The Tribune

By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

THE Tourism Development Corporation yesterday held a stakeholder meeting to discuss the development of emergency protocols and regulations for the water sport industry.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, TDC CEO and Executive Director Janet Johnson described the meeting as “very positive”.

“It was just an initial coming together to talk about emergency protocols and those sorts of things that may have happened and to look at putting some rules and regulations in place,” she said.

“I think some good stuff came out of it. People feel that we need to put some regulations in place and that we need to start doing drills and things so that we have emergency protocols in place for when things happen. We’re a water-based destination, a lot of our tours are water based.“

She added a follow-up meeting is planned for later this month.

“The stakeholders want to get together to see what they can do to put some things in place that they want to present to the government. It was very, very positive.”

Organisations represented included the Bahamas National Trust, the Port Department, the Marina Association, Sandy Toes, Blue Lagoon, Stuart’s Cove, the Bahamas Dive Association, the Department of Fisheries, and the Bimini Shark Lab.

Last month, 21-year-old Jordan Lindsey of California was tragically killed by sharks while snorkeling with her family near Rose Island.

Another American, Jonathan Hernandez, told NBC reporters he survived a shark bite in Abaco just days before Lindsey’s tragedy.

The Bahamas has traditionally averaged several shark attacks per year. Lindsey’s death was the first confirmed shark-related death since 2008.