 The Ministry of Agriculture recently hosted an independent seafood fest which celebrated the island's rich culinary culture. The festival aimed to encourage local consumption and highlight the importance of the fisheries livelihoods to St. Lucians. The independent seafood fiesta showcased a wide variety of seafood including fish, lobster, shrimp and conch, expertly prepared by local vendors who ensured the island's diverse seafood and delicious culinary traditions were on display. The festival also featured live performances by local artists and a kid's zone with various activities for children to enjoy, making it a fun-filled event for families. Manager of Seraphine Bayfront, John Sutton, one of the participants in the festival who played an integral role in making the festival a success, shared his experience and perspective on the festival's impact on their business and the local community. It's a fishing village really just you know in castries and we just want to be able to give that energy back you know some some significance to the fishermen to the fishing community and you know oftentimes those are the ones that are neglected but everybody loves seafood you know but we don't really pay homage to the people who have to go out to sea and spend hours and to bring that that that catch to our plate so we felt like it was something timely for us to do it again this year and so far so good it seemed to be a success thus far the patrons out in numbers already in their colors it's independence so you know what better way to celebrate 44 years of independence and solution than with the seafood festival. Events coordinator of the agriculture ministry Philip Sidney spoke about their vision and hard work in making the independent seafood fest a success highlighting the importance of celebrating St Lucia's seafood and the people behind it. For the fishermen I think it's an opportunity all we need to do I think we need to have to decentralize the activity go out into areas like Schwazer and V4 and have that activity so give them in those areas an opportunity to go out there and harvest and to actually sell the stuff and not only that to create various menus so the young people can know exactly how to prepare certain things certain dishes coming from those species that is being harvested out in the sea so I think it is a good opportunity today I'm looking forward to have a bomber crowd and for people to enjoy themselves. The independent seafood fest celebrated St Lucia's culinary culture and promoted the ministry of agriculture's goal of increasing food security by supporting local businesses by showcasing the islands unique seafood offerings the festival highlighted the significant impact of the fishery sector on the local economy and livelihoods from the communications unit of the ministry of agriculture I am Anisha Antoine reporting