Poaching by commercial fishermen from the Dominican Republic is the greatest single threat to Bahamian seafood resources

'Greatest single threat' to Bahamas seafood resources
By LARRY SMITH



A RECENT report by a leading University of Miami marine scientist has confirmed that poaching by commercial fishermen from the Dominican Republic is the greatest single threat to Bahamian seafood resources.

The report on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing was produced for the Bahamas Lobster Fisheries Improvement Project. This initiative is sponsored by local seafood processors in a bid to win endorsement for Bahamian crawfish exports under the European Union's new Catch Certification programme.

Without this endorsement, which is aimed at reducing the over-exploitation of global fishery resources, Bahamian lobsters will be banned from the EU. And this lucrative market takes about 40 per cent of the 12.5 million lobsters we legally export every year (based on a four-year average), a catch valued at more than $87 million.

EU certification requires that lobsters are received only from licensed vessels using legal methods - meaning that only crawfish of legal size and condition are harvested. All fishery products must be properly documented upon landing, with guarantees that exports are not derived from IUU fishing.

Ironically, this is one of the main difficulties in dealing with illegal fishing in Bahamian waters. The Dominican Republic has a population of 9.6 million (compared to only 353,000 Bahamians), and it receives more than four million air/hotel visitors annually. So that country does not need to export seafood products and is immune to pressures from EU regulations.

Along the northern Dominican Republic coast are three major ports and several huge resort centres, one of which - Punta Cana - has more hotel rooms than the entire Bahamas. The size of the Dominican tourism industry presents an almost unlimited demand for luxury seafood. And Punta Cana hotels have lobster on the menu for US$16, about half the price of a typical lobster tail dinner in Nassau.

As well, American statistics show that 89,000 pounds of lobster tails were legally imported from the Dominican Republic in the past year, but according to international conservation organizations, there are no commercially viable stocks of spiny lobsters in Dominican Republic waters. In these circumstances, it is obvious where the lobsters for Dominican resorts and exporters are coming from.

From the Dominican Republic's northern coast, it takes less than three days to reach the Great Bahama Bank in a fishing vessel making 10-12 knots. These vessels are typically 65 feet long, and each is attended by a number of smaller skiffs. Fishermen operate from the skiffs using hookahs and spears, at depths well below 60 feet. And divers fish to depths of over 200 feet, reaching deep reef resources not legally fished by Bahamians, according to the IUU report.

"The potential for large illegal lobster landings in the Dominican Republic is huge. The implications in terms of lost jobs, lost revenue to the government, and lost fisheries resources is in the tens of millions of dollars," the IUU report warned. "This is a serious threat to national security and economic growth."

The report was produced by Dr Kathleen Sullivan Sealey, of the University of Miami's highly respected Rosenstiel School of Marine Science. She has decades of experience working in marine conservation in the Bahamas and was formerly Dean of the College of the Bahamas science division.

Crawfish are the most important marine resource we have, so we need to take care of it. In addition to export earnings, this fishery provides jobs, economic diversity and is an important tourist attraction. Aside from recreational fishing by visitors, lobster meals are one of the highlights of visiting The Bahamas, and interviews confirm that diners would like to enjoy a guilt-free meal. Bahamians also eat lobster, and expect this seafood to remain affordable for the general population.

But in order to protect this resource, we need accurate information, and little or none has been available on the scale or intensity of illegal fishing or for legal, non-commercial fishing in the Bahamas. This undermines fishery management efforts and places the resource at greater risk of over-exploitation. The IUU report is an attempt to address this deficiency by looking at consumption by restaurants, recreational fishers and commercial fishers, including poachers.

Illegal fishing is the harvesting of lobster by any means in violation of the existing laws and regulations, including poaching, taking undersized lobsters, taking lobsters out of season or using destructive methods such as bleach. Unreported fishing includes lobsters that are caught, sold and consumed locally by Bahamians and visitors, or legally exported under the sportfishing regulations.

Sullivan Sealey surveyed restaurants and resorts; interviewed yachters, tourists, Defence Force officers and local fishermen; examined data from seafood processors, and looked at the lobster market in the Dominican Republic. The main conclusions from this research are that restaurants may account for 570,000 illegal lobsters a year - about 5 per cent of the current export quantity; while the unreported catch could be some 1.5 million lobsters -- about 12 per cent of known export landings.

By far the biggest drain on the resource is illegal fishing by foreign vessels, mostly from the Dominican Republic. US law prohibits the import of fishery products that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold. This includes the shipment of lobster from The Bahamas without export permits, or taken by foreign nationals in excess of the sportfishing limits (currently six lobsters per person). The Cuban fishing industry is state controlled, and since the 1980 sinking of HMBS Flamingo by the Cuban Air Force, there have been few reports of poaching by Cuban vessels.

Nevertheless, "Foreign fishing vessels operate across the southern Bahamas, venturing further north and across the Great Bahamas Banks during the summer when the lobster fishery is closed to Bahamians," Sullivan Sealey said. "There are no accessible records of sightings of foreign fishing vessels, but anecdotal information puts the number at about six per month. Reports of illegal immigrants from Honduras and the Dominican Republic working on Bahamian fishing vessels have also been verified."

Her report says it could be concluded from the interviews with Defence Force officers that the interdiction of poachers is not a priority for the patrol vessels. "The RBDF is itself a significant fishing entity, with both shipboard and island-based personnel engaging in recreational fishing as a way to supplement incomes."

Sullivan Sealey estimated the number of lobsters taken out of Bahamian waters by poachers based on 30 vessels making six trips a year, with a catch of 10,000 pounds per trip. "This conservative estimate of illegal landings is a staggering 35 per cent (or 4.3 million) of the known export of 12.5 million lobsters from the Bahamas."

However, she pointed out that as many as 65 fishing vessels could be operating from northern Dominican Republic ports, and lobsters are not their only target. Conch, grouper and other finfish are also taken, as all are highly marketable in the Dominican Republic. And each vessel could land over 70,000 pounds of catch per trip.

"The key to reducing the illegal fishing loss is to prevent illegal fishers from entering Bahamian waters," the report said. "The process of seizures and prosecutions, along with the cost associated with holding the vessels, crew and catch is largely ineffective. There are charges of corruption, and clearly a strong motivation with the amount of money involved in the sale of lobsters."

Diplomatic efforts to address the problem are likely to be more effective, the report said. along with identifying the vessels involved and pursuing their financiers. National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest told me that the government was already pursuing this option and a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a Bahamian ambassador to the Dominican Republic would soon be appointed to take matters further.

"The government is also providing increased resources to the RBDF to better equip them to deal with this problem," Turnquest said. "This includes the decentralization of the Defence Force with boats stationed to respond quickly. A base is being developed at Gun Point, Ragged Island, which is close to the Great Bahama Bank, our main fishing grounds."

According to Dr Patricia Rodgers of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, one of the problems is that poachers have been receiving fairly light penalties and are then released. "It is my understanding that the relevant Ministries are now seeking to ensure that persons or entities who poach in our waters are charged to the full extent of the law and the resultant sentences are also to be published."

Director of Marine Resources Michael Braynen told me his department was "extremely concerned about IUU fishing in terms of its impact on fishermen, on government revenues, and even more significantly on our fishery resources themselves." He said British fisheries consultant Paul Medley has been working on a stock assessment for the seafood processors, which won't be released until after a series of peer reviews by other scientists later this year.

Meanwhile, Sullivan Sealey reports that anecdotal evidence of migrating lobsters, the abundance of lobsters in nearshore habitats, and the success rate of lobster condos in fisheries landings, all suggest that crawfish numbers are declining. Although Medley's preliminary appraisal indicates that the fishery is still in fairly good shape, a staggering number of lobsters are being removed from Bahamian waters each year -- more than 18 million, according to Sullivan Sealey's estimates.

She also pointed to the historical damage to lobster habitat throughout the Bahamas. Even on islands with relatively small human populations, she has documented damage at more than 60 per cent of coastal survey sites she has worked on due to the use of bleach and explosives, and through destruction of coastal wetlands and mangrove creeks that provide juvenile lobster habitat.

Braynen also acknowledged that poaching appears to be increasing year on year, although it is difficult to say by how much.

The only indicator he could offer was that the standard of the Dominican boats being apprehended in Bahamian waters is much improved lately, a sign that greater investments are being justified by the illicit returns.

"The greatest number of lobsters caught and removed from the ecosystem is likely through illegal foreign fishing in Bahamian waters," Sullivan Sealey concluded. And she confirmed the existence of a large domestic market for lobster in the Dominican Republic, with a fishing fleet capable of accessing Bahamian waters.

"Clearly, the most effort should be put into the documentation and monitoring of illegal fisheries landings in the Dominican Republic," she told me. "It is important for the Bahamas to make formal complaints to the Dominican Republic, and ultimately, you have to deal with who is funding this - better boats, more fuel, travelling further - there has to be a lot of money involved."

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January 26, 2011

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