EDITOR, The Tribune.

Re: Tribune Article Entitled ‘Pintard Refutes Claims of No Fisheries Action’ The NFA would like to clarify the reporting of The Tribune on a matter regarding a voice note of one of its members circulating on social media.

Principally, Paul Maillis of the NFA informed the author of the article that the voice note was old and that Chuck Pinder should be contacted before drawing any conclusions. Chuck Pinder was not contacted, and the old voice note was touted as a ‘new’ point of contention between fishers and the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources. The reality is the voice note had already been a point of discussion some time back. The timing has been taken out of context.

Finally, the NFA does believe the Fisheries Advisory Committee should be reconstituted and reconvened. The process of consulting fishers should be more official and transparent, such as the mechanism of a formal committee. Now, in this time of mandated digital meetings, this process of getting all the necessary committee members on board for meetings should be much easier.

Chuck Pinder is a leader in the Spanish Wells fishing community and his words speak to the frustration felt by thousands of fishers that, despite having an engaged Minister, many of these issues continue to persist. He speaks principally to a wider apathy or inaction by successive administrations towards fisheries matters.

However, to say the Ministry has been without action is, in the words of Minister Pintard, “patently false”. Under the leadership of Minister Pintard, we have seen and felt a positive change. His effort and work ethic has been worthy of the position. The Ministry has been working diligently to resolve the fishing labour crisis, legislative deficiencies and enforcement gaps. Fishers have been party to these efforts, as well as members of the environmental community. There is much left to be done, and we have confidence the Minster will fulfil his commitments.

We endorse the Fisheries Act that has been drafted by the Ministry and industry stakeholders. The new Act is tabled before Parliament and the NFA demands that it is passed. We want to stress that even after the Act is passed, Regulations attached to the Act will need to be drafted and passed, so this is a long process, and many of the issues in the fisheries sector require immediate action. The sooner we begin the process of legal reform, the better.

The NFA would like it to be clear that we support the efforts of Minister Pintard and to encourage him to continue his work. There are still questionable fishing businesses operating outside of the law, using foreign labour and circumventing the system. Immigration and fisheries reform is still desperately needed. Conch are being decimated and there is still no legislation yet passed to address it. We, the NFA can speak to many challenges that the Ministry must address in order to succeed in these objectives, and we will continue to remain fully available for consultation. Where we can point out deficiencies and help to make the process better, we will continue to do so.

Sincerely,

Board of Directors, National Fisheries Association of The Bahamas

Nassau,

September 2, 2020.