The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian fishermen hope the Government will “sooner rather than later” move to regulate the entire fisheries sector and not cherry pick certain segments, a leading executive yesterday calling for it to address mandatory licensing.

    Adrian LaRoda, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance (BCFA) chief, told Tribune Business that  while the Government is moving ahead with plans to regulate the fly fishing industry, the sector wants to to broaden its regulatory drive.

The Department of Marine Resources has now partnered with the European Union (EU-funded) ACP Fish Programme to develop a New Fisheries Act for The Bahamas.

“The regulations being dealt with now don’t affect the overall industry,” Mr LaRoda said. “It would have been better if the Government had brought the entire book of legislation, rather than just one action, and I’m referring to the bone fishing industry.

“There may be some logical reasons for it, but we don’t know. We would still like the regulations put in place during this administration because you don’t know what the next government is going to be about. There is no doubt that protections need to be put in law, and regulation needs to be brought to the entire industry.”

Mr LaRoda said mandatory licensing is an issue that the industry hopes to have addressed in the short-term. “Fisherman licensing is one of the things we have been calling for in the shortterm rather than the long-term,” he added.

“It will help to give a more accurate estimation of how many people there are in the fishing industry, and an assessment of the overall fisheries stock in the Bahamas.

“Right now, stock assessments are absent, and often times when regulations are made they are made in the absence of accurate stock assessments. What the licensing will do is require fishermen, whether recreational or commercial, to record their catch or keep records which will give regulators a better idea of where the fisheries resources are,and whether certain species are on decline better.”

  Mr LaRoda added that poaching remains a major challenge for the Bahamian fisheries sector, although greater support from the Royal Bahamas Defense Force has been a deterrent.

“We are getting a lot more support from the Defense Force. Hopefully we will see a 99 per cent decrease in the poaching activity,” Mr LaRoda said. “That is a major problem, and continues to be, but the arrival of the Defense Force vessels has had some effect.

“While the arrest numbers are not where we would like them to be, it has has been a deterrent. We would like to see them out more, and know that they are out there, particularly during the closed season, which is when most of the poaching activity takes place.”