The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Investigators are warning “hundreds” of suspected illegal foreign fishing charter operators that “we’re coming for you”, with Bahamian fishermen asserting: “We don’t want pirates and folks that don’t give a damn about our country.”

Mike Cenci, who has spent three decades investigating prohibited fisheries practices, and was part of the operation behind last week’s apprehension of a vessel suspected of conducting illegal sports fishing charters in Bahamian waters, told Tribune Business such activities are “out of control” and it will “take a while” for law enforcement and its partners “to turn this around”.

Hailing The Bahamas for cracking down on such practices, with the latest apprehension marking the third such vessel seizure in just 13 months, he voiced optimism that - as word of this latest arrest spreads among the Florida and US boating community - “the bad guys will realise the risk is not worth the reward and are hopefully deterred”.

A senior law enforcement advisor for WildAid, one of the Government’s key partners in the drive to uphold The Bahamas’ maritime laws and resource sustainability, he told this newspaper that the country is likely “losing millions of dollars in fisheries value” due to such unlicensed activities.

Disclosing that the latest seized vessel, Rayne Check, had been charging $45,000 for allegedly-illegal five-day sports fishing charters in Bahamian waters, Mr Cenci said that besides snatching income away from local fishermen and legitimate tour operators these actions also threaten the sustainability of the country’s fisheries resources.

Pointing out that The Bahamas’ maritime environment is a key attraction for hundreds of thousands of “honest” visitors to this nation every year, he warned that “remove the healthy marine resources and it becomes Haiti” in terms of the likely economic and social fall-out.

Mr Cenci’s concerns were echoed by Paul Maillis, the National Fisheries Association’s (NFA) secretary, who told Tribune Business that law-abiding Bahamians “should be overjoyed” this is happening. He added that seizure of the Rayne Check, plus the previous two vessel apprehensions, meant it was “an exciting time” for Bahamian fishermen because it means that the country’s maritime and fisheries laws are now being enforced to full effect.

Voicing optimism that the authorities’ actions will have a “chilling effect” on other illegal fishing and charter operators, Mr Maillis also expressed concern that - apart from the economic losses - such activities are also damaging this nation’s international reputation and undermining the “Bahamian psyche” as locals constantly watch foreigners get away with “blatant law-breaking”.

And, warning that there are “many more perpetrators to be caught”, Mr Maillis urged Bahamians to support the crackdown by tipping-off authorities to illegal maritime operators now that “their ears should be piqued and eyes open to this” given the scale of the profits unauthorised actors are making.

The NFA secretary said the activities of unlicensed foreign fishing charter operators was one reason why Bahamian fishermen were ambivalent over the new and increased boating fees imposed from July 1 last year. He acknowledged there was a “split” in the fishing community over the issue, with many believing they were justified due to the economic loss and damage being caused by such illegal practices.

Should these be eliminated, or drastically reduced, Mr Maillis said there may be an argument for reducing the boating fees in future but, presently, The Bahamas needs to ensure all visiting vessels pay towards marine conservation and environmental protection as “right now we’ve got to get this under control”.

With the latest vessel seizure being widely-publicised in the Florida media, and boating and fishing social media blogs, it appears that The Bahamas’ move to enforce its laws is gaining attention. One blogger, Stephen360fishing, wrote: “This case wasn’t made by random patrols.

“Bahamian authorities confirmed they are now actively monitoring Instagram and Facebook, tracking captains who advertise Bahamas charters before they even clear Customs.

“The old assumption that you can market trips in the US and ‘pass as private’ in The Bahamas is no longer holding up. Bottom line: If you’re running charters, permits matter. If you’re advertising online, they’re watching.”

Rayne Check and its two-man crew were apprehended near Black Point, Exuma, last week on the basis that they were allegedly operating an unlicensed commercial sports fishing charter while only possessing a private cruising permit.

Mr Cenci, a former fish and wildlife police officer, special agent and sheriff's deputy in the US, told Tribune Business: “What makes this one unique from the others is what they charged - a really handsome fee of $45,000 for five days.” He added that the vessel was known to have made 17 trips to The Bahamas between March 23, 2024, and January 12, 2026, and “there were probably many more”.

The $45,000 charter fee works out to $9,000 per day, and Mr Cenci said that once expenses related to crew and stocking the vessel were subtracted, the profit margin for the boat owner/charter operators could have been as high as $6,500 per day. The Rayne Check was also equipped with “top of the line gear”, which “elevates the harvesting to a point where it’s not sustainable”.

Describing such activities as “freeloading” on The Bahamas’ national resources, he added: “We need to let these [illegal] charter businesses in Florida know we are coming for them and we will get them. Not just for the trips they make, but the previous trips as well. We are going to make sure it’s not going to be a lot of business for them at the end of the day.

“But there are so many. It’s so prolific it’s going to take a while to turn this around. After a while, the bad guys will realise law enforcement is effective and there is a risk. Prior to the first apprehension, no illegal sports fishing charter business had been taken down. You now have three seizures in 13 months and there’s highly likely to be more.

“At some point the bad guys will realise the risk is not worth the reward and, hopefully, they are deterred. The level of investigation that goes into these things is pretty intense and doesn’t stop after the arrest. We expect to do more. We have support from three ministers of national security, finance and agriculture and marine resources. That’s a pretty powerful trio,” Mr Cenci said.

“We’re coming for them. I don’t mind them knowing we are coming for them because our objective is to stop the activity. We have another target in our sights.” He added that the latest apprehension involved, for the first time, the Maritime Revenue Unit that was created by legislation passed alongside the 2025-2026 Budget.

Giving an insight into the negative effects of unregulated, unlicensed fishing and charter operations, Mr Cenci told this newspaper: “Every fish they catch, that’s a fish, conch and lobster that’s not available for a Bahamian business or Family Island community member.

“I think it’s costing The Bahamas millions in lost revenue, lost value; fisheries value. Obviously these folks are attaching their value that marine resources are worth $45,000 for a five-day trip to go catch fish. That’s pretty impressive. But if that marine resource crashes, so does the rewards. It’s worth so much more to The Bahamas than these illegal profits.

“Honest people come to The Bahamas because the marine ecosystem is in fairly good shape, and it’s truly an island paradise. Remove those healthy marine resources and it’s Haiti. This activity is prolific, it’s out of control and I think you’re losing millions of dollars in fisheries value.”

Mr Cenci called for marinas, in particular, to provide more support for law enforcement agencies by tipping them off to the presence of suspected illegal fishing charters. He argued: “The revenue that marinas get does not compensate for the value of fisheries they are ripping off.”

Meanwhile, Mr Maillis described the series of arrests involving alleged “well-known perpetrators and lesser known perpetrators” of unlicensed fishing charters as “an exciting time for Bahamian fishermen” because such a crackdown - and its extent - has “never really happened before”. He added that The Bahamas is now showing it has the laws and “political will”, with agencies working together, to target violators of fishing, boating and Customs regulations.

“These are the types of folks that don’t give a damn, and we are going to show we don’t give a damn about them when they break the laws,” Mr Maillis told Tribune Business. “This is the one type of government action that everybody wants, and I can say that with 100 percent certainty. Anyone who is a law-abiding citizen in The Bahamas should be overjoyed this is happening.

“These people compete with Bahamian fishermen and charter operators, and every day Bahamians want to go fishing close to home. That’s more reason for us, the reason why this is a concern and we have to keep fisheries sustainable. We support this effort wholeheartedly and would like to see it continue… Trust me. This is the beginning, really the beginning.”

Encouraging Bahamian fishermen to “not stay silent”, and provide information on suspected illegal foreign fishing charters to the authorities, Mr Maillis said enforcement action such as last week’s “builds trust and belief that we can get this thing under control” and that supplying tip-offs is worth it.

“It should have a chilling effect,” he added of the Rayne Check’s apprehension. “These are not the type of people we want coming into the country. We want tourists and business operators that want to follow the law, want to pay their fair share and have genuine concern for the country. We don’t want pirates.

“All they do is inflate tourist numbers and make it appear they are doing good work when they are not. We don’t want those types of people.” Mr Maillis said “the standard” catch limit under a cruising permit is 18 pelagic fish, which could be 100-pound tunas, wahoo and mahi mahi. Catch ceilings are also set for lobster and conch, he added, while the demersal fish limits are 20 in number of 60 pounds.

“Multiple that by a conservative 2,000 vessels a year and that’s a lot of tons of fish potentially taken by law-abiding cruise permit people,” the NFA secretary said. “Now you have these illegal charter businesses, and we understand there are at least hundreds of them. They are trying to get as much weight as possible for their clients.

“If one of those operators earns $1m a year, and you multiply that by hundreds, that’s the economic impact. Then there’s also the damage it causes to our international reputation.. ‘I went on this illegal charter to The Bahamas, nobody bothered us, nobody stopped us’. It’s damaging our reputation and encouraging other people to do the same.

“This doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” Mr Maillis said. “These operators know each other, talk to each other and some sell what they catch in the US. That’s illegal. They are violating their laws and our laws. They are damaging tourism, causing tens of millions of dollars’ worth of damage in our country not to mention the opportunity cost for legitimate Bahamian operators who take their clients to a spot and it’s not what they paid for because a big yacht spent two weeks there catching everything.

“There’s a lot of negative impacts. There’s the damage to the Bahamian psyche that there’s this blatant law-breaking in remote areas, where law enforcement is sparse, and people see yachts parked up, people running illegal businesses, and they cannot do anything about it.”

Praising the ability of Bahamian law enforcement agencies, such as the police, Customs and Defence Force, to work together in combating maritime offenders, Mr Maillis added: “So far, so good but, equally, there are many, many perpetrators to be caught. Now the public has knowledge and awareness of how much these operators are costing, how much they are charging their clients, everybody’s ears should be piqued and eyes open to this issue.

“The more awareness there is of this problem, the more support the Government will get. From the fisherman’s perspective, this is awesome and we want it to continue.

Mr Cenci said law enforcement agencies and their international partners are also “working on” the problems created by Dominican and other foreign fishing poachers in the southern Bahamas.