By NEIL HARTNELL and FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporters

Fishermen and tour operators yesterday hit out at the “absolutely horrible” ten-fold and greater increase in boat registration and renewal fees that Bahamian businesses must pay with the New Year’s arrival.

Paul Maillis, the National Fisheries Association’s (NFA) secretary, told Tribune Business it is “insane” that boat registration fees are as high as insurance costs for smaller craft as the hikes implemented in the 2023-2024 Budget kick-in following the year-end expiration of commercial vessel licences.

Warning that many “subsistence” and smaller fishermen may be unable to afford the increases, and/or choose not to pay, he added that this would lead to “less people registering their boats and more illegal vessels out there.

Mr Maillis also accused the Government of treating much of the Bahamian maritime industry with “disdain” over the fee hikes, and suggested that the scale of the increases exposed its “lack of knowledge” on the sector. He added that it seemed to view all boats as “a luxury, which is far from the truth”, and had failed to recognise that the registration fee rises will negatively impact “blue collar and marginal jobs”.

Meanwhile, Andoni Lisgaris, the Bahamas Excursion Operators Association’s (BEOA) president, branded the increase in boat registration fees as “absolutely horrible” following what he described as a slow 2023 fourth quarter for the industry.

He added that some operators are paying due taxes and fees in installments because “they can’t afford” one large lump sum payment given that the registration fee hike has coincided with Business Licence, VAT and National Insurance Board (NIB) contributions all becoming due. One excursion provider has endured a ten-fold increase in registration fees - from $260 to $2,600.

Mr Maillis yesterday said cynics are now using the word BOAT as an acronym for ‘Bring Out Another Thousand’. He added that hopes the Government might adjust the boat registration fee increases to ease the burden imposed on Bahamian fishermen have yet to materialise.

“There’s been no change in what the Government has implemented. To-date, it’s as is,” Mr Maillis said. “The fishermen have to pay it, and it’s brought on a lot of extra financial stress for everyone. It’s not just fishermen; it’s everyone involved in the maritime industry, whether it’s tug boat owners, salvage vessels, charter fishing vessels. Everyone is impacted.

“It’s having a very harmful impact. I know there’s a number of fishing vessels not yet registered for the year just trying to get their funds together to pay it and that’s not to mention the new vessels which have to pay a first time registration fee. It’s having a very discouraging impact on the industry at the worst possible time.”

The NFA secretary said small fishermen with “dinghies” around 20 feet in length, and who typically accompany larger vessels on dive operations, have seen their annual registration renewal fees increase 35-fold - from $20 to $700.

Describing this as “a significant challenge”, he added that large fishing vessels with 12 such dinghies would have seen the combined registration fee for the latter jump from $240 per year to $8,400. “The math speaks for itself,” Mr Maillis told Tribune Business. “That’s a significant increase no matter what way you look at it. That money is coming straight out of the boat owner’s profit margin.

“It’s mostly the fishermen who can afford it, and need to be out there because they have a business, who are going to have to swallow it and pay it. The fishermen already on the verge, the off-the-record type of fisherman, they’re not going to pay it. People are just eating it up or not paying it. As I predicted, it’s going to lead to less people registering their boats and more illegal vessels out there.

“For some people, it’s an unpayable one-time fee, especially if they have a small semi-subsistence fishing vessel. This is something they have not been accustomed to paying for their entire life, and suddenly their whole outlook is changed,” he added. “They are all suffering as a result of it.

“The registration fees should not be higher than insurance for your vessel. It’s insane. Insurance for a small boat is now comparable to what you are paying to register it every year. You’re getting a double hit. I don’t know where they think it is going to go, what they were hoping to achieve, but all it’s going to do is diminish the amount of people out on the water and that’s not a good thing.”

Mr Maillis said the Government will also likely lose out on fee income from Bahamians whose vessels are either docked or on land for repairs. Rather than licence the vessels so they are “ready to go” when operational, he forecast that the extent of the increases will likely prompt many persons to hold off.

Voicing disquiet over the relative silence from the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Finance over the fee increases, he argued that there were multiple other maritime industry sectors that the Government could have tapped instead for increased fee income.

The NFA secretary, in particular, pointed to the $55 and $220 permit fees for a one-time and annual sports fishing permit, respectively, as two that merit an increase rather than impose a major burden on Bahamian operators.

“It’s very draconian taking these 1,000 percent increase in fees on the chin,” Mr Maillis told Tribune Business. “We are planning to do everything we can to convince the Government this is the wrong way to go. They have clearly demonstrated to us that the maritime Bahamians are not as important as keeping the foreign guests happy.

“They are not impacted by these annual registration fees at all. The thought there’s all this commerce going on that is barely taxed is very frustrating. The reality is we don’t need additional foreign charter fishing trips in the country.

“The fact it’s been protected while they say: ‘Ok, we ring it up so high for every Bahamian’ is quite disturbing and it is quite telling of the disdain or lack of knowledge they have of Bahamians in the maritime sector. They only think people have boats for luxury, which is far from the truth in the maritime sector. For the majority it isn’t. These are blue collar jobs, marginal jobs that are being treated as if a luxury.”

Tavares LaRoda, the New Providence Port Authority’s chairman, previously told this newspaper that the increases to fees that have not been adjusted for two decades were designed to try and catch up with, but not exceed, inflation that has occurred over that period as the Government seeks to incentivise more boat owners to register their vessels in The Bahamas.

Outlining the Davis administration’s strategy, amid the outcry over both the first-time and annual registration fee increases, he argued that the hike in the former category was more than offset by the elimination of an effective 20 percent tax rate on boat owners importing their craft to The Bahamas for the first time via the removal of VAT and Customs duty.

But one maritime source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said eliminating the vessel importation-related taxes was unlikely to incentivise mega yacht owners to register their boats in The Bahamas - and build up a yacht registry - if this was the Government’s strategy.

They said such owners were unlikely to give up their existing US registration given that it affords too many benefits, especially when it comes to ease of access to the US for cheaper provisioning, picking up charter guests and accessing a full range of yacht-related services.

Noting that the registration fee for their 40-50 foot vessel has increased from $150 to $1,650 per year, they added: “It really bites into your revenue and return on investment. In fact, given the poor tourism picture here where we are with mostly cruise ship tourists, it’s quite a dent in your business and its viability.

“According to someone at the Port Department, Cabinet is supposed to be adjusting or amending the fees, so I’m not in a rush to pay them any money. I may well not licence it; I may well shut it down. It’s no skin off my back. But it’s going to kill the local Bahamian fisherman. How’s he going to make $700 back on an annual registration with a 20-foot conch boat?”

Mr Lisgaris, too, said of the tour and excursion operators: “It’s affecting us big time. It’s absolutely horrible. Some people have to make multiple installments to be able to pay their taxes and their Port fees because they can’t afford it.

“It’s affecting everybody because, despite what they are saying on the news, we haven’t had a real successful November and December season. The summer has been okay, but the fourth quarter has not been good so it’s just like bills on top of bills and its pretty rough.”

“For example, one of the vessel’s fees went from literally $260 to $2,600. That is a dramatic difference. And then you have VAT is due, Business Licence is soon due, NIB, so you have all of this stuff. It’s not good.”

Mr Lisgaris acknowledged that the Government must raise revenue to finance public services but said that the large increase in boat registration fees is “unheard of”. He added that there is no monitoring for unlicenced operators, so with the increase in fees registered operators feel as though they are being punished.

He said: “I understand operating expenses are going to go up. The more you expect from the Government, the more money they need to make, but you’re talking an over 1,000 percent increase. It’s unheard of.

“And the thing is, there’s a lot of illegitimate businesses out there who are still taking advantage. They’re not paying anything. And it just, you know, the compliant companies are the ones who’ve been punished.”

Mr Lisgaris said he has had to increase his charter rates by 20 percent in response to the new fees - a decision that has made obtaining bookings harder.

He added that unlicenced operators can charge less for services, making competing with them even more difficult and it seems as though no government agency cares about their business.

Mr Lisgaris said: “In response we have to obviously increase, at least I did, I had to increase my charter rates. I’ve increased the rates by at least by 20 percent. And it’s already difficult to get a booking and it makes it even more difficult because, you know, money has to come from somewhere

“If I’m charging $100 to break even, they can do it for $50 and make money. It’s really hurtful, like you’re being punished for doing the right thing, and it’s like no government - and no government entity - even cares about us being in business.

“I mean, we are in tourism. We bring in the tourist dollar. Tourists come to The Bahamas for the sun, sand and beach, but then if you want to get into this business you’re going to be penalised for it. It’s really heartbreaking.“