FISHERMEN fear large-scale tuna fishing by a Freeport boat rigged with a mile-long net will commence in the coming weeks with government support.
The Department of Agriculture and Marine Resources director and deputy director did not return calls from The Tribune yesterday about the reports, however fishermen say they have been informed that a vessel docked at a Grand Bahama marina is licensed to net tuna on an unprecedented scale.
They say the Bahamian-registered boat, estimated to be more than 100 ft long, is rigged with a mile-long, 900 ft deep net; has a Mediterranean crew trained in large-scale fishing and intends to sell the haul outside the Bahamas.
An Abaco lobster and sport fisherman, who did not want to be named, said ministry officials told him the net fishing of tuna, never before practiced in the country, is an experiment. But he is concerned it will greatly deplete local tuna stocks and harm the multi-million dollar sportfishing industry, as well as harm protected species such as dolphins and juvenile fish.
Indiscriminate
He said: "It's indiscriminate fishing so everything that comes up in the net is going to die in it.
"And from my understanding they are going to be targetting tuna in the Bahamas, especially in the Abacos and in the Tongue of the Ocean, and they are going to exploit them out.
"There's nothing of that magnitude here now, and having seen tuna decline over the past 20 years, I am now concerned something of this magnitude would really hurt our industry.
"Why would they let something of that scale come in to experiment?
"Our tourist industry here depends on sportfishing and it would be far more beneficial to keep it as a sport and not kill them out.
"I'm just kind of looking out for the future."
The netting of tuna is known to threaten dolphins and porpoises travelling with the fish and conservationists are keen to protect declining populations in Abaco and the Tongue of the Ocean.
