Bermudan government increases illegal fishing fines

HAMILTON, Bermuda, (CMC)

Bermuda's lawmakers have doubled fines for illegal fishing to US$50,000 in an effort to protect the North Atlantic island's dwindling fish stocks.

The House of Assembly last Friday passed amendments to the Fisheries Act, which gives the Environment Minister the power to ban people from taking listed fish and using banned fishing methods in protected zones.

The law also places restrictions on fish imports and exports.

Delivering the brief on the amendments to the law in the House, Environment Minister Walter Roban said the new penalties might seem outlandish to some but were imposed because the island's marine life was extremely fragile.

"Government has to protect our resources and make sure fish stocks are protected from any possible risk," Roban told the House.

He said fishermen, restaurants, glass-bottom boat operators and dive-boat operators all relied on fish in one way or another.

"The proper management of our fisheries is vitally important to the health of our fish population and our economy," he said.

Shadow Environment Minister Cole Simons pointed to a string of measures outlined in a white paper six years ago but never implemented as proof that the government was not doing enough to protect fish stocks. That white paper said penalties should go as high as US$250,000, said Simons.

But Roban interjected to say that now was not the time to fleece fishermen.

Simons replied that fisherfolk were law-abiding citizens and that the penalties should only affect those who flout the law.

Fisherfolk had told the opposition parliamentarian that their industry was in a state of crisis and needed more help from government, Simons said.