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Turks and Caicos Opens First-Ever Certification Programme for Its National Saltwater Flats Fishing Guides
- CAICOS MEDIA
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Led by Turks Islanders and backed by UK conservation funding, the programme brings world-class sporting discipline home, putting local guides at the centre of protecting the waters they call their own
PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and Caicos Islands, Aug. 25, 2026 – The Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association (TCFFA) held the opening ceremony yesterday for the Turks and Caicos National Saltwater Flats Fishing Guide Certification, the first formal, nationally recognised training standard ever established for flats fishing guides in the territory.
Flats fishing, the pursuit of bonefish, tarpon and permit across shallow tropical flats with a fly rod, is regarded among serious anglers as one of the most demanding and refined disciplines in sport fishing.
The flats of the Turks and Caicos and Bahamian Islands draw some of the sport’s most discerning travellers, the majority of them from the United States, along with recognisable names such as Liam Neeson, Kevin Costner and Roger Waters. The guides who made that experience possible in the Turks and Caicos Islands had no access to a formal, nationally recognised industry standard of their own, one they could use to keep training aspiring anglers and creating opportunity for our youth. Now they do.
Her Excellency the Governor, Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, attended the ceremony and addressed the inaugural cohort. “Conservation and prosperity do not have to be competing priorities,” she said. “When approached responsibly, they can reinforce one another.”
The Governor tied the programme to the 10th anniversary of the UK’s Blue Belt Programme, which the Turks and Caicos Islands was the first Overseas Territory to join, and pointed to flats fishing as one of the most sought-after sports on the water, one the Turks and Caicos Islands, with its shallow flats and clear water, is uniquely positioned to offer at a world-class standard.
The TCFFA, founded and led by President Levardo Talbot, began collaboration in 2024 with Prescott Smith, then President, and Denward Rankine of the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association (BFFIA), leading to a formal Memorandum of Understanding between the organisations to establish a flats fishing guide certification programme in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Reaching this milestone took the concerted effort of a Guide Panel of subject-matter experts, together with Ann Albury, curriculum developer and Executive Director of BFFIA, who helped develop the Turks and Caicos National Saltwater Flats Fishing Guide Certification curriculum, designed to prepare two streams of trainees: veteran guides pursuing certification as instructors, and novice guides entering the field.
The certification is funded by the UK Government’s Biodiversity Challenge Funds through the Darwin Plus Programme, delivered in partnership with BFFIA. Invest Turks and Caicos Islands has also partnered on the programme, alongside the Department of Fisheries and Marine Resources Management (DFMRM), within the Turks and Caicos Ministry of Tourism.
The programme combines classroom instruction with on-the-water practicum training, covering flycasting technique, fish handling and catch-and-release ethics, client service, safety, boat maintenance and responsible use of the flats, together with communication training so guides can communicate knowledgeably with clients about the environment they work in.
Trainees who complete the course are certified through the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College (TCICC), as part of its Blue Economy Initiative Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme and its formal quality assurance framework, giving the certification lasting institutional standing.
“We are guardians of this environment,” said Captain Talbot, President of TCFFA.
“Guides have carried that role for generations, through knowledge passed down and years on the water. This certification puts a formal structure behind it and gives the Government the foundation to legislate licensing for flats guiding. Fishing is one of the last resources still in the hands of Turks Islanders — protecting it is economic democracy, keeping the benefit of these flats with the people whose traditions built this industry.”
“At the Turks and Caicos Islands Community College, our responsibility extends beyond the delivery of education. We must ensure that the programmes we develop are aligned with the needs of our economy, responsive to our communities and capable of creating meaningful opportunities for our people.
“The Flats Fishing Guide Certification Programme represents an important step in strengthening this specialised area of our blue economy by introducing structured training, quality assurance and recognised certification. This inaugural cohort marks only the beginning.
“Through our Technical and Vocational Education and Training initiatives, the College is committed to building on this programme, strengthening local instructional capacity and expanding access to certification. Our goal is to equip more Turks and Caicos Islanders with the skills, knowledge and professional credentials needed not only to enter the industry, but to lead, innovate and create sustainable opportunities within it,” said Dr. Candice Williams, President and CEO of TCICC.
A team of Master Instructors from BFFIA travelled to Providenciales to lead the practicum, drawn from the Association’s own leadership and board: President James “Docky” Smith, Vice-President Denward Rankine, and board members Omeko Glinton, Nathaniel Gilbert and Paul Pinder — among the most accomplished flats instructors in the region. Their presence reflects a partnership between two island nations that share the same fishery and the same conviction that flats guiding belongs in local hands.
The inaugural cohort brings together veterans with decades on the water and young guides entering the profession for the first time. Seven of the territory’s most experienced saltwater fly fishermen are completing the Turks and Caicos National Saltwater Flats Fishing Guide Instructor Certification: Daren Bain of DB Tours, Edison Brooks of Generation Tours, Arthur Dean of Silver Deep, Edward Missick of Catch the Wave Charters and Levardo Talbot of Talbot’s Adventures, all of Providenciales; Derrel Handfield of Outback and Creek, North Caicos; and Edward Lockhart of Silver Shallows, South Caicos. Training alongside them toward the Turks and Caicos National Saltwater Flats Fishing Guide Certification are Quinbey Gray of North Caicos; Joseph Musgrove and Danyanno Seymour of Providenciales; and David Clare Jr. of South Caicos. From this point forward, Turks and Caicos can train its own — not a course delivered to us, but a capacity built into us.
TCFFA said the certification is designed to put local participation first, and that yesterday’s ceremony is only the beginning. The Association is now seeking funding for a second cohort, specifically to bring additional certification to youth in South Caicos and the other Sister Islands, creating a formal, skills-based path for young Turks Islanders into what the territory markets as a beautiful-by-nature profession, one built on protecting the marine environment rather than depleting it.
The launch and cohort were also supported by Graceway Communities, Ashlar Group, Beaches Turks and Caicos, InterCaribbean Airways, Talbot’s Adventures and Caicos Media.
The project’s team leaders on the Darwin-awarded initiative are Levardo Talbot, President of TCFFA and CEO of Talbot’s Adventures; Estefanía Arrocet, Communications for TCFFA and executive at Caicos Media; and Dr. Ed Butler, Scientific Advisor to TCFFA and Founder and Director of local non-profit research organisation Roots2Reef.
TCFFA will document the inaugural cohort’s progress through practicum classes on the water over the coming months.
Organisations interested in supporting the programme, including its planned second cohort, can reach TCFFA at comms@tcffa.info.
Estefanía Arrocet, Communications for TCFFA and Executive at Caicos Media, with Her Excellency the G Denward Rankine, Vice President of BFFIA, at the opening ceremony of the Turks and Caicos National F Ann Albury, Executive Director of BFFIA and curriculum developer for the certification, at the openi Enhance your security Avoid losing customer trust because of data leaks and control how sensitive Guide Edward Missick of Catch the Wave Charters at the opening ceremony of the Turks and Caicos Nati
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About the Turks and Caicos Fly Fishing Association
TCFFA is dedicated to empowering Turks and Caicos guides and their communities, and to protecting the flats that sustain them. The Association builds professional standards for the territory’s flats fishing industry while working to keep its marine habitats healthy for generations to come. Learn more at tcffa.info.
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