By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

AN environmental activist has branded a Cabinet minster's call for the Bahamas to double its annual fisheries exports as "the most insane concept", calling for him to instead focus on curbing poaching.

Sam Duncombe, reEarth's president, told Tribune Business: "This notion about fully exploiting our fisheries, when all of the studies suggest that 90 per cent of the big fish are gone and the fish we eat regularly are being exploited, almost to the max......

"Instead of taking the conservative approach, we seem to be saying to hell with the science; we are going to catch whatever is out there because someone else is going to take it.

"That is the most insane concept. We should be looking at ways to conserve our fisheries and stop poaching."

Earlier this month, Renward Wells, minister of agriculture and marine resources, said he had set himself the "goal" of doubling the Bahamas' annual $90 million fisheries exports.

He added that this nation's fisheries exports - $70 million of which are spiny lobster and crawfish, and the remaining $20 million conch, stone crab and snappers - represented an important avenue to increase the Bahamas' foreign currency earnings.

Mr Wells also suggested there is the potential to catch other fish, such as tuna and wahoo for export.

Mr Wells's comments were backed by Keith Carroll, the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance's (BCFA) vice-president, who agreed that this nation was only scratching the surface of its fisheries potential.

He told Tribune Business: "We don't fish our ocean; only our banks." He said the reason Bahamian fishermen do not exploit the likes of tuna and swordfish is due to the controversy surrounding long-line fishing methods.

Mrs Duncombe said she and other environmental groups have strongly opposed such methods for years.

"The fact that we are having to revisit all of these so-called victories we have had over the years is such a regressive step, it's terrifying," she added.

"While we did not get an all-out ban on long-line fishing, what the law says is that if Cabinet gives full approval someone can get a license to long line fish. We were not happy with that. We considered it a loophole then and still consider it a loophole.

"To me, the fact that fishermen mentioned it says to me that those discussions are happening."

Mr Wells's goal is also being opposed by environmental group Save The Bays (STB), with its chairman, Joseph Darville, calling the proposal "reckless, dangerous and an insult to the hard work and sacrifice of countless conservationists over the years".