Bermuda To Intoduce Longline Fishing?

The article I read is actually about the opposition to long line fishing in Bermuda, but it was the first time I heard of the plans. If you have been a DPG news reader you certainly know how horrible long line fishing is. Here is the article to read for yourself.

Plans to introduce offshore longline fishing in Bermuda's waters could threaten the revival of the Cahow and help drive other species to the brink of extinction.

A host of international and local experts have condemned moves to allow the deeply controversial fishing method in the island's 200-mile economic exclusion zone.

Dolphins, marlin, sharks, turtles and seabirds, like the Cahow, are among the species most at risk from being incidentally caught in the miles of baited hooks that would be deployed by commercial fishing fleets to mine a bounty of swordfish and tuna in the deep ocean.

Though Government has so far maintained the proposal is still in the discussion stages it has pressed ahead with a planning application for a processing and storage facility in Ship's Wharf, Southside, that would provide the logistical infrastructure for an offshore longline fishery. The move has led opponents to suggest it is already a 'done deal'.

And campaigners, including the Bermuda National Trust and the Audubon Society, called for the findings of a 2007 study into the feasibility of longline fishing to be made public and openly debated before any further action was taken.

Professor Callum Roberts, author of 'The Unnatural History of the Sea' and a world renowned expert on marine conservation, urged the Bermuda government not to allow longlining in it's waters.

He said the type of fishing being proposed in Bermuda - for swordfish and tuna - typically had a very high 'bycatch' of other animals, especially sharks.

Dr. Roberts, who gave a sold-out lecture on the consequences of overfishing at the Bermuda Underwater Institute last year, said there was also a real risk to seabirds, like the Cahow, as well as globally endangered species of leatherback and loggerhead turtles, which migrate through Bermuda's waters.

He believes the proposal, which is backed by a Government White Paper, would only have a short-term benefit to the fishing industry and would actually have negative long-term consequences for other types of fishing.