The Tribune

By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian fishermen yesterday said they are hoping the Government will crack down equally as hard on Dominican poachers and foreigners working on locally-owned fishing vessels following a late December meeting with senior security officials.

Captain Chuck Pinder, hailing the increased law enforcement focus on illegal foreign charters and sports fishing operators, said fishermen met with Captain Floyd Moxey, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) commodore, and Wayne Munroe, minister of national security, on December 16, 2025, in a bid to combat an increase in the presence of Dominican poachers in Bahamian waters once again.

He added that fishermen informed the Government about damaged condos and traps that were found, as well as the presence of Dominican divers on Bahamian-owned fishing vessels, providing them with the names of boats “that we know that they are on”.

“And they can't be on a Bahamian commercial fishing vessel unless they are Bahamian,” Mr Pinder added, referring to Fisheries Act reforms passed under the Minnis administration. “So, in other words, these people have been issued Bahamian passports to be fishing in our country. We’re trying to figure out how is that possible to happen? 

“It's a lot that's going on with the illegal charters, with our own commercial fishing vessels, with illegal activity taking place. And we’re just trying to figure out how all of this is taking place. Who's responsible for it? And why is it happening?

“And we need to get to the bottom of it; to get these people back out of our country because there is a connection. Every time we see that the Dominican fishermen are back on the commercial fishing vessels, we see an increase in poaching from the Dominican Republic.”

Mr Pinder emphasised that persons are now understanding how much money and resources are being stolen from The Bahamas in the form of seafood, and demanded that Bahamian fisherman be put first.

“We had them out. These people were out as of four years ago, and we’ve seen banks come back to life where they had been damaged and raped,” he added. “And now, since we see these Dominicans back in The Bahamas’ fishing industry, we also see an increase of the poaching that's now taking place in the southern banks once again. 

“So we think that they are both tied together, and we have asked The Bahamas government to look into this and to get these people out of our fishing industry. What the Government has done has actually made it harder for the Defence Force to do their job because now they intertwine. We got boats out there. We don't know who's who. And we need to clean up our fishing industry, put Bahamians first and guard our heritage against all those that plan to exploit it.”

Mr Pinder praised the crackdown on illegal charter fishing activity following the apprehension of a vessel suspected of participating in such activity last week.

He added: “WildAid is a great asset to The Bahamas government in combating all this illegal fishing and poaching that's taking place. They have made a lot of waves and a lot of moves, and it's very influential on The Bahamas government becoming more aggressive on these things happening in our country.”

Paul Maillis, the National Fisheries Association’s (NFA) secretary, said fishermen have had mixed reactions to the increased boating fees introduced last year, adding that some saw the hikes as justified due to the activities of unlicensed foreign fishing charter operators.

Mr Pinder yesterday told Tribune Business that non-Bahamians “were getting away with a lot”, and the boating fees did need to go up for them. However, he argued that the increased boat registration fees for Bahamian fishermen “are ridiculous.”

“Since this government has taken over, the registration policies have changed, and they increased the registration on boats by thousands of percent,” he added. “So we own an 87-foot plus steel hull. We were paying $400 a month for registration for our vessel. We now pay over $3,000. 

“I actually own a charter company out of Spanish Wells. It cost me, all in all, all my registration for my vessels, my liability insurance, everything came to $1,700. I'm now paying $3,014 for that same registration and all my other fees. So they've not only increased the registration on the foreigners, which is fine - I think some can be adjusted, I think they went a little too far with some things, it can be adjusted - but I also think that what they did on the Bahamian side of it was ridiculous. I think they went too far with that, and a lot of Bahamians are hurting because of it.”