By ROGAN SMITH
Spokesperson for the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance Adrian La-Roda says several Defence Force officers are helping Honduran and Dominican fisherman poach in Bahamian waters.
In fact, he said Defence Force and National Security Ministry officials have been investigating this matter for months.
"I’m not afraid to say that, because it’s true. We are very close to finding out who they are. We have some idea . . . the investigation has been going on for more than four months," he said. "I don’t know why these persons don’t cease and desist because they must know they are being investigated. The term we use all the time is that they are very brazen."
"We have met with the commodore of the Defence Force and other persons within the Defence Force, including the minister of national security [Tommy Turnquest] and they are actively [taking steps to correct] some of the things we’ve been complaining about. It’s a bit sensitive for us. Poaching is a serious issue for us. It is not as hard a fix as people think. All it requires is consistent and tough measures, that’s all, and the problem could be done away with in short order. I believe we will always have poachers, but not to the level that we’ve had in the past six years."
Mr. La-Roda was a guest on the JCN TV talk show, The Platform last night with host, Wendall Jones.
Spanish Wells fishermen have long complained about Honduran and Dominican fishermen poaching in Bahamian waters.
Local fishermen particularly dislike the fact that those fishermen attempt to overfish Bahamian waters and do not observe closed seasons.
"Poaching is our number one threat and it not only threatens fishes directly, really it’s a threat to the Bahamian way of life. We’ve been . . . complaining about it. Sometimes, we feel as if our complaints are falling on deaf ears," he said.
"Mr. Turnquest, in our meeting with him, told us they were doing their investigations because we suspected there is a potential leak in the organisation and we’re cooperating with them on that. We’re following good leads on that. There have been many many reports made to the media about the vessels that were patrolling certain areas, whether it’s in Northern Bahamas or wherever."
Mr. La-Roda said Bahamian fishermen would sometimes contact the Defence Force and give them the poachers’ coordinates.
But, he said they would not go after them.
"Sometimes, the fellows [Defence Force officers] would call back and say ‘those coordinates are incorrect.’ We’d say, ‘well, the coordinates have to be correct because we’re only a mile away from them and we could still see them’," he said.
"Tell me please, in this day and time, how could a poaching vessel be working in an area for seven days, 40 miles south of South Andros and not be intercepted," he said. "I can’t understand it."
Another problem, Mr. La-Roda cited, is the fact that there are not enough vessels doing "adequate patrols."
"The time for them to be out there is during the off season for lobster," he said.
Mr. La-Roda said his alliance is also looking at the source of funding for these poaching vessels.
"We have operatives in the Dominican Republic, who would pass information on to us from time to time, because we’ve also done our own investigation regarding the source of funding for these poaching vessels. And we know that they’re owned by some wholesalers out of Florida. So, we’re going to try to attack them on that end through U.S. authorities," he said.
"But, our contact has told us that sometimes, particularly during the summer months, these excursions become like family outings. While the men are fishing, they drop their women off at these keys in the Great Bahama Bank and they say they’re hunting for shells or collecting sea urchins. That’s their day trip. It becomes like a family cruise per se."
The Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance, which has a membership of just under 300 people, was formed last October.
According to Mr. La-Roda, there are an estimated 30,000 people in the fishing profession in The Bahamas.
0 comments:
Post a Comment