By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN fishermen yesterday described the recent crawfish season as “one of the best in a long time”, attributing this to the Defence Force stepping up its fight against poachers.

Keith Carroll, vice-president of the Bahamas Commercial Fishers Alliance (BCFA), told Tribune Business: “I can tell you from the time Defence Force caught those boats we did pretty good. Towards the end of the season, in March, was probably the best we did in 20 years.

“We saw a lot of lobster spawning in March. We never saw it like that before, and so whatever the Defence Force was doing was keeping poachers off the banks. I would say the season closed out strong. For fishermen like myself, it was the best in a long, long time.

“A lot of guys don’t like to talk about how they did during the season, but based on what I know this was a pretty good season. I believe that if the Defence Force can keep the poachers off the banks we could see a really good season next year.”

The crawfish season ran from August 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019. During that time the Defence Force made several seizures and were also involved in a shoot-out last October that ended in the arrests of 124 Dominican crew members and seizure of three vessels.