Bahamian government urged to turn down netting permit

Recreational anglers are trying to persuade the Bahamian government to turn down a permit for the nation's first large-scale netting operation.



Sportfishing communities on both sides of the Straits of Florida are joining forces to fight a proposed commercial purse seine operation targeting yellowfin tuna in the Bahamas.

Recreational anglers and charter boat operators in the United States and Bahamas have mounted an e-mail campaign urging the Bahamian government to turn down a commercial fishing permit for Bahamian brothers David and Paul Mellor to launch the island nation's first, large-scale netting operation. Fisheries minister Larry Cartwright said Bahamian law does not prohibit the practice. The Mellors told The Freeport News they plan to harvest tuna for offshore aquaculture, which would create jobs for Bahamians and help shore up tuna stocks.

But sportfishers say purse seines -- which encircle fish and pack them together as the netting is tightened -- will kill too many tunas to sustain the population, along with unintended species such as sea turtles and marine mammals.

``These practices don't make sense anywhere in the world,'' said Clint Kemp, operator of the Black Fly Bonefish Club on South Abaco. ``Sportfishing is so critical to our fishing dollar. We think it will have a tremendous affect on our local stocks, and the bycatch will be a huge issue. It's sad for the environment and the economy.''

Numerous South Florida anglers flock to the islands of the Bahamas in spring and summer each year hoping to do battle with yellowfins. The sport is estimated to pump millions into the nation's economy.

The Bahamas National Trust -- the islands' equivalent of the U.S. National Park Service -- has registered formal objections. Anglers and charter operators have peppered Cartwright and other government officials with e-mails to BanTunaNettingBahamas@gmail.com.

Cartwright said he has not yet seen the Mellors' permit application, and that the government has made no decision on it. He said any proposal to deny it would have to go before the Cabinet and then Parliament ``because we don't have legislation on it.''