The Abaco Fly Fishing Guides Association published a great op-ed in the Bahamas Weekly on the 6th – .
…Most Bahamians are unaware of new government regulations that will be effective on January 9, 2017. The AFFGA would like to share our thoughts with the public regarding the flats fishing regulation.
How the fly fishing regulation will directly affect Bahamians:
- Only Bahamian Citizens will qualify for a Guide License
- Bahamians must purchase a personal angler license to fish for bonefish
- Only one bonefish may be kept for personal consumption
- Bahamians must hire a guide to fish from a boat on the flats
A recent economic study puts a value of $527 million on the Bahamas recreational fishery.
More specifically, flats fishing is credited for $235 million dollars of that total value.
According to the same study, 90% of angler’s only chose to visit The Bahamas in order to fish and would not visit or invest in this country if they could not fish.
Rather than welcome all fishing visitors parts of this regulation restrict anglers from practicing sustainable fishing that does no harm to the fishery thus greatly reducing the economic benefits of flats fishing for The Bahamas economy.
There are two things we all agree on. A flats fishing license should be required for anglers and Motherships (floating foreign fishing lodges) should be banned from The Bahamas.
Most of the regulation is unnecessary and does nothing for sustainable development of the fly fishing sector. The three major threats to the fishery are habitat loss, degradation of the water and illegal netting. This regulation does nothing to address two of these threats…
Read the entire piece here.
