They have got their wish as the government has prohibited the taking, landing, processing, selling and offering for sale of fresh Nassau grouper throughout the country between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31.
The prohibition will also be in effect Dec. 16, 2004, to Feb. 16, 2005.
Not all fishermen agree with what the government has done, claiming their incomes will suffer and the government is using the wrong methods to control fishing.
The Bahamas is not the only country going through this type of controversy. In Brussels, European ministers are meeting in their annual bargaining session over fishing quotas.
For the first time in years, the European Commission is prepared to allow an increase in cod fishing, a reward for four years of a cod recovery plan in the Irish Sea.
Haddock catches are also being increased. However, the proposals are not without restrictions for the number of days boats are allowed to go to sea.
Prawn boats would be restricted to 22 days fishing each month and whitefish boats to 10 days, a plan opposed by the industry.
Fishermen in Northern Ireland have said they will resist a European Commission plan to keep trawlers tied up in port to reduce pressure on fish stocks.
Like the Bahamians, many European fishermen plan to fight such conservation efforts, but the increase in certain fish species such as cod proves that such measures can and do work.
It is better to lose some income rather than fishing a species to extinction and leaving nothing for future generations.
The government should be commended for taking such a stance, but should remember that it promised to confer with the people first.
Editorial, The Nassau Guardian
