environmentalists -- easing restrictions on the fishpot ban could put Bermuda back where it was ten years ago.

The ban on fishpots put in place by then-Environment Minister Ann Cartwright DeCouto is slowly doing what it was intended to do: restoring the stocks of reef fish which were disappearing at a dramatic rate when pots were permitted.

While not all stocks are recovering at the same rate -- and in some cases, stocks are declining, any easing of the ban on pots would quickly undo all of the achievements so far.

There are some indications that Mr. Hodgson should be considering further restrictions, not easing those which are already in place.

New technologies such as the Global Positioning Satellites (GPS) make it easier for rogue fishermen to place and harvest pots without detection and the Fisheries Department has been strikingly unsuccessful in winning convictions against people it believes are using illegal pots.

These two challenges should be very carefully considered by Mr. Hodgson and his civil servants.

Mr. Hodgson has a number of political challenges on this issue. Danny Farias, now the chairman of the Marine Resources Board, was a vocal opponent of the fish pot ban and Progressive Labour Party ally the Bermuda Industrial Union also leapt to the defence of the pot fishermen.

No-one likes to see livelihoods -- and ways of life -- lost. But the reality is that the fishermen were steadily killing their own livelihoods and the then-Government had to save the fishing industry from itself.

But easing restrictions on fish pots now would lead at best to one or two boom years followed by the slow death of fish stocks -- perhaps permanently.

What is needed now is better enforcement of the existing law, not easing of the current restrictions.

LABOUR'S MESSAGE EDT Labour's message The politicians attending this week's British Labour Party conference would do well to listen carefully to what appears to be its main theme: placing the need for the economy to be well managed over calls for massive state spending.

In many ways, the Progressive Labour Party faces the same challenges that "New Labour'' does; maintaining public confidence that it can manage the economy and restraining public spending while meeting at least some of the needs of its grassroots supporters.

It is here that "New Labour'' seems to have got it right. By maintaining the emphasis on expanding the economy and ensuring that Britain is competitive, more jobs have been created and inflation has been kept in check. Not coincidentally, Labour's popularity is at record highs -- music to any politician's ears.

It is probably still too early to tell if the Progressive Labour Party is following the same path to success. It is clear that the Government remains popular. But there are signs that it is having difficulty in speaking with one voice, leading to the collapse of a number of development deals and that after a "no tax'' Budget, taxes such as land tax are rising.

The heavy spending on Ministerial travel, while unlikely to break the bank, suggests a lack of restraint and discipline which does not bode well for the future.

It is to be hoped that the Government's representatives will listen carefully to the Labour Party's leadership and bring back the right message for Bermuda.