The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A leading fisherman yesterday gave his “100 per cent” backing to Eric Carey’s comments over the economic contribution of visiting boaters, charging that the Bahamas was losing “millions of fisheries dollars” to Florida day-trippers alone.

Adrian LaRoda, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance’s (BCFA) president, told Tribune Business he was “extremely disappointed” that the Bahamas National Trust’s (BNT) executive director had retracted his remarks, describing them as “absolutely correct”.

Mr LaRoda said some visiting boaters negatively impacted the livelihoods and incomes of Bahamian fishermen by “raiding” their seabed traps, adding that the quantity of undeclared product they removed from this nation’s waters was unknown.

He revealed that there were “serious problems” with boats coming into Bahamian waters on day trips from Florida, with 30 such vessels present daily and often extracting fish they took back to the US.

Suggesting that this alone was costing the Bahamas and its fisheries industry “millions” in potential revenues, the BCFA president added that boater threats to bypass the Bahamas over Mr Carey’s comments should be ignored.

He said the Bahamas’ proximity to Florida, and rest of the US, meant boaters had no choice but to stop at this nation’s ports and marinas as they made their way down into the Caribbean.

“I completely support what Eric has said, and I’m extremely disappointed he retracted his comments,” Mr LaRoda told Tribune Business. “He is absolutely correct in speaking to the contribution by boaters coming to the Bahamas.

“All we get from them is a cruise permit if they decide to pay it. Their contribution is minimal compared to what they take from this country.,

“Just for the trash alone that has to be cleaned up around the islands, they’re making very little contribution.”

Mr Carey, via Tribune Business earlier this week, both retracted and apologised for comments he made on this issue at the Exuma Business Outlook Conference, and subsequently on this newspaper’s website.

He, too, challenged the economic contribution made by some visiting boaters as minimal, suggesting they “pay absolutely nothing..... Half of the time they don’t even spend $5 in the Bahamas and what do they eat? Our fish”.

The BNT chief then followed up by suggesting that visiting boaters be charged mooring fees, labelling some “el cheapo smoochers” who the Bahamas should not mourn if they “p..... off” as a result of such levies.

This provoked a firestorm of controversy that was reflected on both The Tribune’s website and social media, with furious boaters threatening to abandon this nation as a result of Mr Carey’s comments.

The BNT chief subsequently clarified that his comments were directed at only a minority of boaters, but Mr LaRoda yesterday threw his full weight behind Mr Carey’s initial comments.

Agreeing with him that many visiting vessels came fully stocked with food and water, meaning spin-offs for Family Island communities were minimal, Mr LaRoda said the only income generated was when they moored at marina slips.

“I support him 100 per cent,” he said of Mr Carey. “A lot of them come here, take fisheries product out, and then don’t declare it when they exit. How much product are they taking out of the country?

“It has a great impact on our fisheries resources. You find a lot of those people raid the traps of legitimate local operators. They’re easy to find, and they take the fish and lobster out of the trap. They take it out of here to be exported.”

Mr LaRoda then blasted: “We have serious problems with day trippers out of Florida coming here, raiding the traps of Bahamians and taking the fish back home.

“We lose millions of dollars through that alone. There are at least 30 day trippers coming into the Bahamas on a daily basis, into the northern Bahamas through the Cay Sal channel, and the fish go back to Florida.”

The BCFA chief said Mr Carey was wrong to retract his remarks, adding that the BNT executive director was simply telling “the truth”.

Acknowledging that this would hurt some persons’ feelings, Mr LaRoda dismissed the threats by boaters to abandon or bypass the Bahamas, saying they had nowhere else to go.

“We need not worry about the boaters coming out of Florida saying they will not come here,” he told Tribune Business. “Proximity alone; where else are they going to go?

“That’s why they take advantage of us. We think we’re losing out, but we’re not. Where else are they going to go?”