Recreational Fishing Town Hall Meetings
The Marine Resources Section of the Department of Environmental Protection is inviting recreational fishers to attend an upcoming town hall meeting to discuss the results of the 2011 Recreational Fishing Activity Survey.
Several meetings will take place around the island on various dates for residents’ convenience. Dates and locations are as follows:
- Oct. 16th – St. James Church Hall, Sandys – 7pm
- Oct. 17th – Jack King Building, Botanical Gardens – 7pm
- Oct. 18th – St. Peter’s Church (Spencer Hall), St. George’s – 7pm
A Ministry spokesperson said: “The agenda will include the presentation of results from the survey followed by a Question & Answer period. The survey was conducted in two parts: A shoreline survey and a mailing to owners of private vessels.
“The primary goal of this survey was to investigate the levels of various forms of recreational fishing in Bermuda and to acquire estimates of the types and numbers of fishes being caught. The survey also aimed to find out whether the fishing public was familiar with, and generally supportive of, the new fishing regulations brought in at the end of 2010.
“Opinions on licensing and reporting options were also sought. The report discusses the information on reported catches, and compares the fishing activity of the two groups surveyed.
“While not conclusive, this survey provides a good start for evaluating the impacts of recreational fishing on Bermuda’s fishery resources,” explained Marine Resources Officer at the Department of Environmental Protection Dr. Joanna Pitt.
“The survey has provided valuable insight into the recreational fishing population, their fishing habits, their motivations and their attitudes towards fisheries management measures. We were pleased to see that awareness of key fisheries regulations was good across both survey categories and those surveyed were generally supportive of the measures currently in place.”
The Minister of Environment, Planning and Infrastructure Strategy Marc Bean said: “Recreational fishing has always been a popular pastime in Bermuda, for its social value as well as its role in supplementing the household diet.
“There was a need for information on recreational fishing practices and estimates of recreational landings in order to facilitate better management of recreational fishing activity. Data on the recreational landings of pelagic species are also required for our reporting obligations to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). Therefore I wish to congratulate the staff at the Department of Environmental Protection for collecting and analyzing this information.”
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Watch out. It’s going to all about justifying more licensing, red tape and hundreds of dollars of annual fees. I wouldn’t mind so much if Fisheries did a damn thing.You hardly even see them on the water. They can’t even tell us anything except what the commercial fishermen choose to tell them! They’re either scared or lazy or worse. Commercial fishermen using long lines, fish pots, breaking all the rules. Recreational line and spear fishermen (some of them restaurant owners) getting away scott free or with a slap on wrist for outrageous illegal kills that are hugely profitable even after the fines. It’s sick joke. As if the govmt wanted to wipe out our fisheries rather than study and protect them. SMH.
a mailing to owners of private vessels – when was this done we haven’t received anything.
Locals should not complain too much about having to get recreational fishing licenses. Anywhere in the US or Canada you had better have a fishing license, & have it with you while fishing, otherwise you get heavy fines on the spot. Oh yeah, don’t exeed bag linmits either. More heavy fines. Fish & Game officers don’t mess around like here.
Don’t expect anything anytime soon from the PLP though. Saving the enviroment for future generations is not exactly a high priority for them.
I think our license fees are spent on GP cars, comfy offices and fancy boats that don’t go to sea