stock assessment of the fishery resources. Government policy reserves commercial fisheries as a right for B V Islanders and Belongers.