Local fishermen sent a letter to The Tribune warning that they will continue to fish during the ban because Dominicans will be doing so. They said fishing in Bahamian waters is “like the Wild Wild West”; there is no law and no protection from 200 poachers on 120-foot boats that lurk around the Old Bahama Channel, sneaking in during the early morning hours before the sunrise.
“At least with us out there on the waters we were patrolling the areas, because the Defence Force can’t do it alone. When we come in the area they usually leave. You have to keep protection when you’re out there, though, because there are two to three hundred of them at a time,” said a fisherman of 20 years.
“They stay out there and can catch in one day what it takes us a whole fishing trip (a week or two) to catch.”
Twelve days ago, five Dominican boats were spotted on the Cochino banks waiting for groupers to come in, the fishermen said.
Said the letter: “Dominican fishermen rape our banks from Cay Lobos go south as far as Inagua, and there are no Defence Force boats to patrol the banks. Also Cay Sal is worked by Dominican and Honduran fishermen.
The fee is so little when they get caught they can fish on the way home and pay the court charges.
The Tibet 1, they say, was seized in late July for poaching, and fined some $35,000. The fishermen said they spotted the boat a month later in the Ragged Island chain.
But the letter explained that most of the time, the Defence Force arrives too late, leading them to believe the poachers are being leaked information.
“The boats work day and night,” said a fisherman. “They have dive lights, and they use compressors. The type of fishing they engage in is destructive. What makes us even more upset is that they break out the conch and leave the shell right there on the ocean floor, a practice Bahamians never engage in.
“It feels like we are fishing in their waters.”
The Ministry of National Security admits that there are a lot of concerns with regards to poaching.
Permanent Secretary Mark Wilson also believed there are informants tipping off the poachers, making it more difficult for the Defence Force to catch them.
“When the Defence Force has to leave New Providence and go to the fishing ground where reports are, which is normally off Ragged Island or in and around Crooked Island, or the Acklins or the Little Bahama Bank off Grand Bahama and go to those places, it gives the informants (whom we are convinced are in the islands and in New Providence) a chance to say look, the Defence Force is coming,” said Mr Wilson. “They are selling out their whole country.”
Poaching has been going on since the 1970’s, he said, and an outpost facility is needed for the force nearer to the fishing grounds.
“One of these days, we will get enough resources where the Defence Force is able to be supplied with the resources to get to the fishing ground.
What the local fishermen need to do is to ensure they get dedicated messages,” said Mr Wilson.
“If you are aware that somebody might leak a report (that the Defence Force is coming) you can think of ways to get the message out to the authorities in the Defence Force so that they could get on location and catch these people in the act.
“What you need is the co-operation of local Bahamians rather than the stupid nonsense that if these Dominicans can come and steal the fish, then we will break the law and steal the fish ourselves.”
The letter countered that “Bahamian fishermen should not suffer whilst Dominicans rape our waters”.
“We the fishermen of Long Island are very concerned. This is our livelihood,” they said about the January ban.
They asked: “How would they (fisheries officials) feel if their salaries were cut out for two months?”
“A lot of fishermen only fish grouper schools when crawfish is slow.
These fish are protected by mother nature – recently fishermen this month were unable to fish for some 12 to 14 days. As you know Long Island is an industrious island; we don’t have any hotels to create employment for locals.”
They say about three to $400,000 was circulated in last month’s grouper school, and these funds would be circulated throughout the business community.
Boat and house mortgages, school fees and other responsibilities for the month of January loom over their heads, while the ban will allow Dominicans to have a field day, they said.
The letter comes in response to a Tribune article Wednesday, in which fishermen in Nassau spoke out against the ban.
The fishermen said they reiterate the call for the ban stipulations to be revisited, and they are asking Minister Gray to consult captains from around the archipelago, involving them in the decision making process, saving the Nassau Grouper species and their livelihoods.
By: Felicity Ingraham, The Tribune
