‘Glad to be back’ - Fisherman seeks to settle after nerve-wracking journey home

A Jamaican fisherman is glad to be back home after making several nerve-wracking voyages over 17 days. The man, who was charged with illegally entering the waters of a foreign country, said he saw little hope of getting justice and decided to leave at the first real opportunity. He claimed to have hopped from boat to boat until he found his way back in Jamaica.

"To be honest, I didn't feel excited until I see Jamaica and said, okay, this is really it; but while I was out there, I was thinking anything can happen," said the fisherman.

He said that things were very difficult for him while he was abroad involuntarily.

"I consider myself lucky because being there, I had no papers, so I had no job and had to depend on my girlfriend for money to survive," said the fisherman.

Getting this money, however, was not an easy task. "I had to get other people's information and let her send them and I pay them to collect it," said the fisherman.

OFFICIAL CHARGES

But as he lingered in the foreign land, the man weighed his option and decided it made sense for him to find his way home. He had been released from jail on the charge of illegal fishing and was awaiting a hearing on another charge.

"I don't see the sense of being there for something I didn't do," he said, while adding that he made many attempts to seek assistance from Jamaican officials but was unsuccessful.

Since returning home, the man said that he has not ventured back out to sea, but anticipates the day that he will be able to do so.

"My grandfather was a fisherman and so was my father, and I grow up around fishing beach. I've never considered anything else, fishing is all I know," said the fisherman.