The DYI (do-it-yourself) angling situation in the Bahamas has been under fire for some time now. The Bahamas are dear to our hearts, and we’ve followed it here at Yellow Dog from the beginning. Yesterday, an email came through from our friend Bjorn at Bonefish on the Brain with this news:
“It pains me to have to write this, to keep having to write these posts about what everyone should know are just horrible, horrible ideas. There is a new draft of the regulations out, this time put out by the Ministry of Fisheries and since they have pretty much had a monopoly on the worst ideas, you can imagine where this is going.
This does not ban DIY, so if that’s all you care about, you are in the clear… kind of. However, if you mis-calculate and end up committing an “offense,” well, the fine is up to $5,000 with the added possibility of three months in Bahamian jail. Doesn’t that feel welcoming? You can still rent a boat to go fish, as long as you are the only one on it.
A boat with two people required a guide, or, $5,000 and 3 months in jail. Native Bahamians are required to buy a license to fish the waters right in front of their own homes. Everything is catch and release with a limit of one in possession, which, of course, is not catch and release.
To make matters worse, the proposed regs enshrine the place of power of the Bahamas Fly Fishing Industry Association, run by Prescott, who should be disqualified from being 100 feet from anything involving fly fishing based on how poorly he’s handled this whole thing.” Read the rest of the story on Bjorn’s blog; we’ll be monitoring as this develops.
