By Morgan Adderley

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMAS Commercial Fishers Alliance Vice President Keith Carroll yesterday described poaching as a “plague” that is afflicting the country and dubbed the weekend arrest of 124 Dominican poachers as “one of the best things” to have ever happened in the southern Bahamas.

Yesterday, the poachers, who engaged in a shootout with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force on the high seas before they were arrested, were brought to shore along with their three vessels and remanded to the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

Mr Carroll was among the fishermen present at the RBDF Coral Harbour Base as this occurred. The fishermen hoped that the arrest would inspire stricter anti-poaching legislation and that Cuba’s role in the operation will deter others from following suit.

Their remarks were echoed by Press Secretary Anthony Newbold, who noted during his press briefing yesterday that fishermen “complain for good reason.” However, Mr Newbold could provide no further updates on legislation, saying that matter has to go through the Office of the Attorney General.

“For the fishing industry, especially for the southern Bahamas, this (is) one of the best things that ever happened down there; getting these boats, these amount of men from off our banks and knowing that the Cuban government and the Americans are now working with the Bahamas government to combat this plague that was going on in this country for so long,” Mr Carroll told The Tribune.

He also described the poachers’ use of gunfire as “attempted murder,” adding the justice system should therefore handle this case “the same (way) that they do with anybody else who try to kill somebody, especially an officer.”

“These young (marines) go out to sea to protect us and that’s what happened to them,” Mr Carroll continued. “The Bahamas government gotta do something about this.”

He called for stricter punishments in these matters, particularly for upper level crew members.

“These boats that come here, the majority of (their) crew… don’t know exactly where they going when they leave Santo Domingo,” he said.

“It’s really the captain. The captain decides where you go. So, I think that the captain, the mate, and the engineer, if they would give them just say…’if you get caught in the Bahamas, you get up to 20 years hard labour.’ They’ll think twice about coming in the Bahamas knowing that if they get caught, they’re going to spend time.”

Mr Carroll added that in his estimation, the amount of crawfish found on a single one of the Dominican’s vessels were worth a million dollars — far more than the fines often levied against poachers in the Bahamian judicial system.

Marine Resources Minister Michael Pintard was also present at the Coral Harbour Base yesterday morning, where he said it is “too early to tell” the estimated dollar value of the haul, noting this will be reported after fisheries officers and the Ministry of Finance have done their inspections.

Ultimately, Mr Carroll said, prison time is what would truly make a difference.

Meanwhile yesterday, Mr Newbold said poaching legislation is something that the Office of the Attorney General has to put together.

“You know, talking about poachers, people complain for good reason; fishermen complain for good reason,” Mr Newbold added.

Referring to this latest arrest and the recent repairs made to RBDF vessel HMBS Bahamas in the Netherlands, Mr Newbold said all these endeavours are done “to make sure that our borders are protected as much as we can.”

“(National Security Minister Marvin) Dames, of course, spoke about that (Monday) as well, a whole wide-ranging effort to make sure that those uniform branches are at the point where they can do the kind of job that they are mandated to do, which is to protect our borders,” Mr Newbold said.

Kendal Carroll, a fisherman for over 30 years, also spoke at the RBDF base yesterday, when he complained of the impact poaching has had on his livelihood.

Mr Carroll, who fishes in the area where the poachers were caught, said these criminals steal his catch and destroy his traps.

“Normally what they (do) is, they break up the trap,” Mr Carroll said. “And then when you go back…the traps all break up, (nothing) in them, and then you have to repair them again.”

Mr Carroll added that he hopes Cuba’s role in these arrests deter future poachers.

“I hope they’d slow it down. Because the system what (the RBDF) using, with the help of Cuba, (the poachers) don’t have any place to run…The (RBDF) now have the help of Cuba.

“Normally what happens, they run in Cuba’s waters, believing they (are) safe. Now, with the two countries working together, hopefully when this message gets back to Santo Domingo, they’ll be timid to come back.”