Dear Aldo, thank you for taking the time to write in and to express your concern. Unfortunately, the majority of the people in The Bahamas that can actually read do not support this current government and our voices are not heard. Plus, our current officials don't care much for Bahamians so I am almost certain they don't care much about your point of view, no matter how valid your points are. Hopefully, the lodges/hotels etc. in the various out islands will take on the task of securing the necessary permits prior to one's visit.

Alfred Gray should change his name to Faecesidas as everything he touches turns to turds.
Why is it that politicians think they have the answers to everything while ignoring the industry experts in the process? In order to accommodate a few disgruntled and greedy locals who can't make it on their own and who are, as usual, leaning on the crutch of being done in by the dreaded foreigner, he is willing to jeopardize an entire industry. The bone fishing / fly fishing industry is one of the few we have that's actually a success so why fix what obviously isn't broken.
Yes there should be regulations and permits but the process should be visitor friendly not an ordeal as a Bahamian angler visiting the US or Canada can easily purchase a fishing license on line or at a tackle/bait shop for that matter for less than $100 a year. Second home owner,avid fly fisherman & friend of the Bahamas Richard Swan also makes some excellent suggestions in his letter to the editor which appeared in yesterdays Guardian and in today's Tribune.
Alfred Faecesidas Gray please take notes!

These will just be more laws that nobody enforces. How many poachers have the RBDF caught this year. How many fishermen use an air compressor to spear fish and pick up conch? I bet if you went any ramp around Nassau now you would find air compressors on fishing boats while they are only allowed during crawfish season. Grouper Season, a joke, I personally saw grouper for sale and reported it yet NOTHING happened. Gray and his team flap their stink mouth yet DO NOTHING!

Yes, they Will flap their mouths and do nothing, and I'm in total agreement with you where hookas are concerned. The problem is that the ridiculous regulations and usurious fees legislated will do the damage all on their own regardless of the fisheries departments inefficiency. No one going on holiday wants that sort of aggravation, people come here to relax not get stressed out.

I would like to know as a Bahamian (living on the Family Island) if I was to go to Florida, Texas, Italy etc for my vacation and I want to go fishing on their flats/rivers/lakes etc, what would I be able to do ...... without a license/permit etc ............. why do they think they can come here and do as they please, and you cant go over there and dream of going handline fishing even on a dock without a permit etc .... times have changed here as well............. and we need to protect our natural marine resources and use them to earn money for our Treasury ............ this is no longer a free playground for white rich foreigners (SMT).

Duppy you obviously didn't bother to read any of the foregoing. No one, not even the "white rich foreigners" you refer to so disdainfully, are suggesting that they get something for nothing & if you took the time to read some of SECOND HOME OWNER Mr. Swans remarks you might change your opinion. And you are incorrect in your remarks about handline fishing or similar. In many states including Florida and Louisiana your can fish with a cane pole with NO fishing license as I have done myself; I also posses a three year Canadian fishing license purchased at a gas station for less than $100. I might also add that without those "white rich foreigners" that you obviously have such a problem with, there would be NO bone fishing/fly fishing industry in the Bahamas. How many rich Black Bahamians you see cuing up to go bone fishing?

This is an attempt to stop the Hotel boats coming here from FL. They come with a bunch of guests and about 10 flats boats and spend the week. They are making a killing off of our waters. Why not just prohibit this obvious misuse of our resources, just like the foreign dive boats that make a killing off our waters but only contribute a fraction of that to our economy.

I agree with you on that point and it would be easy enough for the government to legislate laws directed specifically at those type of operations, and the dive industry would definitely benefit. But I think you would be cutting off your nose to spite your face if you applied this as a blanket to the industry as a whole. I think you would find that the majority of our local guides would wholeheartedly support a ban or a very hefty fee for boats like that entering the country but would not like to see that sort of fees put upon the single or small group of anglers staying at lodges and using local guides or second home owners who wish to fish on the island in which they reside.

Messenger ............ please take this message back to your foreign interests ......... if they are that rich that they want to come to The Bahamas and fish for our bonefish, they should have NO problem with complying with our laws ............ I see these white people almost every week walking and driving up and down my island bonefish flats with no guide or permit while our people cannot make a dollar off our own natural resources .......... we have been taken for granted for too long ........... they come here under the disguise and stay in their friends' homes...... dont pay any taxes or rents to established Bahamian guest houses or motels, use their friends vehicles and then DIY fish, snorkel etc for "free" ....... and who benefits?????? the white foreign so-called second home owner ......... very little added to our local island economy

Brother, I feel sorry for you. You obviously have some serious hang ups with foreigners and more especially with white people. You must be one of our deluded people that thinks that our country has no need for white people, neither Bahamian nor foreign, nor the considerable contributions that they make to our economy & quality of life. Second home owners on your island obviously get their houses built for free,don't hire no local labour, don't pay no property tax, no BEC, no water, don't buy no grocery, no gas for their car or boat, don't pay no locals to look after their property so tiefing Bahamians don't carry everything; you would probably be delirious with joy if they all stopped coming there and you could have your backwards little island to your backwards & insular little self.

And you seem to be a classic ass-kissing nigger who worships the ground that any foreigner who comes your way and pats you on the head and gives you a dollar ................ anyone who comes to our country (black, white or yellow) must respect our laws and live within the confines of our cultural norms ... we sure cannot go to the USA, canada or England and do as we please