Just two weeks into the crawfish season and hundreds of fisherman have reportedly already taken to the seas, scouring waters around The Bahamas in the search of the natural resource that some say requires greater governmental protection.
The annual season for the $70 million a year industry opened August 1, and runs through to March 31.
In some quarters there is the school of thought that fishing reserves are being diminished due to over fishing in certain areas, poaching, the capture of immature crawfish and fishing during off season
“I don’t see how it can last more than a few more years,” said Ray Roberts, a fisherman of 45 years and owner of the Lady Roberts.
“Government doesn’t seem to be interested in doing anything as far as I can see because they could have probably eliminated a lot of this. A lot of [people] are going out there fishing in the off-season and they are not doing anything about it.”
Potter’s Cay vendor, Charles Brown of ‘Live and Kicking’ food stall, echoed the same sentiments.
“It is a concern because more always come out the water than what goes back in,” he said.
Bahamians’ appetite for crawfish has not diminished any, according to Dwayne Rahming, a cook at ’21 Jump Street.’
He said he sells anywhere from 10 to 20 pounds of crawfish a day and it seems that there is more crawfish in circulation this year than last year.
A fisherman of 20 years, who asked for his name not to be used, said there is fierce competition out at sea as many fishermen are determined to catch the “the biggest and the most crawfish, more than anybody else.”
“You’ll probably see most of the boats coming back here at the end of the month, where they’ll set the price for it,” he said.
“They set the price when they get the bulk of the crawfish, but it starts around $10 a pound. It might go to $12, but the price changes depending on supply and demand.”
Some large vessels reportedly use standard Florida wooden traps and compressor divers who operate from dinghies. Small-scale vessels use divers only.
The main commercial fishing areas typically include the waters around the Berry Islands and South Andros.
By: Tosheena Robinson-Blair, The Bahama Journal
