A top Fisheries warden is calling for a crackdown on illegal fish pots after a huge handmade trap was dragged ashore on Tuesday holding more than 80 fish.

Acting Environment Minister Kim Young visited the fisheries station on Coney Island yesterday afternoon to examine the six-by-four-by-five foot trap.

She said Government was "very concerned'' about the discovery, and accused fish-poachers of "wrecking our waters''.

Mrs. Young said the matter was under investigation and warned criminal fishermen that the maximum fine for a convicted poacher is $5,000.

But Head Fisheries warden David Garland said Bermuda's punishments were not strict enough, and said the only way to stop unscrupulous fishermen is to make penalties more severe.

He mentioned Scotland's policy on salmon poaching where poachers, if convicted, are sentenced to prison.

Mr. Garland noted that catching poachers was very difficult, since they had to be caught red-handed pulling up illegal fish pots in order to be convicted.

And he said although the outside reef banks of Bermuda are covered with illegal traps, the Fisheries Department does not have the equipment or the manpower to eliminate the illegal pots.

"There's at least a 200-square-mile area that needs to be patrolled, and that's not including the banks,'' said Mr. Garland. "We've only got four men and two boats, and we don't have any boats to patrol deep waters.

"We recovered more than 60 traps last year. They're killing fish like the Princess rockfish and the Nassau grouper that are practically extinct.

"Old habits die hard, and the traps are an easy way to make a living,'' he noted.

The trap discovered on Tuesday was a traditional Bermudian arrowhead fish pot discovered off the North Shore reefs.

The warden said a fish pot's construction was like "fingerprints'', and they hoped to catch the culprit.

Mr. Garland said catching the poachers is serious business. One warden was already assaulted earlier this year.

"As a Policeman with 20 years of experience, I can tell you...dealing with some of the local fishermen is as tough as it gets.''