Sweeting: ‘ w e will enforce the law’ on illegal fiShing

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

Agriculture, Marine Resources and Family Island Affairs Minister Clay Sweeting has warned against illegal fishing.

His comment came after the Hope Town District Council expressed anger at a recent purported “high volume of illegal activities” related to violations of fishing laws and regulations.

Jeremy Sweeting, the chief councillor, said many of the culprits of recent illegal activities are tourists but that some Bahamians also engage in poaching.

A Facebook post circulated about a Florida-registered vessel that appeared to be crawfishing near one of a family’s crawfish traps last week Monday, the day before the crawfish season opened.

Director of Marine Resources Gregory Bethel said officials are investigating her complaint.

Mr Sweeting said the concerns have been a long-standing problem but is something “we definitely need to look at”.

“We have started the initial steps,” he said. “As the Department of Marine Resources, we have purchased a new vessel. We’ve sent it to Abaco to start some patrol work.”

“Of course, we’d have to work in conjunction with the Ministry of National Security as well, who has carriage over monitoring our borders and protecting against poaching as well. So we’re doing what we can on our part.”

“We are investigating all of those reports. And as soon as we are able to get concrete findings, we will ensure that we enforce the law.”