Conservation Means
Do the Right Thing
I first visited the Bahamas in the late 1950s, when the Bahamian penny was the same size as an American half dollar. There were plenty of lobster, grouper and pelagic fish. On windy days, lobster would come to shallow shores and hide under a log. Rolling the log would stun the hiding lobster and you could pick him up. Bahamian sailing smacks had livewells in their belly, and lobster and grouper traveled to market in those wells. Some of my best friends crewed those smacks.
As the demand for lobster and fish increased, large boats took aboard many smaller outboard skiffs, and divers replaced a bully net and tickle stick. Backing down the deeper grass ledges of the Bahama Banks, a diver would watch through a bucket with a glass bottom for telltale antennae and the lobster would be shot with a sling spear, or grabbed by hand. The demand was great, and the lobster grew fewer. Soon, lobstermen devised other ways to catch them. The lobster "hotel" was invented by sinking an old car hood, or some sheet metal near a grass bed. These hotels attracted full houses, and many undersize crayfish came to stay in them. So great was the demand for the lobster that fishermen and poachers alike would raid the hotel of every last "bug." Baby tails even appeared on the market, perhaps as imports, overlooked for undersize problems.
In 1979, I visited the new place for lobster, the Turks and Caicos Islands. At that time, three fish and lobster processing houses existed side-by-side on South Caicos. Cubans operated one, another exported product to Bermuda and a third exported to the U.S. Virgin Islands. The purpose of my visit was to assist a gentleman from Italy who was interested in buying one of the fish processing houses. It was in April, and the grouper were coming up the Caicos bank, supposedly to spawn, but nearly every last one would find its way into one of the fish houses.
I am an avid free-diver. I have lived in the Bahamas for nine of my 60-plus years, on boats and ashore. In the 1980s there were lobster aplenty if you knew where to look, however, a traditional smack loaded to the gunnels with conch was seldom seen. In recent years, fast powerboats zip across the Stream to even farther destinations and blitz the reefs, loading up with hundreds of pounds of fish and coolers full of lobster tails. Regulation in either the U.S. or the Bahamas seems unable to stop over-fishing, whether by commercial or pleasure boaters. There are just too many people on the planet and the poor lobster can’t mate fast enough.
Perhaps self-regulation is the answer. We might realize that we outnumber the remaining lobster, and limit our take. Conservation starts with doing the right thing.
Certainly, one may complain about new Bahamian Regulations and consider going elsewhere. But, in your heart of hearts, can you imagine how it was back then?
Jerry Smith
Bokeelia, Florida
Fine-tuning Fishing Regs
I share this as fair warning: I received a printed form at the Andros airport stating the amendments to the Bahamian fishing regulation 48 (2) of Chapter 244 dated January 1, 2007. I interpret this to mean that In order for a pilot, or anyone, to bring fish out of the Bahamas, the fish must be whole, not cleaned. It reads, “All fish retained must be kept with head and tail intact while aboard the vessel or transported by air to facilitate identification during inspection.”
Bill Losner
Miami, Florida
Ed. Note: According to the government, your catch, subject to weight limits, may be gutted and cut into two pieces–including head and tail–to facilitate storage but can’t be filleted until you arrive home. Print out the FAQ on Fishing from the Department of Marine Resources dated February 13, 2007 available from Bahamas Tourism at bahamas.com and take it with you for handy clarification.
My Hometown
Picked up Southern Boating magazine when checking into the Turnberry Marina just north of Miami and read your article about St. Simons, my hometown–very nice and full of historical information to entice other boaters to visit the Golden Isles. Well done!
Betty Sattler
M/Y Aloma
Emergency Responders
Needed in the Exumas
My wife and I recently lived in the Staniel Cay area for 18 months and became keenly aware of the need for a professional level of “first responder” medical support in emergency situations. We have the professional experience and expertise to provide such care. Since our return to the states, we have received a surprising amount of interest from locals for us to provide these much-needed medical care services on a continuing basis. The Health Professions Council of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas has recently approved my licensure as an Emergency Services Technician-Advanced (Paramedic), allowing me to provide care as a volunteer or as a sponsored professional under the provisions of Section 12 of the Bahamian Health Professions Act.
We would like to reside on Staniel Cay and provide emergency services to the local and surrounding cays encompassing the area from Warderick Wells in the north to Farmers Cay in the south. We have no intentions to compete with the local clinic; rather we would offer a level of care that expands on what is currently available. As first responders, we would be able to respond to locals, boaters and tourists as needed during that critical time. Our goal would be to assess a patient’s needs, stabilize, triage, and treat accordingly. If evacuation were necessary, we could help facilitate transport for sick and injured patients so that they can get to definitive care, whether to Nassau or in the States. We want to provide the standard of care comparable to that found on a professional advanced life support first response unit.
Ray Leese
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Ed. Note: For more information about how you can assist in establishing a first response emergency unit in the Exumas, contact Ray Leese at (954) 759-6482, or e-mail kinlaniray@hotmail.com.