The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Long Island’s fishing industry has proven to be a “bright star” amid COVID-19, it was revealed yesterday, with catches and prices said to be up 25 percent and 40 percent respectively.

Ian Knowles, Long Island’s chief councillor, told the island’s Business Outlook conference that the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) led crackdown on illegal poachers and the former government’s decision to ban foreigners from working on Bahamian-owned vessels had also boosted the sector’s output.

“The bright star in all of this has been the fishing industry,” he revealed. “We have seen the fishing industry become very robust, and some persons have told me there has been an increase in catches of up to 25 percent.”

Paying tribute to the Defence Force’s enhanced surveillance and the Minnis administration’s legislative reforms, Mr Knowles said: “That has essentially increased the catch, and I’ve been told by some fishermen that they’ve had a 40 percent increase in price, so that industry has really kept Long Island afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.”

Chester Fox, a fishing industry entrepreneur and commodore of the Long Island Sailing Club, confirmed to the Outlook that all fishermen had “been doing really well so far this season”.

He added: “Fishing for Long Island is such an integral part of our economy, so when the fishermen do well it trickles down to all other businesses on Long Island. It’s vital to our economy.”

Echoing Mr Knowles, he attributed the sector’s improved output in part to the improved Defence Force border protection. “Most people who know anything about fishing in The Bahamas know the Dominican poaching situation has taken its toll on the Bahamian fishing industry for many, many years,” Mr Fox added.

“At this point, I would say that for the past three seasons the Defence Force has really ramped up their patrols.” He said the impact was being felt in the fishing grounds, with stocks better able to replenish in the absence of illegal poaching by foreign vessels.

“What’s also made a big difference is some of the Dominicans, we had a situation in the country where we had many boats taking out a huge number of Dominican divers, and most of those divers are very destructive fishermen,” Mr Fox asserted.

“They don’t have regard for preservation. The former administration saw fit not to grant them a licence to fish on Bahamian boats, and that made a major difference to the productivity of Bahamian fishermen.”

Mr Fox also called for increased conch preservation methods, adding that fishermen had seen “a real serious decline” in stocks and that The Bahamas needed to “bring them back to where they used to be”.

He said: “I remember when I was a young fisherman you could go anywhere and pick up conch. Now you have to work hard to find them.”