This topic came up several months ago briefly on this forum. However, it seems that the proposal to create a long-line fishery in Bermuda has surfaced again on the island. The government is trying to sneak this in under the noses of the populace. I urge you to read the article and then send in a comment to the email address at the bottom, this will be received by the islands daily newspaper.

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftolog...6&sectionId=60


Fish processing facility planned for Southside


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By Amanda Dale

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Miles of rope are used by fishermen for trap and long-line fishing


Planning officials have given the go-ahead to a shoreside landing facility to revitalise the fishing industry, but a question mark remains over whether this will include longlining.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering application for a fish processing and storage centre has been approved at Southside in St. David's. Government says the facility will kick-start the commercial fishing industry in Bermuda, with marketing and export support for "large pelagics".

Situated near L. F. Wade International Airport, it will offer ice, fuel, bait, fishing gear and supplies, and freezer facilities, serving as a staging post for high seas vessels heading into Bermuda's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), an area where it has sovereign rights of natural resources.

The St. David's facility still requires a building permit but received no objections from the Department of Environmental Protection. And in a memo to Planning director Trevor Leach on March 11, director of Conservation Services Jack Ward said his department wouldn't challenge the facility as long as it assisted the "existing local fishing industry".

However he urged Government to undertake "extreme caution" in considering the introduction of longline fishing.

Mr. Ward said: "The Department of Conservation Services has no conservation or environmental issue with the establishment of a support facility for the existing local fishing industry.

"The 'Fisheries Building' structure as designed and located for development at this site will in some respects aid in revitalising the area through the clean-up of existing stored scrap metals and litter and other debris accumulated over time."

But he added: "The Department of Conservation Services would like to urge extreme caution in reviewing the viability and sustainability of a local longline fishery.

"Issues related to global declines in the target species and potential harm to no-target species must be carefully weighted against economic opportunity and employment for local people.

"The Department considers that the potential benefit that may accrue to Bermuda's oceanic resources and the local fishery from an outright ban on large-scale, industrialised fishing in Bermuda's waters should be explored objectively."

A memo to Planning from Environmental Protection director Fred Ming stated: "The MRB (Marine Resources Board) had no objections to this application."

Dr. Ming has declined to discuss longline fishing and the Southside facility with The Royal Gazette. This newspaper has been asking for comment on Government's position on longlining since September 2008. In a letter to Planning on November 10, Dr. Ming said Government had "committed to the development of a shoreside landing facility for commercial fishermen" back in 2005, in a White Paper. The 2007 Throne Speech then made "a specific commitment to advancement of commercial fishing".

"The facility will provide important economic relief/assistance to the established inshore fishery," said Dr. Ming. "However, it is essential to the development and success of an offshore longline fishery within Bermuda's 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone."

When this newspaper last requested comment, a spokesman said Government would seek public opinion on longlining at a future date. Government began exploring the feasibility of commercial longline fishing with trial expeditions into the EEZ with a US vessel, Eagle Eye II, in 2007. It is understood a report into the experiment is yet to go before Cabinet. At the time however, local fishermen reported a "gold mine" bounty of fish.

Environmentalists however, say longline fishing is harmful to wildlife. While it has little destructive impact on bottom habitats compared to other techniques such as bottom trawling, the hooks in the lines result in by-catch. Seabirds, turtles, marlin and sharks are just some of the casualties. Lines can be 80 to 100 km long, containing tens of thousands of hooks.

There is also concern locally that if longlining is introduced, the endangered endemic cahow could be attracted by the bait.

The fish processing and storage facility at Southside will be situated on 10,000 sq ft of land at the western end of Marginal Wharf, to be leased from the Bermuda Land Development Corporation.

Dr. Ming said: "Government will assist with some initial funding to establish the facility but will expect the private sector to operate the facility as a commercial venture on a lease basis. To this end, the 2006/7 Governmental Financial Budget provided $650,000 for its development."

The new fishing facility is the first of two proposed centres, the second to be located in the West End, at South Basin Wharf in Dockyard.

What are your views? E-mail: news@royalgazette.bm.