In response to growing concerns about poaching and hostilities among Bahamian fishermen on the high seas, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries V. Alfred Gray said on Monday his ministry is embarking on several initiatives aimed at addressing the problems.
Minister Gray said his ministry remains concerned about the number of poaching incidents reported to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the Department of Fisheries.
“It is known that the perpetrators of illegal foreign fishing within our waters have very little regard for our laws or the conservation of our marine life,” Minister Gray said at a press conference at his ministry on Monday.
“To combat this problem the government has increased the presence of the Defence Force on fishing grounds. We have also purchased additional craft for the Department of Fisheries to assist the Defense Force, though in a limited way, in its interdiction efforts.
“We have also adopted a new policy of confiscating all foreign vessels of poachers convicted for engaging in such illegal fishing in The Bahamas.
“I encourage all fishermen to continue to report the sightings of such vessels or any other craft including local craft [which] show little regard for our resources and our fishing laws.”
Commercial fishing in The Bahamas is a lucrative area that earns millions of dollars annually.
Fisheries Director Michael Brennen said that officials have noticed a recurring trend as it relates to poachers, and that is, most of them come from the Dominican Republic.
“Most of the reports that we get with respect to poaching, commercial fishing wise, comes from the southern part of the Great Bahama Bank,” Mr. Brennen said.
“The reports generally come from that area are accusing persons from the Dominican Republic [of] being the nationality mainly involved with those fishing activities. But we also get reports from other parts of The Bahamas, the more northern parts, where reports are made with regards to folks from the United States.”
Mr. Brennen said persons making reports about American poachers claim that they are not using commercial fishing boats to conduct illegal fishing activities.
Instead, according to Mr. Brennen, they are reportedly using pleasure boats to engage in commercial fishing activities.
He also pointed to another type of poacher – the type who legally acquires sport-fishing licenses but exceed the weight limit intentionally, much to the anger of Bahamian fishermen.
But Bahamian fishermen are not completely free of blame in illegal fishing activities, officials said.
According to Minister Gray, there have been reports of Bahamian fishermen stealing crawfish from the condos or traps of other Bahamian fishermen.
Minister Gray said that currently the government is considering legal issues concerning the resources found beneath condos.
“Please be advised that all reports relating to criminal activities such as stealing, damage or physical confrontations which are brought to the attention of my ministry, [will be passed] to the Defense Force and the police for appropriate legal action,” Minister Gray said.
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
