Dear Sir,

Your front-page headline from August 11, “Shark fishing: expand the ban?”, presented some generally gloomy prognoses for local shark populations. Your article on August 13, “Fisherman fined $3,500 for catching two black groupers” was also thought-provoking.

Anybody spending time diving in Bermuda has seen the tremendous decline in fish numbers and species. Our Nassau grouper population is gone, and black grouper sightings are so rare that I know regular divers who have never seen one. There was a brief period after the imposition of the pot-fishing ban in 1988 where black grouper numbers rebounded, and I remember seeing 20 to 25 at a time under the Arch off Elbow Beach, along with the occasional magnificent knight of the seas in their shining armour — the tarpon.

Sadly, around 2000, shortly after the United States Government permitted the release of accurate GPS signals, those grouper numbers started to wane. In another location where I would see similar aggregations, all that was left eventually as a solemn memorial to the vanished grouper was an entangled heavy-duty fishing line, with a massive stainless steel hook attached.

Here are a few thoughts and suggestions:

1, Don’t just ban the fishing of groupers in certain areas at certain times. Do what Cayman did when a hitherto unknown Nassau grouper aggregation point was discovered off Little Cayman — initially there were no-take zones, and then a total ban was instituted on the fishing, possession or sale of Nassau grouper anywhere in Cayman from December to April (spawning season). Numbers have rebounded and that site — still the only one of the five aggregation sites known to have existed in Cayman that is active — is now the largest known Nassau grouper aggregation site in the world. The hope is that grouper migration from that site will repopulate other former aggregation areas. Do the same in Bermuda. It will make enforcement and effectiveness far easier.

2, Ban the taking of all apex marine predators such as shark, barracuda — what a senseless target — and even moray eels. They all have a place in the complex web of life in the ocean. Inadequate predation by sharks was certainly part of the reason for the explosion in turtle numbers, and the destruction of the seagrass beds through overgrazing and a blight left the turtles starving and dying off. And I noted that your shark article talked about the “special place” sharks hold in Bermuda’s culture — as shark hash and in providing the oil for the traditional shark-oil barometers. Maybe we can dream of a time when sharks’ place in our culture does not mean they have to be killed.

3, Introduce recreational fishing controls and licensing requirements. Many commercial fishers try to deflect blame on to shore-based fishers, but they are probably not entirely wrong. Recently, emerging after a dive off Watch Hill Park, I was disgusted to see a sizeable shark’s head cut off and left to rot right off the shoreline. A ban on shark-fishing and the imposition of licences might deter some of this activity.

4, Impose much stiffer penalties on lawbreakers. A couple of years ago, I was diving in the Republic of Palau, an archipelago east of the Philippines (population 20,000). The fishing community there backed the creation of marine-protected areas in Palau’s exclusive economic zone totalling 80 per cent of that EEZ. The unprotected 20 per cent is still governed by local tribal chiefs, who determine what fish to catch and when. The fish life is breathtaking. Schools of sharks patrol the reefs. Vast numbers of prey species darken the waters overhead when you are down on the reef. Divers come back multiple times to Palau; marine tourism is a huge part of its economy. But there are still bad actors. A young fisher went out on his boat not too long before I was there and speared three turtles; that offence cost him his boat, his government job, a substantial fine and public disgrace. The only punishment not meted out was prison time. A $3,500 fine in Bermuda for an extra grouper is not nothing, but when you hear that one fisher who was fined even more several years ago boasted that he had made more than $1 million from (mostly illegal) grouper fishing and that a fine was to be laughed at, you know that the incentives are skewed the wrong way. I was pleased to see that the Director of Public Prosecutions is planning on “much larger fines exceeding $6,000” — hey, how about $60,000?

5, Enforce the law, even the laws that are on the books at present. But there are too few fisheries or coastguard vessels to patrol the entire fished area. Give them the budget and tools to do their job properly, and do not allow a warden to collect a paycheque by just sitting at their desk. There is a “No fishing” sign on the Railway Trail bridge over Bailey’s Bay, but I have seen bait fishers sitting on the stanchions with their nets when the fry come rolling in. When I cycle over Watford Bridge, there are regularly several anglers there. An occasional stiff fine would quickly end that activity. Insist on all fishing boats having the Automatic Identification System trackers installed; they were bought for that purpose by our government — ie, by us taxpayers — but have never been comprehensively deployed. Why not? There are too many docks where fish can be landed before being filleted — reduce the number to where wardens have some hope of being a presence that might deter the illegal activity.

When I take visitors diving in Bermuda who have experience of other dive locations around the world, they declare themselves awestruck by the beauty of our barrier reefs. But they are saddened and disappointed by the sparser and sparser numbers of fish, as am I.

RORY GORMAN

Hamilton Parish