The Trinidad and Tobago Game Fishing Association (TTGFA) has lost one of its founding members and former secretary, Sidney Alexander Johnson.

When he passed away due to illness last Saturday, it came as a great shock to the game fishing fraternity in Trinidad and Tobago as ’Sid’, as he was fondly known by all, had been involved in many ways for the betterment of the sport in the Southern Caribbean.

He was a member of the TTGFA management committee from inception in October 1986 up to 2007.

Johnson always advocated conservation efforts in the region and was concerned about the long liners and industrial trawlers operating in these waters.

He lobbied tirelessly against these practices in the Gulf of Paria in Trinidad and was included as a member of the task force which produced a document that was presented to the Trinidad and Tobago Government to assist in dealing with these matters.

Johnson’s passion for conservation led him to taking several photographs of Taiwanese large-scale pelagic driftnet boats at National Fisheries in Sea Lots, Port of Spain, and sending them to the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) in the United States.

The photos were later published on the front page of the New York Times. The feature article accompanying Johnson’s photos marked the first time that a conservation story was featured on the cover of that prestigious publication.

Through this effort, one of the biggest coalitions was formed by conservationists, of which Johnson was an active member. And as a direct result of this, the United Nations banned large-scale pelagic driftnet fishing and Johnson received an individual conservationist of the year award from the IGFA based on his involvement.

Another award was given to him by the Billfish Foundation for Individual of the Year in 1991.

These accolades were showered on him as his work for the TTGFA and fisherfolk in general continued.

Johnson was also a member of a Cabinet-appointed committee that was formed to deal with foreign fisheries and related matters in T&T waters.

A few years later he was able to work with North coast fisherfolk to stop trawling in the Gulf of Paria and restrict trawlers to no more than two miles off Trinidad’s North coast and no further than Saut d’eau, an island just off the North coast, during the months of February to November.

Johnson will always be remembered as being the Southern Caribbean pioneer of billfish tag and release fishing.

He also was instrumental in having the Institute of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Division in Trinidad and Tobago conduct samples of fish caught in various local tournaments.

At the time of his passing, he held a Cabinet-appointed post on the National Monitoring Committee on Foreign Fishing and related matters, and was also a member of the Ministry of Trade and Industry Fish and Fish-processing team of the Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister’s Vision 2020 committee.

Johnson, who had three children, will be cremated tomorrow after a funeral service from 10.30 a.m. at St Finbar’s RC Church, Diego Martin.