November 7, 2013

Dear Sir

I support marine environment protection and I am also completely and utterly against illegal commercial fishing. However, the options for protection of the EEZ do not make sense to me. I am very hesitant to block off parts of the EEZ without good reasons especially if that means it may have negative economic consequences for the Island. A balance must be struck between being smart enough to keep the EEZ open for exploration and possible development if it is deemed safe and fit to do so and proper marine environment protection.

Please note that neither the benefits nor the disadvantages/dangers of seabed mining are yet known. Nor is it known whether Bermuda’s EEZ contains any minerals which could be lucrative for Bermuda’s economy. Setting up a no take zone would prevent us from even finding out whether we have anything of value. Is it then wise to create a complete block when we are ignorant of what is in the EEZ? Even if we set up just a small no take zone, we would never know if the most valuable minerals are in that area.

To my knowledge illegal commercial fishing is not a problem in Bermuda’s EEZ. Besides, illegal fishing is illegal regardless of whether there is a ring of protection in the EEZ or not. The illegal commercial fishing will take place no matter what zones you set up — it is enforcement and punishment which will deter this.

The argument that legislation can be reversed/changed, while true, is simply outing this as the gimmick that it is. Why would you set up legislation that at the outset you are already considering may very well need to be changed to be more reasonable or to help our country in the future? Furthermore, if the rationale is that seabed mining is dangerous, shouldn’t it be the innermost part of the EEZ which is protected, not the outermost part where mining would be less likely to affect our Islands? It does not make any sense.

I am regrettably stumped to find a reason to vote yes on protection of the EEZ by establishing a no take zone. I believe that there are other ways we can protect the marine life and environment around us while still keeping the doors open for exploration and potential development in future. I do not think it wise to block off any part of the EEZ in the way proposed at the moment. I would however, love to see this carry on as an ongoing conversation and a better, smarter solution being reached! Bermudians are clever and a fitting solution is out there, unfortunately this is just not it.

A CONTRARIO

Smiths