From:TheBahamasWeekly.com
The Billfish Foundation is pleased Bahamian government is responding in a positive manner
Feb 27, 2010 - 9:57:10 AM
Town Meeting on tuna netting issues, at the BNT in Freeport , Monday, March 1st
FT
. LAUDERDALE, Fla. , USA -- The Billfish Foundation (TBF) is pleased the Bahamian government is taking a quick response in addressing the issue of whether to permit the use of purse seine netting gear in its waters.
The
concern began mid-February when two brothers in Freeport on Grand
Bahama Island , wanting to start a commercial Bahamian purse seine
netting operation for yellowfin tuna, attempted to obtain permits to
begin operating much to the frustration of conservation groups and
sports fishing interests.
“The negative
response from anglers, captains, mates, tournament directors and
conservation associations was immediate and forceful,” said TBF
president Ellen Peel.
TBF,
a non-profit association for the conservation of billfish, sent a
letter to the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Lawrence Cartwright, detailing the egregious error of permitting purse seiners to operate in their waters.
The purse seine style of net hangs vertically and employs rings at the bottom in which a rope is fed through. As
the boat deploys the net wrapping it around a school of fish the rope
is pulled closing the net, not allowing the targeted fish, nor the
trapped billfish, mammals, sea turtles and other species to escape
below, adding to overfishing.
“In
response the Bahamian government issued a statement that it is ‘not
minded’ to permit the use of the netting gear and in so doing
acknowledged the economic importance of sportfishing to their tourism
industry and the threat such net gear could render to their marine
species.”
Peel
added that the robust sportfishing tourism economy driven by the
availability of marlin and sailfish in the Bahamian waters would
collapse if there were no billfish to catch.
“The
Bahamas took the lead in 1977 to ban longlining in its waters, many
years before Florida banned nets, and it now boosts an outstanding
marine ecosystem.
“Working together good conservation pays off economically and ecologically.”
Town Meeting in Freeport , Monday to address the netting issue
Though
the minister issued his opposition statement to permitting netting, TBF
has learned the government, through the Grand Bahamas Regional
Committee of the Bahamas National Trust, will host a town meeting in
Freeport to discuss the netting of tuna in its waters.
It will take place Monday, March 1, at 6:30 p.m. at the BNT’s Rand Nature Center on E. Settlers Way.
For more information phone 242-352-5438.
Each individual wishing to speak will be allowed five minutes to present their information to the government representatives. For
those who cannot attend the meeting they can send their comments to the
Honorable Larry Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture & Marine
Resources at Larrycartwright@bahamas.gov and copy to the Bahamas National Trust on their website at: www.bnt.bs/contact_us.php.
With
its world headquarters based in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. , The Billfish
Foundation is the only non-profit organization dedicated solely to
conserving and enhancing billfish populations worldwide. By
coordinating efforts and speaking with one voice, the organization
works for solutions that are good for billfish, not punitive to
recreational anglers and good for the local economy. The TBF web site
can be found at billfish.org and phone number is 800-438-8247
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