There already appears to be some controversy growing over Government's plans to build a base for longline fishing trawlers at the East End. There are likely to be more protests going forward, as longlining has become a very dirty word in the fisheries environment world.

That's not to say that Bermuda should not take advantage of the 200-mile economic zone surrounding the Island. The real question is how to do it, and how to ensure that it is done in a way that is sustainable and does not damage the environment.

Simply to go in and empty the fish stocks that appear to exist around the Island would be utterly irresponsible.

Longline fishing, in which fishing boats trawl using miles-long fishing lines with hundreds of hooks, is controversial largely because the lines can catch multiple breeds of fish, turtles and seabirds in addition to the fish the trawlers can actually sell.

By the time the catch is actually landed, the "by-catch" is dead.

In 2007, the Environment Ministry brought in the trawler Eagle Eye II to conduct experimental long line fishing for two months.

The vessel, which was at the forefront of partnerships between fishermen and environmentalists to reduce the damage that longlining can do, did take some positive steps.

These included using weighted lines, to reduce the risk to seabirds, and techniques to save turtles that are caught. That's all to the good, but there needs to be certainty that the bycatch is as limited as possible.

Eagle Eye II captain Scott Drabinowicz said then that that was the case, but the actual data gathered on the voyage has not been released. Even so, the decision to go ahead and build the fishing centre seems to be going ahead, based on a two-month study by one environmentally sensitive trawler. Is that really enough?

What's not known is how many trawlers are going to be licensed, what kind of oversight there will be, what sort of catch limits there will be and so on. Nor is it even known if it makes economic sense.

Bermuda, which banned fishpots before they emptied the Island's inshore waters, already has a hard enough time monitoring abuses within 20 miles of the Island's shores; doing the same within a 200 mile radius will be excessively difficult and expensive.

In 2007, this newspaper said in an opinion: "What has to be done, though, is to make sure that such a fishery does no harm and is sustainable. Catches must be closely monitored with limits set, and the number of licences issued must be carefully controlled so that the fishery is self-sustaining.

"If those things can be done, and if it can be done in such a way that Bermudian fishermen have decent livelihoods, then that is all to the good."

Those words still hold true, but most of those questions have not been answered. They need to be.