poaching is poaching, wether for personal consumption or profit. Taking egg bearing females is wrong/illegal in both US & The Bahamas, there is no excuse for ignorance of policy; nor knowledge of location within the Park, particularlywith todays electronics even a cellphone!!
Cruising vessels are guest in another's country and must be responsible guest as we demand in our own home. But when a guest sees bad behavior & laxness by the same occupants, they will imitate.
In regards to natural resources, the impact of volumes of contraband is critical to response of authority. I.e.: Dominican commercial fisher poachers should loose all as that is piracy, compared to a cruising vessel catching dinner. penalties should reflect the gravity of the action.

Kill the mature, thick lip, tough-grey meated, breeding adults & you loose it all.
Original natives had reverence for the world they are placed in, understanding that ,they must be responsible, temporary caretakers for the future generations to come. Can we? or are We destined to emulate what the Europeans did to the American Buffalo (photo) and Original Natives.
[Mountain of Bufafalo skuls][1]
[1]: https://www.dailysignal.com/wp-content/…

http://tribune242.com/users/photos/2022…

I thought Americans where notoriously deficient in memory & attention-span!
When it comes to Venezuelan Oil, people conveniently forget the fraud & blackmail Venezuela placed on most of the members of Petro Caribe, particularly the smaller island economies.
Yes, the quality of Venezuelan Oil is so high in sulphur & contaminants, most industrial engines have a shortened life expectancy & high maintenance. It's no wonder only Cuba could Buy/Barter it.
Is this what you wish to fuel your new & repowered utilities?
What happened to the Compressed Natural Gas fuel transition program promoted by WMS last year? A cheaper & less poluting fuel?...HMMMMmmmm.Is that not what 80% of world utilities presently use?
Another beneficial program squashed by the Big Oil Boys?
Let's go to another public paid world conference, shall we? Where to this time? ...Mars?

Drunk on their Wana-Be-Important power.
Ignorance of the role/purpose of their position, is no excuse.
Politics today obscures career/purpose with 'make-work' to justify the paycheck. Simply emulating politicians who spend most of their time & energies solidifying their Jobs & Party, rather than pursuing the good/advancement of their country & electorate.

In reading today's news, I am totally amazed at the attitude & comments of the Minister of Public Works, Mr Sears. Bahamian should never accept blackouts, particularly in Nassau the capital & seat of government. Particularly not today when there are energy alternatives & proposals on the table! A typical 3rd World Status Quo attitude which should be booted out for the future of country. Worthy of a scathing editorial or ten.

You are correct in stating it is common to many countries, as is the need to budget appropriate resources. Unfortunately governments would rather pay for the encarceration of populations instead of providing the resources for services you mentioned. Case in point Florida would rather pay $65,000 per prisoner (1980) than the same to educate 30 kids x 8hrs x 44 weeks, teachers pay! They say the retirement community does not want to pay for education a second time around. I say it is politicians without foresight or cohones!

Anger Management is the ultimate issue!!! It is a common matter of learning what are socially acceptable means of anger releases. Children today do not have the required Physical Education classes & sport participation at young enough ages to satisfy the natural releases needed in their growing bodies. Add to this need, the heavy influences of social media's acceptance & lack of consequences for Gangster Bad Behavior. reasonable corporal punishment is the only means to counter this attitude,... in wildfires one must stop feeding a fire with controld burning of the fuel. My Headmaster put the fear of God in my 11yr old arse..

GB & The Bahamas would do very well if GBPA & Government would fulfill their obligations & fancy pre-election rhetorics, irrelevant of the political party in charge. The concept of children in a three way divorce is so true, ultimately the children will survive and despise each adult as they do now.
If you want investments in GB, quit looking to iconic Quick Mega Investors, like Mega Yachts, experience has shown, they come to pick the bones of desperation. Such mega investors should have performance critera to meet or loose what they have invested, incentives/benefits received. Minimizing the quantity of development skeletons throughout the wonderous islands.
The medium sized investors start small while providing growth and stability with more benefits to the community as they grow in size, case in point Sandals, Pharma Chem or the Shipyard.
Get rid of the politically convenient foreigner phobia. The best example of success without such phobia are your neighbors, USA and T&C, the latter by economic need.
Minimize the temporary work permit process, including the Remote Worker concept. The Foreign Worker and Remote Worker rents or owns housing, needs food & participates in the local economy for longer periods than tourism... months & years.
Go back to accepting & learning skills from those who have them thru mentoring programs. Get rid of those who are not willing to participate, both as teacher & student.
Not everyone can go away for education, those who do must sign a contract to return to use their Bahama paid knowledge in Public Services for equivalent time/cost; then they could go abroad to practice their careers, debt free. This with mentoring, would add to the skill levels of public services, teachers, nurses, etc.

Who gona refine it, where? It's crude oil.

Do we know how many Bahamian fishermen would be employed for how many days to fulfill a harvest of 20,000 pounds of marine products? This is the displacement/loss of Bahamian Resources, never to be restored, EVER.
What happens to the confiscated catch? Was it allowed to spoil or sold to local fish houses? Who gained? Who influenced the justice department for such a light sentence? Keeping in mind how long where they in jail before trial, our system is Not Known for speed.
Where are the actual facts Mr or Ms Reporter?