Bahamas: Quiet war being waged in Bahamian waters, where unarmed Bahamian fishermen are dueling armed poachers

Quiet war waged on Bahamian waters
By CHESTER ROBARDS
Business Reporter
crobards@tribunemedia.net:



“Expulsis, piratis, restitua commercia” - Piracy expelled commerce restored. Funny how history has a way of repeating itself!

There is a quiet war being waged in Bahamian waters, where unarmed Bahamian fishermen are dueling poachers – often armed to the teeth – for their own survival and the security of their almost $100 million or more industry.

While this is not the canon blasting, sail tearing piracy of old, stories have come from the Tongue of the Ocean recounting our fishermen boarding poaching vessels and commandeering catch stolen from their own traps.

Many other stories tell of encounters with poachers brandishing semi-automatic weapons and opening fire on Bahamian fishermen. They have even exchanged gunfire with the authorities put in place to protect this country’s marine resources.

However, the fishermen say the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) often does not respond to their positions when radioed for help.

Vessels

These same fishermen recently identified as many as 11 poaching vessels in the Great Bahama Bank, some with Spanish names they now believe to have originated in the Dominican Republic.

Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance's (BCFA) chief, Adrian LaRoda, told The Tribune that poaching is threatening the survival of one of this nation’s largest exports, the spiny lobster, with poachers removing up to 22 million pounds a year of the product from these waters.

He said that while marine life was a valuable resource for this country, it was slowly being depleted by poachers from neighbouring countries such as the Dominican Republic.

According to Mr LaRoda, the BCFA has identified several vessels that poach in Bahamian waters. He said those ships can often carry up to 60,000 pounds of fish or lobsters out of these waters on one trip. And often, when caught, they are not stripped of their cargo, by the authorities but made to pay a $10,000 fine – often 0.5 per cent of the total value of their catch.

National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest said recently that measures have been put in place to thwart poaching in Bahamian waters for the opening of this crawfish season.

Mr Turnquest said a defence force ship and a smaller, faster craft, have been assigned to patrol the Great Bahama Bank.

He cautioned fishermen not to approach the poachers if they happened upon them, but to call for assistance.

“We don’t expect Bahamian fishermen to be out there in a fight by themselves,” Mr Turnquest said.

Abner Pinder, Spanish Wells’ Chief Counselor, said he has not yet received any reports about poachers from any of the vessels that originate from his island since the start of this crawfish season.

“I would be the first person they call,” said Mr Pinder.

Efforts

According to him, “no news is good news,” from the crawfish vessels. This, he said, he hopes is indicative of the efforts put forth by the RBDF.

“The same way I know how to raise cane when nothing is being done, I can give credit where credit is due,” he said.

The fishermen are often away from their families when the season begins, for up to six weeks at a time, stopping home mid-trip only for fuel and a quick family visit.

With the global downturn crashing crawfish market values last year, fishermen are hoping for larger catches and even larger returns than 2009.

And because the Bahamas was barred from trading with the European Union in January of this year, the fishing industry and its distributors have enough to worry about, without worrying about hundreds of thousands of pounds of their livelihood being sold on the black market.

Glenn Pritchard, president of Tropical Seafood, and Mia Isaacs, president of the Bahamas Marine Exporters Association (BMEA), spoke to Tribune Business recently about the implementation of the catch certificate.

Implementing the processes that would bring this certificate into force was the most important focus for the fisheries industry for the past seven months, as without it the Bahamas would not be allowed to trade with the EU.

If the chain of custody for lobster tails is not certified by the use of those certificates, countries in Europe could reject shipments of crawfish from the Bahamas, completely devastating the industry.

The certificates, which authorities have for months trained Bahamian fishermen to use, will allow purchasing entities to trace catches from their possession all the way back to the fishing boat that made the catch – and possibly even back to the exact spot in Bahamian waters where the product was caught.

Mandate

This requirement is part of a global mandate to help countries ensure their food exports are safe and traceable, and that they keep their marine resources in check to ensure sustainability.

To further the legitimacy of this country’s fisheries, the Bahamas is looking into joining the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) fisheries programme which at this time is voluntary.

The MSC is the world’s leading environmental certification programme for wild-caught fisheries and many importers of this country’s lobster tails are increasingly demanding that countries from which they purchase must be certified, in an effort to combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing issues.

When the Bahamas brings into force the MSC certification it is likely that many poachers will find a closed market for their product.

While poachers may find it increasingly difficult to sell their stolen wares on the global market, they seem not to fear the Bahamas’ justice system, where they continue to be held for only days at a time when caught for poaching and then released, often without their illegal catches being confiscated, according to some fisheries heads.

Mr Turnquest suggested recently that there could be a connection between some defence force officers and poaching vessels.

While he did not say what those relationships might be, he said the Ministry of National Security has enacted an operation to squeeze out anyone who might be working in cahoots with the poachers.

According to him intelligence gathering operations have been put in place within the RBDF in an attempt to figure out how so many poaching boats reported, could avoid capture.

“They can’t continue to evade us every time we go down,” he said. “It is a huge issue for the fishermen and they have been in constant contact with the Defence Force, particularly with regards to Dominicans on the Great Bahama Bank.”

While the minister seems to have the best interest at heart for the fishermen, he could not say why poachers who have been caught have not been convicted of a crime against the Bahamas.

“We bring them in,” is all he said.

Mr LaRoda said he has before tracked a group of poachers who had been captured.

According to him, he periodically checked on the men while they were being held in the Charmichael Road Detention Centre, only to find out one day that they had been fined, released and never stripped of their catch or their vessel in accordance with the law.

Some avid readers of this paper’s website tribune242.com chimed in saying: “The Government of the Bahamas needs to be better protectors and stewards of Bahamian marine resources.

“The rich seabeds of the Bahamas need the protection of the Bahamas Defence Force. If placing a New Defence Force Base at Great Inagua to better protect the valued resources of the Southern Bahamas is needed... put the resources where it is needed.”

Another reader added: “They’ve been spotted in waters off east Abaco on many occasions, but no defence force patrols are seen in the area. Stiffer fines/jail terms and better policing are needed or we will lose a lot.”

Fishermen are hoping for a robust crawfish season this year, and with the European market opened back up to them, they could see the financial returns awarded them before the recession.

Though Bahamian fishermen threatened this year to go out in a blaze of glory if they encounter poachers, it is not the pirate battle of old they are hoping for. They are simply businessmen protecting their livelihood. They are intent on restoring commerce on the seas to which they have been accustomed for years as were their fathers before them.

The fishermen only ask for help from the authorities and that justice be carried out on poachers according to the laws of the land.

August 09, 2010

tribune242

Bahamas Blog International

Bahamian Fishermen Fear over Oil Spill in The Bahamas

Fear over oil spill
By K. NANCOO-RUSSELL
Freeport News Reporter
krystal@nasguard.com:


Local fishermen are expressing concerns about the possibility that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could reach Bahamian waters, and affect the marine life which is the basis of their livelihood.

Cordero Gardiner spoke with The Freeport News yesterday on the matter, and said he has been following the international news stories on the disaster and was alarmed by the thought of what could happen to the seafood industry.

"I already feel a little frightened because things are already slow. If that (oil spill) comes now things will be worse. If it comes this way we won't be able to go out there and dive. We will be stranded, no money making, no money to support the family," he said.

Gardiner said he owns two boats and goes out to sea daily with his two workers to catch fish and conch.

"We were now talking about that, wondering what would we do. This is all we do. We are fishermen. I never had another job in my life. The only thing I know about is fishing, that's all I do."

It has already been a struggle recently to get business, he said, since the seafood vendors who were previously located around the island were made to relocate to the Goombay Park area in preparation for the Grand Bahama Port Authority's construction of its Farmers Market.

The less accessible location and the fact that all the vendors are forced to compete for the same business has meant lower sales for him, he said. A possible ban on fishing, which is what has been implemented in Louisiana following the spill would be devastating, he added.

Another fisherman, Jer-maine Plakaris, shared similar concerns.

"I am concerned about how it's going to kill our reef, or damage our shores. It will make it little harder for us. I don't know if they're doing anything here about it but I know we going to be in plenty problems because it will affect our fish too," he said.

"This is our livelihood. I don't know what we would do. The only thing we could do is go out further but the oil could still be out there. Plenty people could be poisoned from the fish. Even if you go to another area, the fish could still be contaminated."

In a press conference on Wednesday, Minister of Environment Earl Deveaux said the government is considering following the United States' lead of providing some funding for fishermen who would have been out of work as a result of the oil spill.

Both Plakaris and Gardiner agree that the government should step in insuch an instance.

Speaking to the probability that the spill would indeed affect local waters, Deveaux said Wednesday that something as simple as a change in weather can be a determining factor.

"It's May and next month is June, which is hurricane month and a high pressure system or a low pressure system could change the course of the wind and this thing which is already 2,500 square miles big, which is half the size of our country, is not controlled by any man. It can sweep around Key West, we pray to God it doesn't but it could and when it does and however fast it does it is very likely to affect Bimini, Cay Sal, Grand Bahama and migrate to the west coast of Andros and Abaco," he said.

Today, scientists are to be dispatched to Cay Sal, which is the area the government feels is most vulnerable, to take water and marine samples and determine against the likelihood of the spill turning south and heading into Bahamian waters.

The government is deeply concerned about the oil spill and its likely impact on The Bahamas," Deveaux said. The country's Oil Spill Con-tingency Team, which has been mobilized, will work to refine the country's options, marshall national and international resources and to keep a watchful eye on the spill, the minister disclosed


freeport nassauguardian

Bahamas Blog International