Fishing with Dynamite or Conch Interdiction

January 20 - 26, 2007

Friday, January 26, 2007 - Hamburger Beach Anchorage, George Town, Exumas
By Tom

Another week in paradise has passed....

I know we (meaning cruisers) are guests here in the Bahamas, but sometimes the bureaucracy that runs the country can't help but come off as idiots.

The latest display of the quality governing talents unique to the Bahamians showed up this week in the form of "new" fishing regulations. The official law now says that it is illegal for any non-Bahamian vessel to spear fish. Period.

It also says that if you catch a fish, you have to keep the head and tail in the freezer to prove what kind of fish it was. If you have never seen the massive size of the modern cruising sailboat's refrigerator, you might not get the joke. For example, Dream Catcher's refrigerator/freezer weighs in at an astounding 3.2 cubic feet. Where am I suppose to store a 40 pound Mahi corpse?

I think some government officials need to put down the crack pipe and come back to reality. Seriously, just say no to drugs!

Ok, ok, so yes it is their country and they can do what they want, but their rationale for this new rule is that fishery totals were off thirty percent last year across the board. According to the news report, it is the cruisers who are causing this drastic drop off.

Excuse me? I bet I've met over 500 cruisers in the last four years down here and I couldn't fill a small van with the ones who can actually hunt. Not to mention that two years ago, the same government now complaining made it ok for Bahamian fisherman to use hooka rigs (under water breathing apparatus) to harvest every last living thing off the reef while we cruisers must hold our breath and free dive.

Another part of the new rules also say it is now illegal for any non Bahamian vessel to take conch as the Queen conch is now an endangered species. Given the speed at which it travels, I'm not doubting that it is endangered, but the Bahamians sell conch fritters or conch salad in EVERY SINGLE bar and restaurant in the entire country!

If the damn slug is endangered, stop selling them!

Maybe we can get our DEA and Army guys who are over here doing drug interdiction work to use their Blackhawks for conch patrol. I can see it now, there you are swimming back to the boat with the ever elusive conch in your hands when suddenly a huge gust of wind and the sound of thumping blades comes down on you!

"You there! In the ugly speedo! Put down the sea slug and slowly back away! I repeat put down the conch or we will open fire!"

It could work.

Anyway, 99 percent of the cruisers have never taken a conch because it's a huge pain in the ass to clean them if you don't do it all the time. Christ, the little conch shack on volley ball beach has over 5000 cleaned conch shells in a pile and it's only been opened for a year! No kidding, there are so many used conch shells in the pile that the owner of the Chat and Chill (K.B.) used them as lining material in his restaurant's septic pit!

Add on top of all these new rules that the new minister of fisheries has never been fishing in his life nor has he ever been on a fishing boat to see what his brethren are doing. Sensing a pattern are we?

You have to understand, its not unusual to see a Bahamian fisherman using bleach to kill all life on a reef, just to get the 4 lobsters hiding there. On a daily basis you will see Bahamian boats returning to harbour filled with five hundred lobster tails destined for sale abroad.

One time I even saw a local boat using dynamite to catch fish! And I'm the problem? Yeah, right.

On the other hand, no one is taking the new rules seriously. When we renewed our immigration stamps, the officer in charge issued us another fishing permit and said nothing of the new regulations supposedly in place and there has been no official announcement of any kind.

Mick off of Escargo, who is an avid trolling fisherman, met several times with some of the local authorities and they have told him that the rules only apply to the sport fish boats that come over from Florida for a week and fill up on fish to take back to the U.S. to sell commercially, but we cannot get anyone in the government to confirm this.

In my opinion, the local government needs to get its act together. In the same newspaper that we read about the new fishing regulations, there was also a report that said 75% of the total income of the entire Bahamas comes from tourism. Maybe they should start acting like it.

Ok, ok, I know your probably saying it's their country and they can do what they want and I agree. That's one hundred percent true. But if they expect us to come here and pay 300 dollars just to enter the country and then spend our American dollars so that they can even have an economy they need to wise up and at least play fair.

If there is too much pressure on the fish population, then let's do something about it. Just don't make up some bullshit story about how the cruisers are the only problem while the locals continue to rape the reefs.

God help the Bahamians when Cuba opens up. No one will be traveling the 400 miles to wind to get down to the southern Exumas and be hassled when they can travel 55 miles in one day to get to Cuba.

Ok, I've vented. See you next week. Viva la sea slug!