Possible Commercial Tuna Netting
in The Bahamas

FRIENDS Concerns
Friends of the Environment seeks to keep its members and other interested parties aware of pertinent environmental issues happening in Abaco as well as throughout The Bahamas. To that end, we feel that the community should be aware of a possible business venture preparing to commercially net yellow fin tuna in Bahamian waters.

As many of you may already know, there is a fishing vessel docked in Grand Bahama that is equipped to commercially harvest Yellow Fin Tuna with a purse seine net. It appears that some of the proposed fishing grounds may include Abaco and the Tongue of the Ocean. Due to the current dismal state of Yellow Fin Tuna stocks and the inevitable threat of bycatch (such as marine mammals, sea turtles, sharks and juveniles of many species), FRIENDS urges the Bahamas Government to prohibit this boat from fishing in our waters.

FRIENDS fully supports the views and concerns raised by our partner, The Bahamas National Trust. We have come to understand that current legislation does not provide The Bahamas government with the grounds to deny a permit request by the Bahamian operators of this vessel. FRIENDS urges the government to then place a moratorium on purse-seine net fishing until proper legislation to ban such unsustainable fishing methods can be put into place. In the past, similar actions have been taken by The Bahamas Government with successful results, such as the moratorium on wild dolphin capture.

We urge you, our members and supporters, to also encourage the Bahamas government to deny any requests for permits to net yellow fin tuna in Bahamian waters and ask them to support and implement more sustainable fishing methods. Currently, The Bahamas Government is investigating international certifications for our marine resources. FRIENDS feels that experimenting with purse-seine netting in Bahamian waters is counter-productive to our country's goals to be more sustainable.


How you can help:

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Write a letter to Hon. Lawrence Cartwright, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources: LARRYCARTWRIGHT@BAHAMAS.GOV.BS or Fax: 242-322-1767
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Write a letter to the editor:
The Abaconian: davralph@batelnet.bs,
The Tribune: letters@tribunemedia.net,
The Nassau Guardian: candia@nasguard.com
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Spread the word and encourage others to help