Man Denies Passing Off Imported Fish As Local
A 53 year old commercial fisherman appeared in Magistrates Court today [Dec 18] where he denied selling imported fish that was presented as local fish.
The charges read out by Senior Magistrate Archie Warner were that in February 2013, Michael Barnes allegedly sold imported fish as local fish.
He also faced a charge that as the owner of a commercial fishing vessel he failed to keep a record of his catches.
Mr Barnes pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on $2,000 bail. He will stand trial in April 2014.
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Something fishy about this story….
I am always amazed at the amount of Fisherman that sell fresh “local” fish each Friday especially during the winter. It can blow 100 knots for three weeks straight and somehow many local fisherman have “fresh local fish” every Friday!??
If he is guilty, I suspect that he is the rule and not the exception amongst the local fisherman. It has been rumored for years that many fisherman will buy foreign filet, and mix it in bags with local fillet when demand is high and supply is low.
I’m not trying to paint all fisherman with the same brush because many pride themselves on working hard and selling locally caught fish – when they can get it. Buy your fish at the dock!
This has the potential to be the” New Third Leg “of the economy-
the ONSHORE FISHERY!
Again!!!!!
Breams are local Fish !
Who said it was breams?
FISH IMMIGRATION POLICY !! THEY RECIVE STATUS ONCE LANDED .
fresh! flown in frozen, erry day!
How do you catch them pre-wrapped like that?
Fish musta sounded like Michael Fahey…
if you go after one for allegedly selling imported fish, why not also go after the many who are selliing fish who have no commercial fishing licence?? if he is convicted in april does he lose his fishing licence??to many double standards..You can sell swizzle online without a licence and also use another companies name and bottles, and the list goes on..
I knew who it was before I even opened this article.
I thought it was odd, “local salmon”
One of the things that bugs me is how many restaurants I go to here in Bermuda that list Fresh Salmon on their menu! False advertising at best!
You can get fresh salmon flown in, not local but still fresh. we can get same day fish imported here.
Who told you that lie? Catch the salmon, clean it, get ig to market, package it sell it then ship it to BDA, get it off the dock, in the store all in one day!!! You believe anything
Yes we CAN, but do we? Nope! Fresh Salmon is on some menus every day and so if you want me to believe that they fly a little of it in every day, sorry I ‘m not fool! Who checks if it is fresh? Nobody! And because nobody does, why would any restaurant go thru the extra expense, when they can serve whatever they want, call it what they want and charge more for it.
It’s fresh but not local
Is this Barne’s from Trimingham hill roundabout or Barne’s from Dock Hill roundabout ?
Trimmingham hill
Trimmingham Hill. He may be the targeted fisherman by the Dept of Fisheries but trust me , he is not the only one out there that is suspected of doing such.
Ever wonder how so much “Fresh Fish” is available for sale every Friday even during the weeks when we have had gale force winds all week?
BTW way if you catch your fish on Saturdays – Thursday and sell roadside on Fridays, can they legally call it fresh fish? To me Fresh Fish means caught with the last 24 hours.
Yes it can be called fresh fish if it hasnt been frozen within that saturday-thursday time frame.
You have time to reply to his stupid comment.
This is nothing new, apparently.
not the first time I’ve heard of this….
Most “local” fish sandwiches are made with cheap imported farmed tilapia etc.
Tilapia is put in tanks with other fish that is farmed to eat the fish crap off the bottom. Saw it on dirty jobs once.
Someone pissed somebody off. This is nothing new.
Bey anything goes today- [ lol ]
Some Fisherman have been tricking people for years – nothin new!
Hard to find local lobsters in restaurants either. Went to the Reefs and not one of their three restaurants had local lobster… SAD!!
You can say the same thing about the staff. Try and get served by a local and you find yourself served by someone imported lol
sounds like the reefs to me!
that is not all restaurants. plenty of local establishments have local cockroaches on their menu. lobster pot, red carpet, wahoos, and tavern by the sea all have had lobsters and i have been there or prove it!
Local cockaroaches or lobsters? You’re just damn confused. Lol
St Davids bedbugs
To the two that disliked. Call them for yourself and find out the TRUTH!
Mr Michael barns is a gentleman and a respected commercial fisherman !! Got to be found not guilty if there is any justice !!!
Thats sarcasm right?
selling imported grouper, aka Swai catfish, trying to pass it off for local Rockeeey is the latest fad to hit BDA fish cuisine since the wahoo nugget.
For all that don’t know, Swai is a south asian catfish that is often raised in cages in rivers in south asian, were fisheries aren’t regulated, so it can be contaminated. Also sometimes paged off as other names such as, grouper, or sole to avoid tariffs on imported fish in the US.
This fish is very cheep to purchase, hence the popularity of it with the local market. The local market calls it imported grouper aka Swai catfish.
If you order a generic fish dinner or fish sandwich in BDA, there is a 90% chance your are eating dirty a#$ catfish, no lie.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t like eating dirty a#% catfish.
ok rant over.
The only place where you can find fish every week .Rain , blow or shine’
Caught at LF WADE INT’L AIRPORT!!ABOUT TIME!!!
I would never buy fish from any of these fishermen by the roadside. I have heard all sorts of tales and they charge plenty too. None of them are hurting .
I’d not really go as far as saying “None of them are hurting”. I’d say that only those with working spouses, paid mortgages, rich diddys and unlawful acts are not hurting. Many of the commercial fishermen could not survive by fishing alone. …………..
So where would you buy your local fish from…??? Or do you not buy Local fish..??
Buy de fish at de docks when their cleanin um.
Sorry buddy Necromonger , I am also a commercial fisherman. Does that answer you question?
every think that some fishermen in Bermuda are not all lazy like most and actually go out in bad weather and fish to make a living!They don’t go fishing they don’t make money so they have to fish in bad weather too!
Hope the law deals with this case right if found guilty.
This goes back to February 2013. Something smells fishy to me. Why is this such a big deal?
Its a big deal because its alleged to be FRAUD and local people prefer to eat fresh local fish for the price they pay. Its pathetic an Island surrounded by water and we cant get fresh local fish on a regular, I guess foreign rules in Bermy after all. LMAO
go to 90 percent of the restaurants in bermuda and you will eat imported fish, that says local!!!! and 90% of the stores too! road side is the best way to get local fish, at the cheapest price!!!
First off let me say that Michael Barnes is probably the hardest working fisherman in the business and is one of the few that are making decent money out of it! It kills me that when someone sees another doing good they hate so much!
Secondly you would be very surprised to see how much imported fish you eat when you sit down in most resteraunts in Bermuda!
If you don’t want to eat it then go buy yourself a boat and catch your own fish!
LMAO
Just a quick note to say this is only a charge, not a conviction, so there is a host of things that can’t be said….so sorry to those people whose comments were not cleared, but we have to be careful with court stories!
Case dismissed