FEATURE Having been in contact with second homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, magazines, and blogs, White went on to list banning DIY, the subjective nature of a potentially hard-to-get fishing permit, and anti-foreign sentiment toward lodge owners, second home owners, and visiting anglers as pivotal concerns. He suggested sending a press release from the Minster’s office speaking to each point. Three months later, no one’s heard a word from Minister Gray. And the future of the Bahamas flats fisheries, worth more than $140 million in annual revenue according to “The Economic Impact of Flats Fishing in The Bahamas,” a 2010 report prepared by Tony Fedler, Ph.D., remains in limbo. --As an industry and as individual anglers who love and frequent the Bahamas, we scratched our collective heads—then we subsequently lost our minds—when the puzzling draft regulations went public on June 17, 2015. Letters were sent, many bitched via blogs and social media, others blasted BFFIA president Prescott Smith, and we all let it be known that if the draft became law, economic repercussions would be inevitable. Currently, comment periods are closed. The draft is locked up in the bureaucratic process. And the waiting period only ends if and when the Bahamian cabinet sends the bill to parliament for a vote. This fall, perhaps.
And, “Could you imagine a Bahamian visiting the USA decides to hunt and kill the Bald-Headed Eagle [sic]. Imagine a Sovereign country where the national fish is not protected for catch and release.” Although Gray remains silent, the BFFIA that crafted the language did deliver a canned response to Angling Trade. When asked for clarification about DIY and other matters, board member Ge-
“Could you imagine a Bahamian visiting the USA decides to hunt and kill the Bald-Headed Eagle [sic]. Imagine a Sovereign country where the national fish is not protected for catch and release.” neva Wilson wrote that the proposed regs are about “…the best interest of the Bahamian People and generations unborn. This is about protecting and conserving the industry through the empowerment of the locals by its sustainable use so that it is around for a very, very long time for ALL to enjoy! Without laws, we will have chaos!” Moreover the board has chosen, Ms. Wilson added, to limit its responses to facts: “The Bahamas has the largest bonefish flats in the world, the third largest healthy reef system in the world and the largest concentration of mangroves in this side of the world, and it is our intentions to keep it that way. FACT.”
Fair enough. These facts—large and willing bonefish cruising prolific, healthy flats—are relevant and no one, on either side of the spectrum, has argued against conservation. Likewise, Aaron Adams of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) has been vocal on the subjects of conservation and preservation since long before the draft legislation went public. He said the top threats to Bahamas flats fisheries include habitat loss from existing and proposed developments and the illegal harvest/netting of bonefish. BTT has worked across the Bahamas, collaborating with various Bahamian entities such as The Bahamas National Trust and The College of the Bahamas, for years. The goal of BTT’s research has been to produce information about bonefish and their habitats necessary for formulating “effective, comprehensive conservation strategy that focuses on habitat conservation, education, and appropriate regulation.” Despite those efforts, BTT was not consulted during the formation of draft regulations. “The frustrating part,” Adams said, “is that all the work that’s been shared wasn’t taken into consideration for the initial round of proposed regs.” BTT was able to weigh in after the fact, like other stakeholders in the eleventh hour, but Adams said that whether or not they’ve been heard is unclear. In addition to conservation implications, Adams noted that anyone following the saga should pay close attention to the draft’s DIY verbiage. BTT was a partner in putting together the 2010 economic report. And, “It’s interesting, if you look at the study, of the $141 million annual impact flats fishing has, a large portion of that was attributed to DIY anglers,” Adams
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AnglingTrade.com | October 2015
“The problem right now is that everything is in this black box,” White said. “All we know publically was that the draft was so bad and now they’re expecting us to trust they’re going to do the right thing—which is really hard to do.”
Statements from that now infamous piece of electronic scribble include lines such as, “Currently foreigners are only marrying locals to have access to our Natural Resources while they continue to hold on [to] their primary residence in their country with no allegiance to the Bahamas.”
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